Spotlight on Historical Biography

Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, starring Daniel Day-Lewis in the title role, is both well-reviewed and turning an impressive box office profit. Bill O'Reilly's Killing Lincoln (written with co-author Martin Dugard) remains on the bestseller lists a year later, and has been joined by his Killing Kennedy. It's no secret that readers here in Dubuque and across the nation enjoy reading about the significant people and events of American history.

Joining Mr. O'Reilly on the best seller lists this week is Jon Meacham's Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power. Mr. Meacham's fourth book, American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Biography. His writing is characterized by his careful research and attention to accuracy, but it's his focus on the people behind history that so many readers find appealing. Mr. Meacham is not alone in his skills, and today we've gathered together a few other notable authors of historical biography. 

Doris Kearns Goodwin
Ms. Goodwin is probably best known for Team of Rivals: the political genius of Abraham Lincoln, which served as the basis for Spielberg's film. Her eye toward the relationships of her subjects brings a fresh perspective to their familiar lives. Ms. Goodwin was also the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize for History in 1995 for No Ordinary Time; Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Her writing career began with a book on Lyndon Johnson, during whose presidency she worked as a White House Fellow and assistant to the President. In fact, Stephen King consulted with Ms. Goodwin about her experiences as he worked on 11/22/63.

David McCullough
Mr. McCullough's engaging and highly respected histories and biographies, his work as the host of American Experience and as a narrator on several historical documentaries have earned him two Pulitzer Prizes, two National Book Awards, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom. He's known for his positive tone and ability to explain the large events of history through their impact on the individual. Try his biography of John Adams or Mornings on Horseback, the story of Theodore Roosevelt's youth.

Ron Chernow
Mr. Chernow worked as a journalist and as a member of a Think Tank specializing in finances before becoming a popular and well-regarded author. He's received a National Book Award for The House of Morgan, as well as a Pulitzer Prize for Washington: a life. His writing has a great attention to detail, and tends to be a little quieter and thoughtful in tone. He often uses his experience in finances to write about those who have had a significant impact on our nation's economics, as in his biography of Alexander Hamilton.

Other authors you might enjoy:

• Walter Isaacson
• Joseph J. Ellis
• Caroline Alexander
• Stephen E. Ambrose

Please stop by the Recommendations Desk on the first floor, check out NoveList Plus on the library's website, or visit W. 11th & Bluff next week for more reading suggestions. Or submit a Personal Recommendations request, and we'll create a reading list just for you!

A Spiritually Cleansing Trip to the Hot Springs

NaNo writers, not to put any pressure on you or anything, but you only have four days left!!! To help push you over the edge, here are some blurbs from reviews of novels which are actually being published in the next few weeks. Enjoy! And then grab your pencil nubs and get back to work!!!

Occasional moments of fine writing cannot salvage this unpromising debut. 

Unfortunately, the combination of a melodramatic storyline and a focus on minutiae make for a forgettable read. 

A novel that badly wants to be cool but is rarely more than sophomoric. 

The climax is no more believable than its antecedents. 

It was an interesting and enjoyable story, however the numerous grammatical errors (almost on every page) detract from it. 

The odds that this book will be eliminated in the first round are high.  

... readers should be prepared for some wooden dialogue. 

... feels too overburdened with coincidences to be credible. 

Blatant metaphors of winter, spring, and a spiritually cleansing trip to the hot springs don't buoy the disagreeable proceedings. 

Readers who find the sophomoric jokes funny will enjoy the hijinks. 

Those looking for a thriller with action beyond the occasional gun battle should search elsewhere. 

... yet another religious thriller with a gimmick that fails to match that of The Da Vinci Code. 

... the excessively complicated plot makes for slow-going. 

A disappointing example of how thorough research can hobble a novel. 

Even as a spoof, which is how it reads, this lurid work is less than entertaining. 

The excitement is somewhat undermined by instances of clunky dialogue and the too-familiar setting and cast …  

... the narrative, carried by so many disparate points of view, never quite comes into focus. 

New York's hipster youth scene is ripe for satire, but unfortunately this novel fails to find the mark. 

If this all sounds more than a little familiar, it is.

The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook

I read quite a bit of romance and fantasy fiction but I've never read anything that could be considered Steampunk.  You may ask "what is Steampunk?"  Well fortunately Sarah has this excellent post if you need an explanation.  To satisfy my curiosity I picked up The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook which is classified as a romance.

