Upcoming Events at HPL

True Crime in the Civil War 6:00 PM, Tuesday May 1 Tobin Buhk returns to talk about his latest book, True Crime in the Civil War. Tobin is one speaker not to miss! His talks are always fascinating and full of information. Tobin T. Buhk is a Grand Rapids-based freelance writer and coauthor (with Dr. Stephen D. Cohle, Kent County Medical Examiner) of Cause of Death: Forensic Files of a Medical Examiner (2007) and Skeletons in the Closet: Tales from the County Morgue (2008). For more information : www.TobinBuhk.com

Tech Wednesday-Facebook 2:30 pm, Wednesday, May 2 Tech Wednesdays Each class will cover a specific topic and run from 30 – 60 minutes. No registration is required, just show up! All classes will start at 2:30 pm in the Julia Hackley Room. If you have your own laptop feel free to bring it along, otherwise these are watch and learn classes. May 2 Facebook

Good Yarn Knitters 5:30 – 7:00 pm, Wednesday, May 2 Meets in the Julia Hackley Room All levels of knitters are welcome, including beginners. Come to learn how to knit, have a problem solved, or just for camaraderie. If you are just starting out, bring a pair of size 7 or 8 needles and a light colored ball of worsted weight yarn, otherwise bring your latest project or your problem project. For more information call 231-722-7276 and ask for Jocelyn.

Zumba! 6:00 PM, Tuesday May 8 Are you ready to party yourself into shape? That’s exactly what the Zumba� program is all about. It’s an exhilarating, effective, easy-to-follow, Latin-inspired, calorie-burning dance fitness-party™ that’s moving millions of people toward joy and health. Zumba Fitness� is the only Latin-inspired dance-fitness program that blends red-hot international music, created by Grammy Award-winning producers, and contagious steps to form a "fitness-party" that is downright addictive. Learn more with Lois Morris as she leads an introductory class. Meets in the Julia Hackley Room. Free and open to the public.

Muskegon County Genealogical Society 6:30 – 9:30 pm, Tuesday, May 8 Muskegon County Genealogical Society Board meeting at the Torrent House.

MS Support Group 5:30 - 6:30 pm, Wednesday, May 9 Torrent House

Good Yarn Knitters 5:30 – 7:00 pm, Wednesday, May 9 Meets in the Julia Hackley Room All levels of knitters are welcome, including beginners. Come to learn how to knit, have a problem solved, or just for camaraderie. If you are just starting out, bring a pair of size 7 or 8 needles and a light colored ball of worsted weight yarn, otherwise bring your latest project or your problem project. For more information call 231-722-7276 and ask for Jocelyn.

Yarnspinners 7:00 - 9:00 pm, Wednesday, May 9 Muskegon's own storytelling group. Torrent House

Annual Charles H. Hackley Distinguished Lecture in the Humanities Thursday, May 10, 2012, 7:30 pm Friends of Hackley Library will sponsor the 31st Annual Hackley Lecture in the Humanities on Thursday, May 10, at 7:30 p.m. in the Muskegon Museum of Art Auditorium. Each year Friends invites someone with ties to Muskegon who has contributed significantly to the humanities to deliver a lecture. This year’s distinguished speaker is John D. Hutson, who grew up in North Muskegon and went on to become Judge Advocate General, the U.S. Navy’s highest-ranking lawyer. He also served as president and dean of the University of New Hampshire School of Law. Hutson, whose speech is entitled “How We Can Lose the War on Terror,” has received many awards, including the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, and the Meritorious Service Medal. He testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the treatment of military prisoners, was interviewed for the HBO documentary “Ghosts of Abu Ghraib,” and delivered a speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Hutson has been quoted in many sources, including The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, USA Today, and The New York Times. Possessing a deep interest in social justice and convinced that America’s justice system is its strength, Hutson has partnered with both John McCain and President Obama to prohibit torture of prisoners of war. During his tenure as president, the University of New Hampshire School of Law expanded and key programs, described as “unique to the law school and the envy of every other state,” were put in place. His lecture is free and open to the public. A reception will follow at Hackley Public Library. At the Lecture, three local people will be honored for their contributions to the humanities in Muskegon. This year’s Hackley Commendees are Peter Turner and Josephine and George Anacker. Three high school seniors will also receive prizes for their entries in the Robinson Essay Contest: Amber Young and Brigid Kiley from Mona Shores and Ellie DeMarse from Reeths-Puffer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hutson http://youtu.be/SKFxNLy8WU4 http://youtu.be/kUeS9MhbMxA

Genealogy Workshop 10:30 am - 12:30 pm, Saturday, May 12 Meets in the Local History Department

Mother's Day Crafts 2:00 - 4:00 pm, Saturday, May 12 Mother’s Day is coming. Drop in anytime during the event hours to make a wonderful card and present for that special lady in your life.

