BOOK SPOTLIGHT: Napoleon in America

Napoleon in America 

by Shannon Selin


What if Napoleon Bonaparte had escaped from St. Helena and wound up in the United States?  The former French Emperor Napoleon has been imprisoned on a small dark rock in the Atlantic since his defeat at Waterloo in 1815. Rescued in a state of near-death by Gulf pirate Jean Laffite, Napoleon lands in New Orleans, where he struggles to regain his health aided by voodoo priestess Marie Laveau.




It is unusual for me to learn about a book when it's publisher is small and Canadian.  However, Shannon Selin's alternate history debut is highly praised by Kirkis Reviews:

      Evocative and immersive, Selin’s debut historical fiction twists
Napoleon’s fate … vigorous, engrossing and remarkably realistic. A
thorough, sweeping novel with seamless transitions from the real to the imagined.

Are Napoleon's intentions as peaceful as he says they are? His brother Joseph pleads with him to settle peacefully in New Jersey. Opponents of the Bourbon regime expect him to reconquer France. French Canadians beg him to seize Canada from Britain. American adventurers urge him to steal Texas from Mexico.  And what of Napoleon's ten-year-old son, trapped in the velvet fetters of the Austrian court?
If you enjoy alternate history or 19th century historical fiction, Napoleon in America is for you. 

Tyson

Andrew Carnegie Medal Shortlist for Fiction and Nonfiction Announced

The American Library Association has announced the finalists for the prestigious Andrew Carnegie Medal.  The books selected represent the best American adult titles published in the previous calendar year.  The winner will be announced at ALA's June meeting.  

In the meantime, here are great titles to add to your spring/summer reading list OR click on the links and reserve a copy at our library right now!  Remember we also offer these titles on Book on CD and Downloadable E-Book & Audiobook.

 

2014 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction Shortlist

The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism. By Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital. By Sheri Fink.

On Paper: The Everything of Its Two-Thousand-Year History. By Nicholas A. Basbanes.

2014 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction Shortlist

Americanah. By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Claire of the Sea Light. By Edwidge Danticat.

The Goldfinch. By Donna Tartt.

SH

Book Spotlight: The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
by Claire North

SOME STORIES CANNOT BE TOLD IN JUST ONE LIFETIME.

Harry August is on his deathbed. Again.

No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry always returns to where he began, a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before. Nothing ever changes.

Until now.

As Harry nears the end of his eleventh life, a little girl appears at his bedside. "I nearly missed you, Doctor August," she says. "I need to send a message."This is the story of what Harry does next, and what he did before, and how he tries to save a past he cannot change and a future he cannot allow.

North has written a mystery involving Harry August, an immortal who is reborn after death, and retains the memories of his previous lives. This book is full of plot and there's a lot going on as the story ranges back and forth in time as episodes of Harry's past lives are reveled.

The author Claire North is a pseudonym for an acclaimed British author, with several published novels, who's real name is being kept secret for now.

Tyson

Can you guess who it is?

MASSBOOK MUST-READS ANNOUNCED

Support Massachusetts authors and read the books selected for the Massachusetts Must-Read list for
2014!  The four categories are Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Children's/Young Adult.  These books created by Massachusetts authors and books about Massachusetts have been chosen because they will lead to conversations in the community.

The titles currently available in Minuteman are linked to our catalog so you can place a request and read a summary of the book and it's reviews.  Contact the library if you would like to request a title that is not currently in the catalog.

Pick up one of these titles today and share with your friends and book groups.

Fiction
Along the Watchtower, David Litwack (Double Dragon)
The Celestials, Karen Shepard (Tin House)
The Hanging Judge, Michael Ponsor (Open Road Media)
News from Heaven, Jennifer Haigh (Harper)
Together Tea, Marjan Kamali (Ecco)
Vatican Waltz, Roland Merullo (Crown)

NonfictionBook of Ages, Jill Lepore (Knopf)
A Fort of Nine Towers, Qais Akbar Omar (FSG)
Breach of Trust, Andrew Bacevich (Metropolitan)
The Last Train to Zona Verde, Paul Theroux (HMH)
Margaret Fuller, Megan Marshall (HMH)
Miss Anne in Harlem, Carla Kaplan (Harper)






Poetry

Belmont, Stephen Burt (Graywolf)
Boy Singing to Cattle, Mark D. Hart (Pearl Editions)
Frost in the Low Areas, Karen Skolfield (Zone 3 Press )
Grass Whistle, Amy Dryansky (Salmon)
Inside the Splintered Wood, Myles Gordon (Tebot Bach )
Strange Borderlands, Ben Berman (Able Muse)
  

Children's/Young Adult
The Extra, Kathryn Lasky (Candlewick)
White Fur Flying, Patricia MacLachlan (McElderry/S&S)
Journey, Aaron Becker (Candlewick)
Garden Princess, Kristin Kladstrup (Candlewick)
The First Drawing, Mordicai Gerstein (Little, Brown BYR)
A Place for Turtles, Melissa Stewart (Peachtree) 





SH

Book Spotlight: Daughter of the King

Daughter of the King: Growing Up in Gangland
 by Sandra Lansky and William Stadiem

 
Sandi Lansky Lombardo grew up the only daughter of Meyer Lansky. Lansky known as the “Mobs Accountant” developed a gambling empire which stretched from Las Vegas, to Cuba and the Bahamas to London.  For decades he was thought to be one of the most powerful individuals in the country. 