If you are looking for a light-hearted, quick, romantic read this is not the book for you.  There is a lot of world building that goes on as this is the first book in the Iron Seas series.  In the alternate history of this world, the Horde (the Mongol Empire), led by the grandson of Genghis Khan, maintains power over all of Europe with the help of their nanotechnology and advanced machines.  This book takes place in the Victorian era (1837-1901) and for the past 200 years or so the people of England were enslaved and controlled through their nano-infested cells (otherwise known as bugs).  How did the bugs get into the cells of the people of England? Through imported sugar and tea of course. What?  That is just genius and insidious. About 9 years before the Iron Duke begins, Rhys Trahaern sailed his ship up the Thames river and blew up the tower (I assumed this was the Tower of London), thereby destroying the radio frequency device that controlled the "bugs" and setting England free.  Rhys Trahaern is a national hero, he is now the Duke of Anglesey but is better known as The Iron Duke. 

The bugs allowed the Horde to do unspeakable things to the people of England by controlling emotion and free will. When the Horde decided they needed more slaves to work they would instigate a "frenzy" that made the people copulate with anyone or anything they happened to be near at the time.  The babies born 9 months after a frenzy were sent to creaches to be raised by the Horde. People were modified based on their trade, for instance a blacksmith might have a hammer in place of a hand.  The bugs allowed people to heal quickly so a hand could be cut off, replaced with some type of mechanical modification and that person could return to work pretty much right away.  Many of the upper class and titled nobility left England when the Horde started to take over and moved to the New World (i.e. America).  Now that England is liberated, these families (known as bounders) are returning to reclaim their titles and land. They look down upon the buggers yet without an injection of bugs to keep them healthy they are doomed to die a slow death from all the pollution and smog in the cities.  Not all of the titled nobility could afford to leave England and Inspector Mina Wentworth is from one of those families.  Mina, like the majority of English children, was born as a result of a frenzy and apparently her mother copulated with one of the Horde. Mina, despite her family name and position as a police inspector, cannot walk the streets without being attacked verbally and physically due to her Mongolian features.  Mina is also unique because her family had enough influence to raise her instead of handing her over to the Horde. However her mother did have a pretty extreme reaction when she realized that Mina was a mixed race baby. 

Mina and Rhys are thrown together when a body is dropped from an airship onto Rhys front lawn.  Mina arrives to investigate and Rhys is immediately intrigued.  In the course of the investigation they discover that there is a shadowy organization out to destroy all the buggers to make sure that the Horde can never take over again. The Horde is still out there controlling many countries.  Mina, who has never been outside of London, is swept up into the world of the Iron Duke.  A world that includes dirigibles, acrobatic airship captains, contraband bazaars, mechanical flesh, clockwork devices and automatons. Oh wait, did I mention the zombies? One of the Horde's many experiments on people resulted in zombies that don't age and eat every living thing in sight. If you manage to survive a zombie attack but have been bitten you will turn into a zombie.   

This book is incredibly complex due to the world building.  The romance is sprinkled in here and there so it seems like a secondary plot.  Rhys and Mina are extremely flawed and damaged individuals due to their upbringing under Horde control.  Mina is terrified of her emotions and afraid to let anyone in. She is also terrified of losing control over those emotions and being at the mercy of someone else.  Rhys has no idea what love actually is, he grew up in a group home and was sold to slavers at the age of 8.  Rhys is not a swoon-worthy hero, in fact, I'm not sure if I would even categorize him as a hero.  Rhys doesn't like people messing with his things and initially he only sees Mina as something he wants to possess.  However, Rhys believes in protecting and taking care of his possessions including Mina, something she has not experienced beyond her family and close friends.

It took me a while to get into this book.  I put it down several times during the first 100 pages but boy am I glad I picked it back up.  By the end of the book I was really rooting for Rhys and Mina and I loved the fantastical world created by Brook.  I picked up the second book, Heart of Steel, which tells the story of Yasmeen and Archimedes Fox, two characters introduced in The Iron Duke.  Heart of Steel was a much easier read, thanks in part to the detailed world building in The Iron Duke.  Am I sold on Steampunk?  I can't really say, but I am sold on this series by Meljean Brooks.

