Prolific author Dick Francis passed away on Sunday at the age of 89. A champion jockey turned writer, Francis was best known for his horseracing thrillers. For a list of his books at the East Lansing Public Library click here.

New York Times Article.

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.

Best known for his Spencer detective series, Robert B. Parker wrote more than 60 books including westerns and young adult novels. His newest book Split Image will be available February 26, 2010.

New York Times Article

List of books in the East Lansing Public Library collection.

The New York Times has published their list of what they consider the best books of 2009. The books, both fiction and nonfiction, are listed below.

Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It by Maile Meloy

Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem

This year's National Book Award Winner for fiction is Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann.

The finalists for fiction this year included:

American Salvage by Bonnie Jo Campbell
In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin
Lark and Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips
Far North by Marcel Theroux

For a complete list of this year's winners and finalists visit the National Book Foundation website.

Check out our list of new books that are being released this December. Place a hold and be one of the first people to read one of these new titles.

Oprah's latest book club selection, Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan is now available as a Lit Kit.

For more information about Lit Kits and the titles available at the library click here.

Romanian-born German author Herta Muller won this year's Nobel Prize in Literature. Only 5 of her 20 books have been translated into English. ELPL has 2 of her books. For anyone interested in reading her other books copies can be interloaned through MelCat.

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel is this year's winner of the Man Booker Prize. The Man Booker Prize is Britain's top literary award.

Other books from this year's short list include:

The Children's Book by A. S. Byatt
Summertime by J. M. Coetzee

What's your favorite book? Adventures of Huckleberry Finn....Harry Potter....The Twilight Series....Captain Underpants...

Chances are good someone has tried to ban it.

The 2009 Hugo Awards, science fiction's most prestigious award, were announced earlier this month. The big winner for best novel this year is Neil Gaiman's, The Graveyard Book, which is also the 2009 Newbery Award Winner.

For a list of all this year's winners visit www.hugoawards.org.

The Soloist is a moving account of a gifted musician, Nathanial Ayers, whose promising career is shattered by mental illness. The book describes the complexities of mental illness and how sometimes the best one can hope for is progress, not cures. It also shows how a friendship changes the lives of two very different men. The author, Steve Lopez, learns that being a friend doesn’t mean that you need to save or change a person – you just need to be there and support them.

On March 12, 2666 by Roberto Bolano was picked as the winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction.

2666 tells the story about how an American sportswriter, an elusive German novelist, and a teenage student interact in an urban community on the U.S.-Mexico border where hundreds of young factory workers have disappeared.

Joseph O'Neill has won the 2009 PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction for his widely praised novel Netherland. Here's a brief summary.

Abandoned amid the offbeat inhabitants of the Chelsea Hotel when his English wife and son return to London following September 11th, Hans, a banker originally from the Netherlands, struggles to find himself in his adopted country.

To read The Washington Post article about the award click here.