New Recommendations for May:

We love some of the new titles on this month's list! The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney is an absorbing and beautifully written mystery set on the Canadian frontier.
Unknown Means by Elizabeth Becka is for the fans of a more fast-paced mystery. This book features a female forensic specialist investigating murders, in the vein of Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta series.
20th Century Ghosts is a compilation of short horror stories by Joe Hill. Hill is often compared to Steven King, so if you are a King fan, check out his book.
In non-fiction, we love Kao Kalia Yang's The Latehomecomer. Her book is a powerful memoir of growing up with her extended Hmong family, and it details their moves from Laos to a refugee camp in Thailand and then to America.
For those of you who are trying to eat well and show concern for the earth and animals, you may want to read The Compassionate Carnivore by Catherine Friend. The author is a farmer and she writes about the ways that we can all make better choices about the food we eat, without going vegetarian.
In the Advice section there is a title that will be of interest to parents of toddlers: Is It a Big Problem, or a Little Problem? by Amy Egan explores preschooler's social, emotional, and motor development and when intervention or action might be necessary. Also in the Advice section we are impressed with Diabetes Fit Food by Ellen Haas. These are really good recipes from top chefs who use fresh and natural ingredients.
For more recommendations, check out the entire Beyond the Best Seller List in the Library. And stay tuned for a summer reading program for adults!

We are celebrating Spring here at the Library, and with it we have a nice lineup of books to suggest for the month of April and beyond. Fiction readers, there's a lot to choose from: We recommend Dark Tide by Andrew Gross. It's a page-turner of a thriller, and it is set locally, or somewhat locally.....in Greenwich and Stamford CT. We recommended this book on our list a week ago, and what do you know, now it is on the NY Times Bestseller List. The power of our suggestion? We'll never know. Gross spoke at the library last evening, and he proved to be a very entertaining and informing. We will soon have a DVD of last night's presentation, so if you like the book, check out the DVD as well.

The English American by Alison Larkin is a really poignant and yet very funny autobiographical novel about a young British woman who finds out that her birthparents are American. She seeks out her birthmother and then finds herself really caught between two cultures. If you are interested in issues of cultural identity and adoption or simply want an entertaining book pick this one up.

A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian by Marina Lewycka has enchanted Library staff members are patrons alike. It is the story of an older widower who wants to marry a young woman, and his daughter's reaction to his choice.

If you are a fan of Philippa Gregory's novels about the Tudors, try this nonfiction recommendation: Elizabeth and Leicester: power, passion, and politics by Sarah Gristwood. It is a dual biography that explores the lifelong relationship between Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.

Sports and biography fans: The talented biographer Leigh Montville has published a new biography of Babe Ruth: The Big Bam: the Life and Times of Babe Ruth .

Lastly, a nod to Spring and the annual Spring Cleaning: Organic Housekeeping by Ellen Sandbeck will teach you ways to keep your home clean without toxic chemicals. After your Spring cleaning is done, take some of these other recommendations and read them in your backyard or in Waveny Park. We didn't have such a tough winter but Spring is always welcome!

Our patrons love a good mystery, and the Library staff does, too. Even better is a chance to meet mystery writers! We have such an opportunity coming up here at the Library on Monday March 11. Three mystery authors will be joining us in the Lamb Room for lunch and book talks. So naturally on our March list we are recommending their new books! Pushing Up Daisies by Rosemary Harris features a budding landscape designer who turns sleuth to solve a mystery right here in Connecticut. Yesterday's Fatal by Jan Brogan is about a mysterious death that is ruled an accident, but an investigative reporter digs in to investigate. The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny features Chief Inspector Armand Gamache solving a perplexing murder in Quebec. We have multiple copies of all these books. Come in and take one home and sign up to attend the lunch and book talk on Monday the 11th.

Also on the Fiction list of recommendations, we have a new book by Jacqueline Mitchard: Still Summer. Three friends and one daughter set sail for a grand adventure but it turns into a survival story when the weather turns against them.

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day: Tipperary by Frank Delaney. The author tells the history of late 19th and early 20th century Ireland, though one man's experiences. We are thrilled that the author will be here on Sunday March 16.
Great nonfiction reading recommendations: Shadow of the Silk Road by Colin Thurbon is a fascinating record of travels that entertains and instructs. The author made his way via bus, truck, car, donkey cart, and camel. Great armchair travel reading for this time of year!

House Lust: America's obsession with our homes by Daniel McGinn is a must-read. Have you become absorbed in construction projects in your own home? Do you keep adding on and building bigger? Do you read the real estate ads even though you have no plan to move? If you do any of these things, you have house lust, according to the author. He does a nice job of dissecting how we got to this point...especially since we all grew up in smaller homes ourselves. Another home-related book is The Warmest Room in the House: how the kitchen became the heart of the twentieth-century home by Steve Gdula. The author traces the history of the kitchen in the American home. An entertaining read and a trip down memory lane as well.

Keep reading...and tell us what books you have enjoyed lately!

For great midwinter reading, our February selections contain something for everyone. In Mystery Fiction we recommend The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam by Chris Ewan. This book features a crime writer who dabbles in thievery himself to supplement his income from writing. We have plenty of praise for Lawrence Goldstone's Anatomy of Deception. His book is a page-turning mystery with the history of medicine and surgery as the setting. Whether you have read the book or not, come see the author on February 7 at 7:30PM in the Library. Mr. Goldstone has spoken here before and has proved to be a very engaging speaker.