~ Amy, Adult Services

Now Available - Author Alerts!

Thanks to the Carnegie-Stout Library Foundation, we have launched a new service for C-SPL users - Author Alerts!

With Author Alerts, you can be the first to know when the library has a new book by your favorite author, new movie with your favorite actor or a new album by your favorite artist. You'll be notified by email or text (your choice!) with a link to the library's catalog to place a hold on the item.

Signing up is easy! On our homepage, go to the E-Branch Library menu and select Author Alerts (or, click here). Click the Start Here button and then select how you would like to be notified, by email or by text (for texts, standard messaging rates apply). You can also enter a screen name, which will allow you to share author lists and reviews.

On the next page, select what materials you would like to be notified about - books, DVD, music, etc. You can change these settings at any time.

Now you're ready to create your first alert! Just enter the first and last name of an author, actor or artist and click continue. If there are multiple matches in the library's catalog, you'll be asked to select the correct name. For instance, I entered Suzanne Collins and there are several close matches. In this case, I've selected the option with the most titles, since I'd like to know when the library adds anything by her (click to enlarge):

Once you've chosen your first alert, you'll be taken to your main alerts page. This is where you can find and add additional authors and see what other users are adding as well. You'll also be able to review the alerts you've signed up for and edit or delete them. You can also change how you receive your alerts by choosing the Edit Settings options at the top of the screen.

If you'd like to see what else the library has by your favorite author/artist/actor, click on the name and you'll be taken to the library's online catalog.

As always, if you have any questions about this or any other library service, you can email us at yourlibrarian@dubuque.lib.ia.us or give a call at (563) 589-4225 ext. 2224. 

Back in the Game by Charles Holdefer

In July another librarian and I took a road trip to Prairie Lights, an independent bookstore in Iowa City, to hear Charles Holdefer read from his latest novel, Back in theGame.  Why would we make a three-hour round trip drive for a half hour reading?  Holdefer had offered to come to Carnegie-Stout for an author visit this fall, so we wanted to learn more about him and his book.  Although his schedule didn’t allow Holdefer to come to Dubuque in October for a program after all, I did get a signed copy of his book to read.

Raised in Knoxville, Iowa, Holdefer attended the Iowa Writers' Workshop before moving to France in 1985, where he teaches at the University of Poitiers.  He returns to Iowa frequently to visit and to teach.  This summer his weeklong Novel Fundamentals class was part of the Iowa Summer Writing Festival.  Since November is NaNoWrMo, now seems like a good time to review his book.

"[Back in the Game] is about a guy who fakes his credentials to become an elementary-school teacher and finds himself in a small town in Iowa," Holdefer said. "He starts an affair with the mother of one of his pupils. The mother's husband is a meth addict." 

This is not a bucolic, happily-ever after fairy tale set in the rustic Iowa of years past.  This is 21^st Century Iowa with smelly hog lots, bullying of special education students, meth labs and dysfunctional families.  Stanley Mercer, the main character in Back in the Game, never made it past Triple A ball in the United States.  He has been living out of the country for almost 15 years, never realizing his dream of major league success.  He is reeling from the triple whammy of losing his job playing baseball in Europe, being dumped by his French girlfriend and facing a future for which he has not prepared.  Encouraged by his brother Riley, an Illinois hotshot lawyer who is not anxious for Stanley to sponge off his family, Stanley looks for a real job, and he finds real people with real problems, and he is forced to deal with his own shortcomings. The game he finds in Iowa is making a new life after baseball; this life forces him to consider where he’s been and where he’d like to go. 

Despite being a fraud with no preparation for the classroom, Stanley is not the worst teacher ever.  He relates well to his students and encounters other teachers with problems of their own.  He finds himself drawn into the life of the community.  The story unwinds leisurely, and the quirky characters take time to reveal themselves.  They’re worth the wait: Beverly, the nurse and maybe lover in Chicago; Nelson, the art teacher unhappy at his failed marriage; the Rawlings family with Mom Amy having an affair with Stanley, her daughter Ginny’s teacher, and Dad Reggie clinging to family wealth as he wallows in methamphetamine addiction; Patty Gordon, the teacher with 28 years under her belt who helps Stanley survive his first few weeks of teaching; and Stanley’s Mom and her boyfriend Archie of the cranberry-colored sports jacket; what a cast!

