Bestseller Read-Alikes for the week of April 2nd

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
This week's #1 book on the fiction bestsellers list is Stay Close by Harlan Coben. In Coben's latest stand-alone thriller, three people are living lives they never wanted, hiding secrets that even those closest to them would never suspect, and will find that the past doesn't always fade away. Even as the terrible consequences of long-ago events crash together in the present and threaten to ruin lives, they will come to the startling realization that they may not want to forget the past after all.

Other authors with similar writing styles to Coben include:

Stuart Woods -One of the mystery/thriller genre's best writers, Woods writes engrossing page-turners that are often cinematic in scope. Plots center around criminal or political investigations and feature twists, turns, betrayals and non-stop action. Usually set in the South, his novels are rich in dialogue. Try Under the Lake (1999).

Robert Crais - Another best-selling mystery author, Crais writes both series and stand-alone novels. His stand-alone novels are often filled with high-stakes tension, cinematic action sequences,unexpected plot-twists and memorable lead characters. Try Hostage (2001).

Click here for more fiction bestsellers...

Nonfiction 

This week's #1 nonfiction book is Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer. In his latest book, journalist Lehrer examines the science of creativity and explains how it involves distinct thought processes that can be tapped by anyone, revealing the practices of successful companies and creative individuals while considering how to use scientific principles to increase creativity. Lehrer's other books Proust was a Neuroscientist (2007) and How We Decide (2009) are similar explorations into the workings of the human mind.

Other books similar to Imagine include:

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahnman - Psychologist Kahnman draws on years of research to introduce his "machinery of the mind" model on human decision making to reveal the faults and capabilities of intuitive versus logical thinking.

Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative by Ken Robinson - TED lecturer Robinson offers his views on understanding creative thinking in education and business. He argues that people and organizations everywhere are dealing with problems that originate in schools and universities and that many people leave education with no idea at all of their real creative abilities. Robinson then calls for radically different approaches to leadership and teaching.

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!

Haiku, brief phrases / and descriptive words turning / snow into blossoms

Cherry Blossoms By John-Morgan

To celebrate National Poetry Month, Carnegie-Stout Public Library is having a Library Haiku Contest!

To enter your library haiku, come in to the library and pick up an entry form at the Recommendations Desk on the first floor or the Reference Desk on the second floor. You may also submit your entry as a comment here, or you may use our Contact Us form found by clicking here.

Entries must be submitted by Friday April 6th to be considered for the contest.

Not sure how to write a haiku? We're using the simple rules.
A first line of 5 syllables
A second line of 7 syllables
A third line of 5 syllables

Our winners will be displayed on the announcement monitors in the library, as part of our Poetry Month display, and posted to our Blog and Facebook pages.

Need inspiration? Check out some of the haiku collections available at Carnegie-Stout:
Baseball Haiku: American and Japanese Haiku and Senryu on Baseball edited by Cor van den Heuvel and Nanae Tamura (811 BAS)

Cherry-Blossoms: Japanese Haiku by Basho, Buson, Issa, Shiki, and others (895.61 CHE)

Essential Haiku: Versions of Basho, Buson, and Issa edited by Robert Hass (895.613208 ESS)

The Haiku Handbook: How to Write, Share and Teach Haiku by William J. Higginson with Penny Harter (808.1 HIG)

Haiku: This Other World by Richard Wright (811.52 WRI)

Listen to Light: Haiku by Raymond Roseliep ( 811 ROS (Ia Bks)

Rabbit in the Moon: Haiku by Raymond Roseliep (811 ROS, IA Bks)

The River Knows the Way: Haiku and Senryu by Francine Banwarth, Cynthia Cechota, David McKee, Jayne Miller, and Bill Pauly (811 RIV, IA Bks)

Silent Flowers; a Collection of Japanese Haiku edited by R. H. Blyth (895.613 SIL)

Twenty Days on Route 20 by Michael Czarnecki (811.54 CZA)

Zombie Haiku by Ryan Mecum (818.602 MEC)

"The Family Fang" by Kevin Wilson

I did not have great expectations the first time I checked out The Family Fang. I'd seen a good review somewhere and added it to my list without paying much attention. Mr. Wilson's first novel then spent three weeks getting bumped lower and lower on the To Read pile until, finally, it was due the next day.