Fiction suggestions include The Air We Breathe by Andrea Barrett, set in the early 1900's in a tuberculosis sanatorium. Her book contains vivid details of the regime for TB patients and a look at tenement life in New York City.

Non fiction readers, if you are into golf you will enjoy Andrew Grieg's Preferred Lies. The author had a memory problem following surgery and he used golf to regain his grip. This book takes the reader on a trip through 18 Scottish courses as the author relearns golf and life.

Tahir Shah presents Morocco in The Caliph's House, much as Peter Mayle presented Provence in his books. Shah buys a crumbling house in Casablanca and learns about everyday life and society in Morocco.

For lighthearted entertainment. pick up The Best of Ogden Nash. This hefty volume of lighthearted poetry is edited by his daughter.



In the Advice section we recommend 97 Things to Do Before You Finish High School. This is a good choice for high school seniors to take a look at before they go off to college. Among it's 97 suggestions there are things like cooking, planning a road trip, and learning one's blood type.

We hope that you enjoy the books on February's list, our Valentine to you! Let us know what you think.

Happy New Year! What a nice lineup of suggestions we have for our patrons. The January Beyond the BestSeller List is loaded with reading for winter nights and all the other times you want to get into a new book.
Mystery readers, we are happy to report that John Mortimer has a new Rumpole installment out for us: Rumpole Misbehaves. Doesn't he always?
Hidden Moon by James Church is a fascinating mystery set in North Korea. I am currently reading and enjoying the first book from this author featuring Inspector O..that one is titled The Corpse in the Koryo.
Other recommended fiction includes A Taxonomy of Barnacles by Galt Niederhoffer, a clever comedy about a well-off Manhattan family, with homage to King Lear, Darwin, and Austen. Throw Like a Girl are twelve masterful short stores from Jean Thompson that address secrets of womanhood, from youth to experience.
In non-fiction Red: the next generation of American writers-teenage girls on what fires up their lives today. will appeal to teenage girls as well as their parents. The Museum of the Missing: a history of art theft by Simon Houpt is a fascinating read. There are so many unsolved mysteries in the art world, and apparently, so many daring and clever thieves.
Best of Vogue Knitting Magazine is a rich collection of patterns and articles from top designers. Knitters who haven't subscribed for the last 25 years (I have!) will want to see this lovely volume.
An Introduction to Dyslexia for Parents and Professionals is a good practical guide that covers testing, remediation, and other problems that may affect your child's reading.

This is just a smattering of what we have to offer on the January list, so do pick up a copy and see what else we have recommended.
We are always open to your suggestions, as well! So let us know what you've been reading!

It's a Mystery to me, how many mysteries there are out there to read!! For all of you mystery readers, I'm working on a program with a panel of Mystery writers. In the "Have You Read Category?", I have some authors I would like to suggest to readers and I hope you tell me who you read, like to read and what type of mysteries are your favorites. Old, new, whatever, if there's a murder, it's a go!



As Agatha Christie said, " Every murder is probably somebody's old friend". And so, we are always looking to meet up with old friends.

Have you read ? Check out the new titles!

Karen E. Olson, Sacred Cows, Secondhand Smoke and Dead of the Day


Louise Penny, A Fatal Grace, Still Life, and the soon to be released The Cruelest Month.


Laura Lippmann, Baltimore Noir, By a Spider's Thread, Every Secret Thing, In a Strange City, The Last Place, No Good Deeds and many more including the 2007 What the Dead Know.

Also, we are pleased to have J.A. Jance, author of many books including, Bark M for Murder, Breach of Duty, Day of the Dead, Dead Wrong, Desert Heat, Exit Wounds, Justice Denied, Long Time Gone, and Lying in Wait speaking at the Library on January 27th at 4:00 pm. Copies of her newest mystery, Hand of Evil will be available for purchase and a booksigning and reception will follow her talk.

Who is your favorite? What are you reading now?

All women authors this time, next time the men.

We have seen the first snowfall in New Canaan and felt the chill of the coming winter. We know that the holidays are upon us...Hanukkah begins tonight, and then Christmas will be just around the corner. For our December Beyond the Best Seller List we have chosen holiday titles that will put you in a holiday spirit or perhaps provide you with a welcome time of respite from holiday happenings. The fiction list features new titles set in December or with holiday themes. If you have "had it" with holiday preparations you might want to pick up On Strike for Christmas by Sheila Roberts. It is reminiscent of Grisham's "Skipping Christmas" but with a twist: this time the wives go on strike and the husbands have to step up to the plate if they want to celebrate the holidays. Christmas Stories: edited by Diana Secker Tesdell is a lovely anthology of classic Christmas tales. Dickens, Bowen, Cather, and Conan Doyle are featured in this volume.

On the nonfiction side we recommend Cross Country Skiing: building skills for fun and fitness by Steve Hindman. Think of the fun you can have in Waveny Park or at the Nature Center! Since it is time for donating and year-end tax planning we recommend two books relating to giving: Ron Jordan and Katelynn Quynn's Invest in Charity: a donor's guide to charitable giving will help you evaluate charities, and Who Really Cares by Arthur C. Brooks tells why giving to charity matters.

For December parties we recommend The Art of Mingling by Jeanne Martinet to get you through that dreaded office party. If you are the one throwing the party, check out The Pastry Queen Christmas by Rebecca Rather. It is more than pastry, with recipes, meal plans, and advice for smooth entertaining.



Happy Holiday reading from your Library!