Setting, particularly local color, is almost as an important element to me as characters I care about, a compelling plot and an intriguing topic.  Charles Holdefer offers me the whole package in Back in the Game, and his wry humor and social satire are a bonus.   I hope he can fit a visit to Dubuque in his schedule next year when he comes back to the United States.

--Michelle

Black Friday, tips to find the deals

The Holiday Season is approaching rapidly, which means that many of us are getting ready to do some serious shopping. Whether you're a Black Friday veteran or novice, Carnegie-Stout has tips and tools to help you plan your attack, but, fair warning, the library will be closed on Thanksgiving and the 23rd so our staff can enjoy the holiday with family.

Never fear though! The number one tip to prepare for Black Friday is to plan ahead (number three: fanny packs, warning! link contains swears). You want to have a shopping list, know where the best bargains are, and when the stores open.

While I've always been a fan of sorting through all the ads in the Thursday paper after stuffing myself with turkey, the internet means that you could've started your planning last week. Luckily this also means you don't have to go from store website to store website, but can find all the Black Friday ads in one place. You still might need to visit the store's pages to verify the local opening hours, but at least you can check if there any deals worth showing up at six a.m. first.

Websites that collect Black Friday Advertisements:
bfads.net
blackfriday.com

Websites that compare prices at various retailers:
www.bizrate.com
www.shopping.com
pricegrabber.com

But maybe you're on the hunt for some particular item, rather than just looking for the best door busters. Wading through dozens of circulars to find which stores have the sales you need, even electronically, can be a headache. If you know exactly what you want, a site that compares prices can be useful, but best bargain doesn't always mean best. First you'll want to compare televisions or blenders or leaf blowers to find which brands and models will do what you need them to.

This is when you should check Consumer Reports (they also have price comparisons). You might be familiar with Consumer Reports from their annual buying guide or their monthly publications, and both are available at Carnegie-Stout. But did you know that Carnegie-Stout also has access to Consumer Reports' online site?

You can find Consumer Reports in our list of Library Research Databases by clicking here. If you are at home you will be asked to enter your library barcode and PIN, but everyone can search their Buying Guides and Recommendations from a computer inside the library. You can even print off your findings for ten cents a page (black & white).

If you're not able to access Consumer Reports from home, and Carnegie-Stout isn't open, you can still read some of their advice at www.consumerreports.org. You can also turn to the product reviews on personal blogs, websites like Amazon (although these are not always trustworthy), or from a trusted friend or neighbor. Alternatively, you can take a look at the product reviews offered by:
Good Housekeeping (we have the magazine to flip through too)
CNET (technology and electronics)

And because librarians are most often asked to help select and operate eReaders, the first place you should check is OverDrive's list of compatible devices. This will tell you if your new eReader will play nicely with our eBooks. And if you're the lucky recipient of a shiny new eReader this holiday season, we'll be here to help you learn how to check out and download those eBooks.

Reviews and comparisons of eReaders:
Consumer Reports (you may need to go through the library's website to see all information)
Good Housekeeping
CNET

And if all this is too much for you, remember, you can always stay home and celebrate Buy Nothing Day instead.

Bestsellers for the week of November 11th

It's a good time to be a rock star with a book, it seems. Over past few weeks, more and more memoirs and biographies by and about rock 'n' roll stars have appeared on the bestsellers list. This week, for instance, four artists have spots on the top 10:

Bruce: The Innocence, the Darkness, the Rising  by Peter A. Carlin, an authorized and painstakingly researched biography of the Boss. Drawing on exclusive interviews with members of the E Street Band, including Clarence Clemons’ final interview, and unrestricted conversations with Springsteen’s family, friends, manager Jon Landau, and Springsteen himself, Carlin gives his life the definitive treatment. Carlin also wrote a similarly sweeping biography of Paul McCartney - Paul McCartney: A Life - in 2009.

Rod: The Autobiography, the self-penned story of two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee's rise to fame that recounts his youth, his years with on tour with The Jeff Beck Group and The Faces and his three marriages and decades as a solo performer.

