NYT Summer Reads 2019

NYT Summer Reads 2019

The New York Times has picked their favorite summer reads, so grab your favorite cool beverage, chair, and the nearest patch of sunshine and get reading! A NEARLY NORMAL FAMILY by M. T. Edvardsson IN PUTIN’S FOOTSTEPS: Searching for the Soul of an Empire Across Russia’s Eleven Time Zones by Nina Khrushcheva and Jeffrey Tayler Know More » […]

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We’re Seeing Stars!

We’re Seeing Stars!

Holy starred reviews, Batman! Check out these forthcoming titles that earned two starred reviews! THE GUEST BOOK by Sarah Blake “This novel sets out to be more than a juicy family saga it aims to depict the moral evolution of a part of American society. Its convincing characters and muscular narrative succeed on both counts.”–Kirkus Know More » […]

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Monday Fun Day!

Monday Fun Day!

Thanks to the sage adage of our ancestors, we know that Monday is, in fact, Fun Day, and it's high time we began treating it that way! Today we've got a veritable* smörgåsbord of library and literary goodness for you. Enjoy!

opens in a new windowFirst and foremost, get up out of that rolly chair and join us in a standing ovation for the King County Library System, winner of the Gale/Library Journal Library of the Year Award.

"The innovations and programs, the creative management of KCLS resources, the ability to stretch but still serve the principles and core values of librarianship, the strong public support, and the vision for the system’s future make it clear that KCLS is more deserving than ever to be named Library of the Year." Library Journal

Hear, hear! I am particularly giddy about this announcement seeing as KCLS is the library system I grew up on. Way to go, KCLS.

In other super-awesome awards news, THE WAY OF KINGS by Brandon Sanderson won the 2010 DGLA Legend Award for Best Novel! And Simon Winder's travel romp, GERMANIA, was shortlisted for the 2011 Dolman Travel Book of the Year!

In getting-pumped-for-ALA-Annual news, Library Journal's Barbara Hoffert made a super convenient, printable PDF for this year's author signings and hot galley giveaways. View and print Barbara Hoffert's ALA Galley & Signing Guide 2011 here! Here's a sneak peek:

Barbara's ALA Picks

Oh, and a reminder for all you sci-fi fans: io9 is holding a book club discussion for THE QUANTUM THIEF on June 28th. I'll definitely be dropping by. Need convincing? Read the reviews!

And finally, this weekend I waited in line for a scrumptious burrito and morita lunch combo behind this brilliant fellow:

Never Underestimate 

Seriously good taste, my friend.

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Germania on the Dolman Travel Book of the Year Shortlist

Germania on the Dolman Travel Book of the Year Shortlist

We're not sure if it was the bizarre cuisine, the epic castles, the mad princes, or the horse-mating videos that caught the attention of the Dolman Travel Book Award committee, but it was something because Simon Winder's GERMANIA just made Dolman's shortlist for 2011 Travel Book of the Year!

Winder writes with a wish to reclaim the brilliant, chaotic, endlessly varied German civilization that the Nazis buried and ruined, and that, since 1945, so many Germans have worked to rebuild.

GERMANIA is an entertaining read covering serious topics---how we are misled by history, how we twist history, and how sometimes it is best to know no history at all. It's about the limits of language, the meaning of culture, and the pleasure of townscape. 

Booklist says, "[Winder's] account is loaded with enjoyable digressions on German food, the charm of medieval castles, and German composers. [...] This is an enjoyable, often amusing, often serious effort to understand a people who remain at the center of European civilization."

 

Kirkus Reviews calls GERMANIA "a cheerful, dryly unserious survey and travelogue through the landscape and psyche of Germany," and says, "[Winder] offers an impressive discussion of the shattering effects of World War I, both on Germany and the world."

The 2011 Dolman Travel Book of the Year will be awarded on the evening of July 6th at Hatchards Bookshop in London.

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