Read and discuss My Stroke of Insight, Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor's account of her stroke and remarkable recovery.  She will be speaking at the Wharton Center on March 1.

As the New York Times Review stated:  "Jill Bolte Taylor was a neuroscientist working at Harvard's brain research center when she experienced nirvana.  But she did it by having a stroke. On Dec. 10, 1996, Dr. Taylor, then 37, woke up in her apartment near Boston with a piercing pain behind her eye. A blood vessel in her brain had popped. Within minutes, her left lobe — the source of ego, analysis, judgment and context — began to fail her. Oddly, it felt great."

Find out why that was the case and discuss your thoughts with the Nonfiction Book Group.

Confirmed! There will be a drawing for book group attendees for a pair of free tickets to Dr. Bolte Taylor's presentation courtesy of the Wharton Center.

 "Shapes and Shadows"

Presented by paper sculpture artist:  Jane Clouthier

Pictures with depth and texture, as well as color, depicting deep shadowed forests, bright gardens and streams that shine are all made possible through the art of paper sculpture.

J. D. Salinger, best know for his novel The Catcher in the Rye, died Wednesday at his home in New Hampshire.
Other works by Salinger at ELPL include Nine Stories and Franny and Zooey.

Also check out Dream Catcher by Salinger's daughter, Margaret Ann Salinger.

To read the New York Times article about Salinger click here.

This year's Edgar nominees for best novel are:

• The Missing by Tim Gautreaux 
• The Odds by Kathleen George 
• The Last Child by John Hart 
• Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston 
• Nemesis by Jo Nesbø, translated by Don Bartlett 
• A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn 

The Edgar Award honors the best in the mystery genre. For a full list of the nominees click here.

Author Helen Frost must be a genius.  In her new book Crossing Stones, not only has she written a beautifully sensitive portrayal of two Michigan farm families during World War I, but she has done it in a "cupped-hand sonnet" form.  This is a 14-line poem in which the first line rhymes with the last line, the second line rhymes with the second-to-last, and so on, so that the 7th and 8th lines rhyme with each other at the poem's center.  In addition, the poems themselves are arranged as "stepping stones", or as the flowing creek that separates the Norman and Jorgenson family farms.  However, this structure does not detract from the lovely language that envelops the reader and that draws the reader into this story of love, heartache, acceptance and friendship.  The book also imparts a lot of American history that is not seen in too much teen fiction - World War I and its aftermath, and the woman's suffrage movement.  Highly recommended.