Waging Heavy Peace: A Hippie Dream by Neil Young. The early anticipated memoir recalls his childhood in Ontario, to his first gigs with the Squires as they traveled Canada in his 1948 Buick hearse, his spur-of-the-moment move to California in 1966 and the brief but influential time with Buffalo Springfield to his solo career and work with Crazy Horse and Crosby, Stills and Nash. Young also delves into his personal life, recounting the influence his wife and three children have had and finally coming to rest in the contemplative natural beauty of Hawaii.

There have been a few other biographies written about Young, including Shakey: Neil Young's Biography by Jimmy McDonough (2002), Neil Young Nation: A Quest, an Obsession, and a True Story by Kevin Chong (2005) and Neil Young: The Definitive History by Mike Evans (2012), but this is the first memoir penned by the artist himself.

Who I Am: A Memoir by Pete Townshend - The lead guitarist and founding memoir of The Who tells the story of his life in this memoir - a book that has taken him nearly a decade to write. A candid recollection of his difficult childhood in West London, the beginnings of his career with Roger Daltry and his struggles with the trappings of drugs, sex and fortune that inventively come with the lifestyle of a rock star.

Last week also saw Peter Criss' Makeup to Breakup: My Life In and Out of KISS, In the Pleasure Groove: Love, Death and Duran Duran by the band's co-founder John Taylor and How Music Works by David Byrne, which is less of an autobiography than an exploration of the evolution and meaning of music.

For a full list of this week's fiction and nonfiction bestsellers, visit us on Pinterest!

The Nao of Brown by Glyn Dillon

There is some danger in writing a review of a book one loves too dearly. It’s possible to be so enthused as to find oneself incapable of anything more insightful than “Zowee, this book was super good!” That's a perfectly reasonable reaction, but it makes for a pretty dull blog post. More importantly, it utterly fails to convey what makes the book good and, therefore, is unlikely to convince anyone to give it a go. And let’s be honest, that’s what this is really about: I want you to read the books I review and then come back and tell me how right I was. Librarians are a shallow and insecure breed.

Nao Brown, the main character of Glyn Dillon’s Nao of Brown, is no stranger to insecurity, though hers is of a more profound variety. Throughout the graphic novel she is a terribly unforgiving judge of her own thoughts and impulses. This can be a tiresome and alienating trait in a character, but Nao comes off as incredibly relatable and sympathetic. A lot of the credit for that goes to Dillon’s art. His subtle watercolors capture emotions and facial expressions with a disarming accuracy. At the same time, Nao’s quite aware of her propensity for self-excoriation and throughout the book she strives for some sort of mental equilibrium. It’s always easier to root for a character who’s trying to do right by themselves, even if their efforts aren’t terribly successful. All of Dillon’s characters have their flaws laid bare, but always in a spirit of honest acceptance rather than judgment. I never felt more connection to Nao’s friend and boss Steve than when he relates to her the disastrous aftermath of a failed date. The appeal is not in watching Steve be humiliated but in watching him make peace with that humiliation and accept it as part of what shapes him.

Backing up a bit, I should mention that Nao’s psychological issues go beyond garden variety insecurity. She suffers from Purely Obsessional OCD, which means she gets trapped in loops of obsessive thought but doesn’t progress from there to the physical compulsions one generally associates with OCD (handwashing, touching light switches, etc). I didn’t mention it upfront because one of Dillon’s achievements here is the extent to which he writes Nao as a fully-fledged character, not simply a case study of a mental illness. Her obsessions, which manifest as mental images of herself doing violence to those around her, followed by crippling anxiety over the possibility that she might act on those thoughts, certainly do play a part in the plot, but they don’t define the book any more than they define Nao herself.

The main narrative arc of the book details Nao’s romance with Greg, a drunken washing machine repairman with surprisingly broad reading tastes. On their first date, Greg drinks too much and voices several incorrect and offensive assumptions about Nao’s Japanese ancestry. Some mutual fascination gets the pair over that initial hurdle and it’s soon apparent that while their relationship is sure to be challenging, it has a lot to offer both participants. They need only abandon false pride, past pain, and personal insecurities in order to let themselves interact freely in the present.

If that all sounds a bit high-minded and spiritual, that’s because the book has a strong thread of Buddhist teaching. Nao looks to the local Buddhist center and its members as a source of calm inspiration. However, Dillon is careful to show that, despite Nao’s reverence, these men of faith are no more pure or infallible than the rest of the cast.