I freely admit that the title had me thinking it was yet another vampire book (specifically, The Radleys by Matt Haig). You can imagine my surprise when I finally opened to the first chapter and found, not a family drama about blood sucking, but a family drama about performance art.

I loved the forty or so pages I was able to read before reluctantly having to return the book for the next person on the holds list. When the end of year Best of 2011 lists started to come out, and "The Family Fang" showed up, I really kicked myself. And then I placed another hold.

There are many parts to this novel that I loved. Every other chapter is an account of an Event; one of the insane art pieces created by the Fangs and their children. The opposite chapters tell of the Fang children's, Buster and Annie's, lives as adults, and how profoundly their childhoods have screwed them up.

I adored the dark humor of this book, and the chapter about the chicken coupons was one of the funniest things I've ever read. I found myself entirely invested in Annie and Buster's quest to understand their parents final artistic event, but I was somewhat disappointed by how things wrapped up (vague, I know, but I don't want to spoil anyone).

I'll definitely be adding Kevin Wilson's first work, a short story collection called Tunneling to the Center of the Earth that was awarded a Shirley Jackson Award in 2009, to my To Be Read list.

~Sarah, Adult Services

"Poetry" & "Poets and Writers," Magazines of the Month

April is National Poetry Month, and so we've selected two poetry magazines as this month's feature.

Poetry has been published monthly since 1912 by the Poetry Foundation, located in Chicago, IL. That makes this year their 100th year of publication! You can browse the contents of past issues at their website, as well as enjoy poetry podcasts.

Poets and Writers was founded in 1970, and is the nation's largest nonprofit literary organization serving poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. They sponsor writing contests, discussion forums for writers and more at their website.

Be sure to stop in to Carnegie-Stout this month to check out our celebration of National Poetry Month! We're sponsoring a Poetry Roundtable / 3 poets: 3 voices, 3 visions on April 11, 2012, at 7:00 PM in Aigler Auditorium. Three talented and published poets with Dubuque connections will read from their work and talk about poetry: Lauren Alleyne, Francine Banwarth, and James Pollock.

Dear Carnegie-Stout, What Should I Read?

Carnegie-Stout is here to help you find the information you need, including fun reading suggestions! Have you tried our Personal Recommendations program yet?

By filling out a short survey of your reading tastes, we'll be able to come up with a list of books and authors we think you'll enjoy!

Stop by the Recommendations Desk on the first floor to talk with a staff member and pick up a paper form, print a pdf version and bring it in, or submit your request online.

We also offer quick reading suggestions once a month on our Facebook page. Our next session will be on Wednesday, April 18th.

To give you an idea of our skills, we're posting our responses to some recent patron questions. Feel free to leave your own questions in the comments section!









Dear Cat Lover,
This is a problem familiar to every librarian. What to do with all that extra cat hair? Might we suggest Crafting with Cat Hair (745.5 TSU), so much more creative than shaving your furry friend.
-Carnegie-Stout









Dear Help!
If it's been a few years since you've picked up a novel, you might want to check out How to Read a Book by Mortimer Jerome Adler and Charles van Doren (028 ADL). If your new clubs simply selected a deadly dull tome try How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read by Pierre Bayard (809 BAY).
-Carnegie-Stout










Dear Anxious,
Try It Sucked and then I Cried: how I had a baby, a breakdown, and a much needed margarita (306.8743 ARM) by popular blogger Heather Armstrong.
-Carnegie-Stout









Dear Globe Trotter,
We recommend Miracle in the Andes (982.6 PAR), a true story of a terrible plane crash and subsequent cannibalism.
-Carnegie-Stout











Dear April,
A road trip may be just what the doctor ordered! Might we suggest You Can Get Arrested For That: 2 guys, 25 dumb laws, 1 absurd American crime spree (349.73 SMI) for inspiration?
-Carnegie-Stout