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Book Review-Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

As you may have noticed, I like books that are a bit different.  Some of them fall into the category called Magical Realism, which takes place in this world, but the characters have some sort of "gift".  Alice Hoffman often writes in this category.  The magical aspects add a lot to the character's development. My latest foray into this genre is the book "The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake" by Aimee Bender.  The book opens with Rose and her mother making a cake for Rose's ninth birthday, a lemon chocolate cake.  After she puts the cake in the oven, Rose's mother takes a little nap.  Rose takes the cake out, and not wanting to wait to taste it, cuts a small piece off and puts frosting on it.  She is surprised to find that the cake tastes more like sadness then lemon chocolate, and she realizes that she is tasting her mother's emotions.  Dinner also tastes of sadness.  Rose can hardly finish and is overcome with her mother's feelings. As time goes on, Rose finds that not only can she taste the emotions of the cook, but she can also taste the emotions of all the people involved with the food, from the farmer on up.  She can identify the factory any particular food comes from.  She starts subsisting on junk food which has not been touched by many people.  At one point, she is so overcome with the emotions in the food that she becomes hysterical.  Her mother takes her to the emergency room (her father has a strange aversion to hospitals), but they can do nothing for her. Rose has to learn how to live with this "gift" and how to move through life knowing more about the people she loves than most people do.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake By Bender, Aimee 2010-06 - Doubleday Books 9780385501125 Check Our Catalog 2011 Alex Award Winner BookPage Notable Title The wondrous Bender conjures the lush and moving story of a girl whose magical gift is really a devastating curse. "The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake" is a luminous tale--heartbreaking and funny, wise and sad. …More

Other books by the same author.

An Invisible Sign of My Own By Bender, Aimee 2001-07 - Anchor Books 9780385492249 Check Our Catalog Aimee Bender's stunning debut collection, The Girl in the Flammable Skirt," proved her to be one of the freshest voices in American fiction. Now, in her first novel, she builds on that early promise. Mona Gray was ten when her father contracted a mysterious illness and she became a quitter, abandoning each of her talents just as pleasure became intense. The only thing she can't stop doing is math: She knocks on wood, adds her steps, and multiplies people in the park against one another. When Mona begins teaching math to second-graders, she finds a ready audience. But the difficult and wonderful facts of life keep intruding. She finds herself drawn to the new science teacher, who has an unnerving way of seeing through her intricately built facade. Bender brilliantly directs her characters, giving them unexpected emotional depth and setting them in a calamitous world, both fancifully surreal and startlingly familiar. …More

Willful Creatures By Bender, Aimee 2006-08 - Anchor Books 9780385720977 Check Our Catalog The author of the dazzling novel "An Invisible Sign of My Own and the critically acclaimed story collection "The Girl in the Flammable Skirt returns with more sublime, beguiling, and breathtakingly original stories of love, sex, heartbreak, and potato babies. With her singular mix of surrealism, musical prose, and keenly felt emotions, Aimee Bender has gained a passionate following among readers and critics. The "San Francisco Chronicle greeted her first story collection with rapturous praise, declaring, "Once in a while a writer comes along who makes you grateful for the very existence of language." Her debut novel was called "as light as a zephyr and unique as a snowflake" ("Washington Post), "a seductively smart read" ("Glamour), and "surreal, edgy, and endearing all at once" ("USA Today). Bender is a brilliant stylist, using language with the nimble grace of a magician. She conjures surreal worlds in which authentic emotion blooms. A woman's children may be potatoes, but the love she feels for them is heartbreakingly real. A boy with keys as fingers is seen not as a freak but as a hero. Bender infuses even inanimate objects with human warmth. Rendering grief, loneliness, hope, love, and happiness with exquisite subtlety and cleverness, Bender once again proves herself to be a masterful chronicler of the human condition. …More

Read Alikes

The Red Garden By Hoffman, Alice 2011-01 - Crown Publishing Group (NY) 9780307393876 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title From the bestselling author of "The Third Angel" and "The Story Sisters" comes a shimmering, unforgettable new book. Hoffman offers a transforming glimpse into small-town America, presenting readers with 300 years of passion, dark secrets, loyalty, and redemption in a web of tales where characters' lives are intertwined by fate and by their own actions. …More

