Best Seller Read-Alikes for the Week of July 30th

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 is The Fallen Angel by Daniel Silva. The twelfth book in the Gabriel Allon series finds the ex-Mossad agent and art restorer back in Rome and at work restoring a Caravaggio. When the Pope's personal secretary discovers the body of a young woman underneath Michelangelo's dome, the death is ruled a suicide. Allon has doubts, and as he begins to investigate, he uncovers a ring of antiquities smugglers seeking revenge. Silva evokes an atmospheric and melancholy tone and his attentional to detail - in the unfolding of the plot and the historical elements that frame it- create complex and engrossing stories.

Authors similar to Daniel Silva include:

John le Carre - Called "the master of the spy thriller," le Carre is the creator of British undercover agent George Smiley, main character of the book and 2011 movie Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Le Carre's stylish and sophisticated novels are character-driven, having as much to do with the inner struggles of the main character as the political intrigue he is enmeshed in. Try The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1978).

Alan Furst - Furst writes compelling World War II spy thrillers set in Europe, often Paris. Atmosphere dominates, as does the sense of bleak melancholy that flavors Silva's plots. Try The World at Night (1996) for the claustrophobic feel of wartime Paris.

Barry Eisler - Eisler's most recent series features half-Japanese, half-American assassin John Rain who, alienated by both birth and profession, is looking to get out of the business. The series is rich in detail and the exotic locations the stories take place are richly rendered. The stories move at a fast pace and - like Silva's protagonist Allon - Rain struggles with the questionable morality that surrounds him. Start with the first in the series, Rain Fall (2002).

Click here for more fiction bestsellers...

Nonfiction 

Once again, there hasn't been much movement on the nonfiction best seller list. Still at #1 is Cheryl Strayed's Wild: From Lost to Found the Pacific Crest Trail, and you can find read-alikes for that title here. At #2 is Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. (read-alikes here), and at #3 is The Amateur: Barack Obama in the White House by Edward Klein (read-likes here). 

At #4 is a book that has been on the top 10 best seller's list for 43 weeks - Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard. Political commentator O'Reilly and author Dugard team up to create a blow-by-blow retelling of the events before and after Lincoln's assassination. Told in narrative style, the book is a fast-paced and descriptive imagining of events and reintroduces the theory of the secretary of war Edwin M. Stanton's involvement. O'Reilly and Dugard are currently working on a follow-up (due out in October), this time concerned with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Other books similar to Killing Lincoln include:

Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson (364.1524 SWA) - A fascinating and vivid account of the escape of John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln's assassin, takes readers along on the intensive search from the streets of Washington, D.C., through the swamps of Maryland, into the forests of Virginia, and into the lives of the men who pursued him.

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.

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.

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!

Record-breaking rainfall

North Fork of the Little Maquoketa
(click to enlarge)
Image courtesy of Chel H.

It may be hard to believe, but last year at this time the tri-state area was dealing with aftermath of record-breaking rainfall.

On the evening of July 27th, a frontal boundary stalled along the Highway 20 corridor, spawning a series of thunderstorms that inundated the tri-states with record rainfall. Here at the library, we watched the streets outside the library flood briefly and momentarily lost power. Lightening struck and damaged the Bishop's Block Building downtown, but the library escaped with little damage, especially compared to many others in Dubuque, East Dubuque and the surrounding area.

While we're no strangers to flash floods and extreme weather here, the July 27-28 event broke six rainfall records for Dubuque, including the most rainfall ever recorded in a 24-hour period (10.62 inches; previous record of 8.96 in 2002), most rainfall recorded in July (16.01 inches; previous record of 12.68 in 2010) and most rainfall recorded in a single month (16.01 inches, previous record of 15.46 inches in 1965). It also caused the Mississippi River to rise four feet in 12 hours, caused an estimated $2 million in damage, left many homeless and resulted in one fatality.