Comic books, grounded as they are in superheroes and other genre stories, often exist in a world of absolute good and absolute evil. The incorruptibility of Superman and Lex Luthor’s fundamental selfishness are part of a grand tradition of myth and storytelling and are often just what I want to read about. But I’m also grateful for graphic novels such as The Nao of Brown that exist in a nuanced world of gray-shaded relativism. While Superman reflects human nature in broad strokes of brightly colored ink, Nao Brown’s carefully studied and finely textured watercolors capture the essence of a single character. She may not speak to everyone, but she left a clear stamp on me.

~ Andrew, Adult Services

Deus ex Libro

The paranormal and urban fantasy labels cover a wide variety of books, from bubbly and romantic to dark and gritty. From fairies to vampires, readers will find themselves browsing in the Science Fiction, Young Adult, Romance, Fiction, and Mystery sections to find their next books. That's why we're here to help you narrow down the search.

Recently I've enjoyed several series that feature the interference of the gods in the lives of mortals, especially one particular mortal singled out for the gods' attention and all the chaos that comes with it.  Each of these series are also fast-paced with first-person narration and darker humor, but after that, they're all a little different.

Hounded by Kevin Hearne
The first book in Hearne's Iron Druid chronicles is an action-packed romp through Celtic mythology in the Arizona desert. Atticus O'Sullivan is the last of the druids, and he's been on the run for centuries, what with having stole the vengeful god of love's sword. Despite his great age, Atticus is more of a footloose twenty-something than a wise mystic, but at least he has his trusty partner, Oberon, the wisecracking Irish wolfhound.

Readers may also enjoy: Storm Front by Jim Butcher, see Andrew's review here.


Black Blade Blues by J.A. Pitts
Somewhat more serious and moody, J.A. Pitts' series follows Sarah Beauhall as she struggles to find her balance as an adult. Between student debt, a non-existent relationship with her family, two jobs (blacksmith and prop master for a local b-studio) and relationship troubles with her girlfriend, the last thing she needs is to become the wielder of Gram, an ancient Norse blade made for killing dragons. Personal growth, vast conspiracies, epic battles, and an old homeless man who might be Odin.

Readers may also enjoy: Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey.


Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy
Urban Shaman, the first book in C.E. Murphy's Walker Papers series, is a bit more menacing in tone. Set in the Pacific Northwest, the series starts as Joanne Walker's life falls to pieces. Her mother just died, she's about to be fired from her job as a police mechanic, and the woman she's trying to help claims that she's being hunted by Cernunnos, god and leader of the Wild Hunt. But Cernunnos isn't the only god taking an interest in Joanne's life. It's sarcastic and violent, with interesting characters, and a murder mystery for good measure.

Readers may also enjoy: Moon Called by Patricia Briggs, see Amy's review here.


First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones 
The first book in Ms. Jones' fast-paced series featuring Charley Davidson, private investigator and grim reaper. The story is irreverently funny to balance the darkness of the crimes, and when you add in a deliciously steamy romantic sub plot, you get a fun and suspenseful read. I won't spoil the surprise by revealing the identity of Charley's supernatural lover because the reveal sets up the next book in the series. The narrator of the audio book (available as a download through OverDrive) does an excellent job of matching the novel's tone.

Readers may also enjoy: Undead and Unwed by MaryJanice Davidson.

If you're looking for more books where ancient gods interfere with the modern world try:
Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips
American Gods by Neil Gaiman


Please stop by the Recommendations Desk on the first floor, check out NoveList Plus on the library's website, or visit W. 11th & Bluff next week for more reading suggestions. Or submit a Personal Recommendations request, and we'll create a reading list just for you!

Vote for Books! 2012 Results

The polls have closed and the results are in! By a small margin, Heather Gudenkauf's One Breath Away edged out Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James to be the 2012 Book of the Year!

Here's how the votes broke down:

Book of the Year 2012

One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf -  24%
Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James - 18%
Last to Die by Tess Gerritsen - 6%
Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult - 6%
A Wanted Man by Lee Child - 3%
The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling - 3%
Guilty Wives by James Patterson- 3%
Defending Jacob by William Landay- 0%
Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich- 0%

There were also a number of votes cast for write-in candidates:

A Grown-up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity  by Katherine Boo
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
My Two Moms: Lessons of Love, Strength and What Makes a Family by Zach Wahls
The Nao of Brown by Glyn Dillon
Sacre Bleu: A Comedy d'Art by Christopher Moore
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Would it Kill You to Stop Doing That?: A Modern Guide to Manners by Henry Alford

Click on any of the titles to find out more about the books, or view all the candidates and write-ins on our Pinterest board: http://pinterest.com/cspl/vote-for-books-2012/

Thanks to everyone that voted and made books count!