Like Water for Chocolate By Esquivel, Laura Translator Christensen, Thomas Translator Christensen, Carol 1992-09 - Doubleday Books 9780385420167 Check Our Catalog Earthy, magical, and utterly charming, this tale of family life in turn-of-the-century Mexico became a best-selling phenomenon with its winning blend of poignant romance and bittersweet wit. The classic love story takes place on the De la Garza ranch, as the tyrannical owner, Mama Elena, chops onions at the kitchen table in her final days of pregnancy. While still in her mother's womb, her daughter to be weeps so violently she causes an early labor, and little Tita slips out amid the spices and fixings for noodle soup. This early encounter with food soon becomes a way of life, and Tita grows up to be a master chef. She shares special points of her favorite preparations with listeners throughout the story. …More

The Tiger's Wife By Obreht, Tea 2011-03 - Random House 9780385343831 Check Our Catalog Weaving a brilliant latticework of family legend, loss, and love, Obreht, the youngest of "The New Yorker's" 20 best American fiction writers under 40, spins a timeless novel about a young doctor who confronts the inexplicable circumstances surrounding her beloved grandfather's recent death. …More

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Book Trailer: Lover Reborn

Reader's Shelf

From Library Journal Poetry Rocks!

Verses By Difranco, Ani 2007-09 - Seven Stories Press 9781583228234 Check Our Catalog "She's got the gift of lyrical precision-nothing cuts to the core quite like the resolution of DiFranco rhyme."-"Billboard" With eight Grammy nominations, a gold record, and sales of over 4.5 million, Ani DiFranco is one of America's most fiercely independent and beloved musicians, as well as an outspoken voice of conscience. For the first time, she releases a book of poetry and paintings capturing her essential artistry that has helped define and invigorate a new generation. "Ani DiFranco: Verses" rages, eulogizes, menaces, revels, and envisions. With a poet's precision and a citizen's take, DiFranco finds the meeting places of intimacy and politics, of self and country, of resolve and compromise, and of the fickle and magnificent capacities of love and solitude. In 1990 at the age of eighteen, Ani DiFranco rewrote the rules of the record industry when she created her own label, Righteous Babe Records, as an alternative to beckoning corporate offices. Since then, RBR has released twenty-one full-length DiFranco albums to critical acclaim, and is now home to over a dozen cutting-edge new artists. DiFranco was named one of the top twenty-five most influential artists of the past twenty-five years by "CMJ New Music" (alongside Nirvana and U2) and one of 21 Feminists for the 21st Century by "Ms. Magazine". Together with "Ani DiFranco: Verses", she released her first retrospective album, "Canon", in September, and proceeded on a twenty-city tour in the United States. …More

Hello Sunshine By Adams, Ryan 2009-12 - Akashic Books 9781933354958 Check Our Catalog With the release of "Hello Sunshine," singer/songwriter Adams continues to break literary ground with a new work that provides perhaps an even deeper insight into the man than is revealed through the songs that have resonated with his fans. …More

A Night Without Armor: Poems By Jewel Afterword by Jewel Author Ashanti 1999-08 - It Books 9780061073625 Check Our Catalog Now available in paperback--the bestselling collection of intimate poetry from singer-songwrier Jewel, one of today's most beloved popular music artists. (Poetry) …More

The Haiku Year By Martin, Douglas A. Author Phillips, Grant Lee Author Roth, Rick 2004-03 - Soft Skull Press 9781932360165 Check Our Catalog Seven friends made a pact to write haikus every day for a year as a way to keep in touch with each other. The result is "The Haiku Year." Michael Stipe's entries recall his twilight-drenched lyrics for R.E.M. Douglas Martin's spare, elegant prose illuminates the hidden corners of life while Grant Lee Phillips thoughtful storytelling is pared down to the simplest language. Hinting at the transcendence and banality of everyday life, the short verses signify an appreciation for small moments of beauty and ultimately urge readers to let these realizations pierce through the numbness of their daily routines. Photographs are included. …More

The Lords and the New Creatures By Morrison, Jim 1971-10 - Fireside Books 9780671210441 Check Our Catalog Intense, erotic, and enigmatic, Jim Morrison's persona is as riveting now as the lead singer/composer "Lizard King" was during The Doors' peak in the late sixties. His fast life and mysterious death remain controversial more than twenty years later. "The Lords and the New Creatures, " Morrison's first published volume of poetry, is an uninhibited exploration of society's dark side -- drugs, sex, fame, and death -- captured in sensual, seething images. Here, Morrison gives a revealing glimpse at an era and at the man whose songs and savage performances have left their indelible impression on our culture. …More

Auguries of Innocence By Smith, Patti 2008-06 - Ecco Press 9780060832674 Check Our Catalog This new collection of verse from one of "rock's original poets" (New York Times) effectively transmits the effect and aura, as well as the innocence, that make Smith a rock star. …More

HPL's New Books

Below is a partial list of our new books. To see the full list, download the Excel file for: 2012.  To see new books from other years try:  2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, or 2006.