Mississippi River level
(click to enlarge)
Image courtesy of NOAA

The National Climatic Data Center collects and publishes storm data from around the nation, including observations from weather spotters, photographs and illustrations. To read the report for the July 27-28, 2011 event, visit the NDCD's Storm Data Publication website, and select 2011-07. A .pdf report will be created; information from the event begins on page 180.

For news accounts, the library offers access to past issues of the Telegraph Herald to regular card holders. Just go to our Research Databases page and select NewsBank. Login with your library card number and PIN, and then select Telegraph Herald from the list of available newspapers. Click here for a list of selected articles about the event (login required to view articles).

And for a look back at some extreme weather events - from Union park to the floods of 1965, 1993 and 2008 - check out these books:

• A Watershed Year: Anatomy of the Iowa Floods of 2008, ed. by Cornelia F. Mutel
• Flood of 1965 - vertical file (a collection of local news stories and photographs)
• Iowa's Lost Summer: The Flood of '93, ed. by Mike Wegner, Lyle Boone and Tim Cochran
• Superstorms: Extreme Weather in the Heart of the Heartland by Terry Swails
• Union Park, A Place of Memories by Michael Boge
• Un-Natural Disasters: Iowa's EF5 Tornado and the Historic Floods of 2008 by Terry Swails and Carolyn S. Wettstone

17th Street Flood by cypotter



Dubuque flood (behind John Deere) by ZimmyBuffett



Sources: National Climatic Data Center, NOAA, National Weather Service, and the Telegraph Herald.

Spotlight on the Olympics

Today is the start of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, you can follow the action at the official website: www.london2012.com or through NBC: www.nbcolympics.com

In honor of the excitement, Swimming World Magazine has been our  magazine of the month for July, and we've gathered together a few books (and a few DVDs) that capture the Olympic spirit for today's blog post.

Gold by Chris Cleave
The highly anticipated* third novel by Chris Cleave, author of Little Bee, delves into the world of competitive cycling. Grueling training, years of rivalry and competition have been the basis Kate and Zoe's friendship. At 32, the London Olympics will likely be their last chance to win gold, but would a win be worth?
*Well, at least I've been waiting anxiously.

Running the Rift by Naomi Benaron
This character-driven story is set before and during the 1994 Rwandan genocide and was awarded the Bellwether Prize. Jean Patrick trains hard to escape his rural Tutsi village and compete in the Olympics. Though the violence to come is unsettling, Ms. Benaron’s novel also humanity's capacity for beauty and goodness.

Swimming by Nicola Keegan
Ms. Keegan's first novel, Swimming, captures the refuge and escape that can be found in the pool. Pip is a born swimmer, and turns to the water early to escape her turbulent, often destructive family, and her own awkward youth. Pip achieves success at the highest levels, competing in the Olympics during the '80s, but finds it difficult to define herself outside the water. Ms. Keegan writes with humor and a real understanding of what it means to be a swimmer, but her use of profanity may not be for all readers.

The Games by Ted Kosmatka
Mr. Kosmatka's page-turner of a first novel is set in a near future world where the Olympics are dominated by an event where genetically engineered creatures fight to the death, a set up ripe for disaster. The bloody action, moral questions, scientific detail, and intriguing characters hold appeal for fans of Michael Crichton in particular.

Movies and Documentaries
Dare to Dream (DVD 796.334082) A documentary of the U.S. Women's Olympic soccer team of 2004.

One Day in September (DVD 796.48) A documentary about the murder of 11 Israeli athletes during the 1972 Munich Games.

Chariots of Fire (DVD Feature) Story of two English runners that were both driven by different means to win the Olympics. One used his faith in God, and the other his hatred of Anti-Semitism.

Charlie Chan at the Olympics (DVD Feature) This mystery pits Charlie Chan against international spies who are using the Berlin Olympic games as the perfect cover for cold-blooded murder. The detective is aided by his son who just happens to be on the U.S. swim team.

Miracle (jDVD Feature) Based on the true story of the most famous team in the history of American sports: the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team. Follow from the team's selection process to the ultimate victory over Finland for the gold.

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!