Best Seller Read-Alikes for the Week of November 4th

Can’t wait to get your hands on the latest best-seller, but the hold list is too long? To tide you over, every week we’ll offer similar titles and authors to the week’s fiction and nonfiction best sellers.

Fiction

At #1 this week in fiction is John Grisham's The Racketeer. Grisham's latest legal thriller centers around the murder of a federal judge and his attractive assistant. When the investigation stalls, imprisoned lawyer Malcolm Bannister (who is serving a 10 year sentence for  money laundering) tells the feds that he knows both the killer and the motive, but will only divulge the information in exchange for his freedom. In class Grisham style, the legal twists are numerous and effective. A fast-paced read for fans of Grisham and the genre.

Books and authors similar to Grisham include:

The Black Echo by Michael Connelly - Washed-up former hero cop Harry Bosch works to prove that the apparent overdose of a fellow Vietnam vet was actually a murder. Connelly is a crime reporter in Los Angeles and brings a strong authenticity to this procedural series. His writing is gritty and atmospheric with occasional forays into the gruesomely violent.

Final Jeopardy by Linda Fairstein - Fairstein’s series of fast-paced legal thrillers featuring Assistant D.A. Alexandra Cooper are gritty and suspenseful.  Fairstein takes inspiration from real crimes, and often has Alex juggle multiple cases. The first book is Final Jeopardy, when a woman on her way to Alex’s beach house is murdered, Alex’s life as Chief of the Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit becomes even more complex.

Dead Irish by John T. Lescroart - When the boss of ex-cop and current barkeep Dimas Hardy begins an investigation into the alleged suicide of his brother-in-law, also a friend of Hardy, Hardy steps in to help the troubled bar owner and becomes privy to lives of the victim's family in his attempt to find the killer. Dead Irish is the first in an ongoing series of Lescroart's popular legal thrillers that echo Grishman's swift pacing and legal twists.

Click here for more fiction bestsellers... 

Nonfiction

At #1 in non-fiction is Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot, Bill O'Reilly & Michael Dugard's follow-up to their bestseller detailing President Lincoln's assassination (Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever). O'Reilly and Dugard take the same route here, retelling the events leading up to the assassination of President Kennedy and how the event affected the nation and the world.

Books similar to Killing Kennedy include:

Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy by Vincent Bugliosi (973.922092 BUG) - Best known as the prosecutor of the Manson murders, Bugliosi presents a thorough analysis of the assassination of JFK and its surrounding conspiracy theories draws on forensic evidence, key witness testimonies, and other sources to explain what really happened and why conspiracy theories have become so popularized.

Jack Kennedy: An Elusive Hero by Christopher Matthews (Biog. Kennedy) - Based on interviews with some of his closest associates, Matthew creates a portrait of the thirty-fifth president, discussing his privileged childhood, military service, struggles with a life-threatening disease, and career in politics. More thoughtful that shocking, this biography delves deeper into the personal life of JFK.

The Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Medicine, Madness and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard (973.84 MIL) - A narrative account of James Garfield's political career offers insight into his background as a scholar and Civil War hero, his battles against the corrupt establishment, and Alexander Graham Bell's failed attempt to save him from an assassin's bullet.

Click here for more nonfiction bestsellers ...

If you'd like more recommendations, stop by the Recommendations Desk on the first floor, check out NoveList Plus on the library's website, or visit W. 11th & Bluff next week for more reading suggestions. Or submit a Personal Recommendations request, and we'll create a reading list just for you!

Vote today!

After so many months (years?) Election Day has finally arrived!

If you haven't already voted, as about 30% of Dubuque County has, the Iowa Secretary of State's website can help you find out if you're registered to vote and where your polling place is. Absentee voters can track their ballot here and military voters can also find information about how to cast their ballots here.

The Dubuque County Auditor's website also has helpful information for voters, including sample ballots, precinct maps, past election results, and contact information and the locations of election offices in Dubuque County.