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Apocalypse to Go By Kerr, Katharine 2012-02 - Daw Books 9780756407094 Check Our Catalog Nola O'Grady has enough trouble when a were-leopard accuses her of receiving stolen property. But when her younger brother Michael goes searching for their missing father, he lands himself and his brother, Sean, in a world of hurt--quite literally--in a deviant version of San Francisco. Original. …More

Midnight Guardians By King, Jonathon 2012-01 - Severn House Publishers 9780727881052 Check Our Catalog …More

The Gunslinger By King, Stephen Illustrator Whelan, Michael Foreword by Wolfe, Thomas 2003-06 - Signet Book 9780451210845 Check Our Catalog The first installment of King's now-classic Dark Tower series, "The Gunslinger" is filled with ominous landscapes and macabre menace. The Gunslinger is a haunting figure in combat with The Man in Black in an epic battle of good versus evil. Now repackaged with new cover art. Reissue. …More

Loving By Kingsbury, Karen 2012-03 - Zondervan 9780310276357 Check Our Catalog The answers Bailey Flanigan once longed and prayed for are finally becoming clear. In Loving, the fourth and final book in the Bailey Flanigan Series by New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury, Bailey is planning a wedding and making decisions that will shape her future. Bailey enjoys the beginning of her new career and time spent with Brandon while Cody faithfully coaches his team on and off the field. But has she agreed to marry the right guy? Will she spend her life with Brandon Paul in Los Angeles, or will her heart draw her back to Bloomington, Indiana and Cody Coleman, her first love? Bailey has learned much and grown over the years, but the greatest challenges, the richest joys, and the deepest heartaches are still to come. Featuring members from Karen Kingsbury's popular Baxter family, Loving completes Bailey and Cody's story---the finale thousands of fans have been waiting for. …More

Rainshadow Road By Kleypas, Lisa 2012-02 - St. Martin's Griffin 9780312605889 Check Our Catalog Lucy Marinn is stunned and blindsided by the most bitter kind of betrayal: her fianc Kevin has left her. His new lover is Lucy's own sister. Facing the severe disapproval of Lucy's parents, Kevin asks his friend, Sam Nolan to "romance" Lucy and hopefully loosen her up and get her over her anger. Complications ensue when Sam and Lucy begin to fall in love. …More

Gods Without Men By Kunzru, Hari 2012-03 - Knopf Publishing Group 9780307957115 Check Our Catalog "Gods Without Men" is a branching and multilayered novel by one of the world's most acclaimed young writers that centers on a couple searching for their young son, lost in the brutal, strangely powerful landscape of the Mojave Desert. …More

Defending Jacob By Landay, William 2012-01 - Delacorte Press 9780385344227 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title Andy Barber has been an ADA in his suburban Massachusetts county for more than 20 years. He is respected in his community and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and son, Jacob. But after a shocking crime shatters their New England town, Andy is blindsided by what happens next: His 14-year-old son is charged with the murder of a fellow student. …More

Shadows West By Lansdale, Joe R. Author Lansdale, John L. 2012-01 - Subterranean Press 9781596064324 Check Our Catalog …More

The Capture of the Earl of Glencrae By Laurens, Stephanie 2012-01 - Avon Books 9780062068620 Check Our Catalog From "New York Times"- and "USA Today"-bestselling author Laurens comes the wild and satisfying conclusion to her trilogy about three Cynster sisters tracking down their perfect matches. Includes a bonus short story. Original. …More

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy By Le Carre, John 2011-10 - Penguin Books 9780143120933 Check Our Catalog John le Carre's classic novels deftly navigate readers through the intricate shadow worlds of international espionage with unsurpassed skill and knowledge and have earned him -- and his hero, British Secret Service agent George Smiley -- unprecedented worldwide acclaim. A modern masterpiece in which le Carre expertly creates a total vision of a secret world, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" begins George Smiley's chess match of wills and wits with Karla, his Soviet counterpart. It is now beyond doubt that a mole, implanted decades ago by Moscow Centre, has burrowed his way into the highest echelons of British Intelligence. His treachery has already blown some of its most vital operations and its best networks. It is clear that the double agent is one of its own kind. But which one? George Smiley is assigned to identify him. And once identified, the traitor must be destroyed. …More

Crackhead By Lennox, Lisa 2012-03 - Atria Books 9781451661736 Check Our Catalog …More

