Books & Bagels will be discussing the popular book (and now movie) The Lightning Thief on Saturday, March 13 from 2-3 pm. Books & Bagels is for children in grades 4-6. We'll talk about the book, enjoy bagels and cream cheese, then have fun making origami creatures from Greek mythology. FREE!

I rarely have "Oh my God!" moments when reading a book, but I did when I read Audrey Niffenegger's latest work Her Fearful Symmetry. You might recognize the author's last name because she penned the best-selling novel (and movie) The Time Traveler's Wife. Her current work is about a set of twins, their extremely close relationship, their relationship with their

I must admit I first chose this book because of its lovely cover: a hummingbird noses a pretty pink flower on a background of lavender and green.   And the inside is just as sweet.  This book has been described as “Steel Magnolias” meets “The Help”, but I think it reminds me more of “The Secret Life of Bees”.

 CeeCee Honeycutt is twelve years old and has spent her life dealing with her mentally ill mother and absent father.  After her mother dies tragically, her great aunt Tootie sweeps in and takes CeeCee to live with her in Savannah .  Tootie is a rich widow, and CeeCee lives in the luxury of a gorgeous southern mansion, complete with a beautiful garden, a loving housekeeper who is a great cook, and an assortment of eccentric women friends of her aunt.

 This lacks the depth of “Bees”, though. Aunt Tootie is almost too good to be true, as is Oletta, her housekeeper.  Conflicts that arise are easily and perhaps unrealistically solved.  Even the annoying neighbor is not quite bad enough to deserve everyone’s hatred and the accident that befalls her – she’s stupid and silly, but not really evil.

And yet I found myself looking forward to picking up the book.  It was like grabbing a rocking chair on Aunt Tootie’s porch and observing her garden and lady friends -full of color and warmth and contentedness.

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.

One of the most popular novels of 2009, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, will be discussed at  Book Talk on Tuesday, January 26, from 7-8:30 pm.  The author, an acclamied short-story writer, has written his first novel - the story of Henry Lee, a recent widower, who relives his childhood in Seattle and his first love, Keiko, whose family ends up being relocated to a Japanese internment camp.

Guest speaker: Dr. Iwao Ishino will talk about his family's experiences in Japanese internment camps during WWII.

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.

Take a look at some of the new books available in February.

Able One by Ben Bova
Apple Turnover Murder by Joanne Fluke
Aunt Dimity Down Under by Nancy Atherton

The votes are in! BookBrowse.com has announced the 2009 BookBrowse Favorite Awards.  Over 4,000 votes were submitted, and the winners are...

• Overall Winner: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

What would happen if vampires ruled the world by night?  What would it be like if humans were the minority and bred on blood farms?  Or made to be stars of television shows where all they did was live?  Would being a vampire be as exciting, or would it be lonely if everyone around you were vamped, including the animals?

Find out in this exciting new twist of the vampire genre by engimatic writer David Snosnowski. 

Take a look at some of the new books available in January.

Alice I have been by Melanie Benjamin
Among thieves by David Hosp
Arms-commander by L. E. Modesitt
Assassins of Athens : A Greek Mystery by Jeffrey Siger

I read several reviews of this title, and initially thought I would pass on it. But I decided to give it a listen in my car. It's a story of the Holocaust but told from yet another viewpoint, and the story jumps back and forth from 1942 to the present. The main character, Julia, and her husband are renovating a family apartment in Paris that belonged to Julia's mother-in-law. Through one thing and another, Julia discovers that a Jewish family once lived in the apartment and in 1942 were brutally arrested in the Vel’ d’Hivâ roundup and sent to concentration camps.

Books have just been selected for our January and February meetings!

January 12 @ 6:30pm:  Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon

February 9 @ 6:30pm: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind : creating currents of electricity and hope by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer

Please join us for drinks and discussion!  We meet at Dublin Square Irish Pub in downtown East Lansing.

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.