Wisconsin voters can get information from the State of Wisconsin Government Accountability Board's website here. Illinois voters should visit the Illinois Board of Election's website here for assistance.

If you'd like to do some last minute research on the candidates, the TH has a great collection of election information here (remember, you can read the THonline for free at the library). For information about the Judicial Ballot, The Iowa Bar Association has published their yearly Judaical Performance Review here . If you're puzzled about some of the claims made by candidates, FactCheck.org is a good place to start.

Curious about the Electoral College? The National Archives hosts a website that describes the College's purpose and function here (it's a process, not a place!) You can also view past results and make your own map to predict and track election results. Or, you can watch School House Rock's musical explanation here!

And once you've performed your civic duty, reward yourself with this video of Internet sensation Maru attempting to fit into a series of small boxes. Because you've earned it!

Books to Movies, recent and upcoming

It would be easy to write a blog post every other month with updates on books classic and recent, obscure and popular that are making the transition to Hollywood. In addition to the coming excitement of Oscar Season, the fall holds a few action titles with literary beginnings. We've gathered a few together, with some reading suggestions.

Alex Cross, based on Cross by James Patterson
Release date: October 19
This is the third film based on Patterson's popular Alex Cross series. The first two films, Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider, star Morgan Freeman as Cross, while the most recent film stars Tyler Perry. The series starts with Along Came a Spider, and the next book, Merry Christmas, Alex Cross, comes out in November.
Readers may also enjoy:

• Rules of Prey by John Sandford, the first book in his Prey series featuring Lucas Davenport. Fast-paced, violent, and full of gritty details, these suspenseful mysteries mix elements of police procedurals with the psychology of the criminals.
• If I Should Die by Grace Edwards, the first book in her Mali Anderson series. Set in Harlem, this fast-paced series has a tough, intelligent, African-American woman as the detective. Anderson left the police force over racism and sexism, but when a murder is committed before her eyes, she puts her skills to use.

Cloud Atlas, based on Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Release date: October 26
Mitchell's experimental novel about the interconnections between the generations makes for a rather unusual movie, where stars like Halle Berry and Tom Hanks play multiple roles. It is a complex and thought-provoking novel that features Mitchell's skills at changing voice and style.
Readers may also enjoy:

• David Mitchell's most recent novel, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet, set in late 18th century Japan with a diverse cast of characters.
• If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino is the novel that helped to inspire Cloud Atlas  (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2004/may/22/fiction.italocalvino). This book includes ten different stories written in varied styles.

Anna Karenina, based on Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Release date: November 9
The latest in a series of film adaptations of this Russian classic about society's expectations and doomed love stars Keira Knightley and Jude Law, and should appeal to fans of luscious costume dramas. While you're waiting for the theatrical debut, you can check out the adaptation from 1934 starring Greta Garbo.
You may also enjoy:

• The Awakening by Kate Chopin. This highly controversial late Victorian novel of a woman dissatisfied with her marriage who begins a tragic affair. Chopin's novel shares a similar leisurely pace, though it is more lyrical than weighty.
• If you're looking for a good costume drama, try Phantom of the Opera, Marie Antoinette, or Vanity Fair. Vanity Fair is based on the novel of the same name by William Thackeray, about a young English girl who plots and schemes her way up the social ladder.

 
Life of Pi, based on Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Release date: November 21
Martel's haunting, suspenseful, and spiritual story of a young boy, Pi Patel, stranded at sea in a lifeboat with wild animals, including a tiger, will be guided to the big screen by director Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain).
You may also enjoy:

• A Girl Named Disaster by Nancy Farmer. This moving Newbery Honor book tells the story of an 11 year-old girl who has to make the dangerous journey from Mozambique to her father's family in Zimbabwe. Farmer incorporates many elements of the Shona spirit world in the book. Though Nhamo's journey is dangerous, she maintains her sense of humor.
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. This inspirational and reflective novel by the highly regarded Brazilian author has been translated into 71 different languages. A parable or fable about following your heart and the meaning of life, this story is spiritual and gives the reader much to consider.

Please stop by the Recommendations Desk on the first floor, check out NoveList Plus on the library's website, or visit W. 11th & Bluff next week for more reading suggestions. Or submit a Personal Recommendations request, and we'll create a reading list just for you!