Friday, April 27, 2012

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.

New Links on our site

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 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 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 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 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 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 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

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Reader's Shelf



From Library Journal

Poetry Rocks!
Verses 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 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 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 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 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 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

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

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.
To sign up for this, or any of our newsletters, check out our Newsletter sign up page.
Apocalypse to Go 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 Midnight Guardians
By King, Jonathon
2012-01 - Severn House Publishers
9780727881052 Check Our Catalog

…More


The Gunslinger 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 Crackhead
By Lennox, Lisa
2012-03 - Atria Books
9781451661736 Check Our Catalog

…More


Tempted Again 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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