Tempted Again By Linz, Cathie 2012-01 - Berkley 9780425244548 Check Our Catalog Marissa Bennett needs to start over, but the last thing she needs is a new man in her life. Enter sexy lawman Connor Doyle--the high school bad boy who took her innocence. She knows she should turn the page on her past, but Connor is irresistible. Has she come all the way home just to get her heart broken again? Original. …More

Blues in the Night By Lochte, Dick 2012-02 - Severn House Publishers 9780727881083 Check Our Catalog When ex-con Dave Mace Mason is hired by Paulie Lacotta, an old acquaintance and criminal, to watch his ex-girlfriend, Angela, he knows there's more to the job than he's being told. Angela has fallen in love with one of Paulie's competitors, Tiny. After Tiny is found dead, Mace wonders if he will live long enough to uncover the truth. …More

The Revenge of Lord Eberlin By London, Julia 2012-02 - Pocket Books 9781439175460 Check Our Catalog Tobin Scott, Count Eberlin of Denmark, has returned to Hadley Green to avenge his father, who he believes was innocent of stealing the Countess of Ashwood jewels. Now a wealthy man, Tobin intends to exact his revenge by destroying the Ashwood estate and the Countess of Ashwood, who as a young girl testified against his father. Original. …More

Watergate By Mallon, Thomas 2012-02 - Pantheon Books 9780307378729 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title From one of our most esteemed historical novelists comes a remarkable retelling of the Watergate scandal, as seen through a kaleidoscope of its colorful perpetrators and investigators. Mallon conveys the drama and high comedy of the Nixon presidency through the urgent perspectives of seven characters we only thought we knew before now. …More

The Hope Vendetta By Mariani, Scott 2012-03 - Touchstone Books 9781439193471 Check Our Catalog The newest international thriller from the author of "The Mozart Conspiracy" raises the stakes as ex-SAS operative and hero-for-hire Ben Hope returns to prevent an attack of biblical proportions. …More

Trader of Secrets By Martini, Steve 2011-05 - William Morrow & Company 9780061930232 Check Our Catalog Defense attorney Paul Madriani is on the trail of men who are trying to steal state-of-the-art weapons technology in this latest installment of the "New York Times"-bestselling series. …More

The Song of Achilles By Miller, Madeline 2012-03 - Ecco Press 9780062060617 Check Our Catalog A thrilling and unique retelling of the legend of Achilles: a tale of gods, kings, immortal fame, and the human heart--a dazzling feat of the imagination that is sure to be one of the most unusual debuts of the season. …More

Between the Duke and the Deep Blue Sea By Nash, Sophia 2012-02 - Avon Books 9780062022325 Check Our Catalog Nash presents the first book in her clever new Royal Entourage series. A Regency-era version of the film "The Hangover," the series follows a royal entourage after a night of unheralded extravagance--and very foggy memories. Original. …More

Helpless By Palmer, Daniel 2012-01 - Kensington Publishing Corporation 9780758246653 Check Our Catalog Palmer, son of bestselling author Michael Palmer, delivers the follow-up to his acclaimed debut "Delirious"--the story of an award-winning coach who's ordered world is suspended by shocking accusations of murder. …More

Guilty Wives By Patterson, James Author Ellis, David 2012-03 - Little Brown and Company 9780316097567 Check Our Catalog Abbie Elliot and her three best friends step off of a private helicopter in Monte Carlo and enter the most luxurious, sumptuous hotel they have ever been to. Abbie is transported to the greatest pleasure and release she has ever known. In the morning's harsh light, Abbie awakens on a yacht, surrounded by police. Something awful has happened. Abbie, Winnie, Serena, and Bryah are arrested and accused of the foulest crime imaginable. And now the vacation of a lifetime becomes the fight of a lifetime--for survival. …More

The 9th Judgment By Patterson, James 2011-04 - Grand Central Publishing 9780446565509 Check Our Catalog In the most exciting Women's Murder Club novel yet, Detective Lindsay Boxer spends every waking hour working to piece together clues in two area murders. One of the killers forces Lindsay to put her own life on the line--but will that be enough? …More

Fall from Grace By Patterson, Richard North 2012-03 - Scribner Book Company 9781451617054 Check Our Catalog The novel begins with the arrival of Adam Blaine at the funeral of his estranged father, Ben Blaine, a famous and charismatic writer who left behind him a string of secret legal and financial arrangements. Using his training as a CIA operative, Adam seeks to find the truth of his father's death, even if it means exposing one or more of his own family members as the killer and discovering secrets about himself that he was never supposed to know. …More