Sandi was raised in upper-class Jewish splendor, first at the Majestic Hotel and then at the Beresford, she attended at finishing schools and fancy stables. She partied till dawn at El Morocco and the Stork Club and was the Paris Hilton of her day, dating the biggest celebrities of the era. Her life was not without heartbreak and tragedy, including the insanity of her mother, and the crippling handicap of her baby brother.

Tyson

 

Book Spotlight: Red Rising

Red Rising
 by Pierce Brown

  A new adult novel set in a dystopian society for readers who liked The Hunger Games and Divergent. Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children. But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. 

Soon he discovers that humanity reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow and Reds like him, are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class. 

Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power.He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society's ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies, even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

Tyson

Book Spotlight: Trapped Under the Sea

Trapped under the Sea: One Engineering Marvel Five Men, and a Disaster Ten Miles into the Darkness
 
by Neil Swidey

The harrowing story of five men who were sent into a dark, airless, miles-long tunnel, hundreds of feet below the ocean, to do a nearly impossible job with deadly results. Twenty five years ago, Boston had the dirtiest harbor in America. The city had been dumping sewage into it for generations, coating the seafloor with a layer of "black mayonnaise." Fisheries collapsed, wildlife fled, and locals referred to floating tampon applicators as "beach whistles.

 In the 1990s, work began on a state-of-the-art treatment plant and a 10-mile-long tunnel,its endpoint stretching farther from civilization than the earth's deepest ocean trench, to carry waste out of the harbor. With this impressive feat of engineering, Boston was poised to show the country how to rebound from environmental ruin. But when bad decisions and clashing corporations endangered the project, a team of commercial divers was sent on a perilous mission to rescue the stymied cleanup effort. 

   What is the true cost of these large-scale construction projects, as designers and builders, emboldened by new technology and pressured to address a growing population's rapacious needs, push the limits of the possible? This is a story about human risk how it is calculated, discounted, and transferred and the institutional failures that can lead to catastrophe.  

Tyson

New Mystery and Fiction for April

What's coming out in Mystery and Fiction for April?  Here are a few titles:

Destroyer Angel: An Anna Pigeon Novel by Nevada Barr
A vacation trip to the Iron Range in Minnesota goes wrong and US Park Service ranger Anna Pigeon is on the case.

To Dwell in Darkness by Deborah Crombie
Married London detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James are off on another case.  This time there's been a deadly bombing at a London train station.

Death on Blackheath: A Charlotte and Thomas Pitt Novel by Anne Perry
Another Victorian era historical mystery from Anne Perry.  Thomas Pitt, commander of the Special Branch, investigates a murder case which may put national security at risk.

Keep Quiet by Lisa Scottoline
A man makes a split-second decision to protect his son and serious consequences follow.

hoopla is Here!

hoopla's Here!!!

 

 

                   

          

 Why are we so excited?

Beginning this month, Wellesley Free Library Card holders will have access to thousands of movies (at least 2 years old), television shows, music  

albums and audiobooks -- all available for mobile and online access -- through hoopla. 


You may stream on your computer or use the hoopla app to view and listen on your phone or tablet.  AND most importantly, there is no waiting.  The titles are ALWAYS available!  
 

 It's easy to do:

• Have your Wellesley Library Card out and sign up at http://www.hoopladigital.com

• If you are using a mobile device (phone, tablet, etc.) download the app at the bottom of the hoopla page or from the Apple App Store or Google play Store.  (If you are using a computer, the file will simply stream so no need for an app).

• Log in to Hoopla on your mobile device or PC

• Browse, borrow, and enjoy 5 digital videos, music or audiobooks per library card each month.

• Borrowed titles will be automatically returned when your lending period is over. 

Lending Periods are:

• Movies and TV content are available for 72 hours (3 days)
• Music albums are available for 7 days
• Audiobooks are available for 21 days

For more information and assistance, visit the library, sign up for the class on March 25th, or simply stop by an Open Lab (Mondays 1 PM to 4 PM and Tuesdays 6 PM to 8 PM)

Have fun and tell us how you like hoopla ! 

SH

  

Book Spotlight: The Sixth Extinction

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
by Elizabeth Kolbert

Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. Except this time around, the culprit is not an asteroid, it is us.

In The Sixth Extinction, Elizabeth Kolbert draws on the work of scores of researchers in half a dozen disciplines, accompanying many of them into the field: geologists who study deep ocean cores, botanists who follow the tree line as it climbs up the Andes, marine biologists who dive off the Great Barrier Reef. She introduces us to a dozen species, some already gone, others facing extinction, including the Panamian golden frog, staghorn coral, the great auk, and the Sumatran rhino.

Through these stories, Kolbert provides a moving account of the disappearances occurring all around us and traces the evolution of extinction as concept, from its first articulation by Georges Cuvier in revolutionary Paris up through the present day. The sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy; as Kolbert observes, it compels us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human. A powerful account of the mass extinction unfolding before our eyes. 
 

Tyson

Book Spotlight: Astoria

Coming this March a true life adventure.

Astoria: Astor and Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire
A Story of Wealth, Ambition, and Survival
     by Peter Stark

In the tradition of The Lost City of Z, Astoria is the thrilling true adventure tale of the now forgotten 1810 Astor Expedition.At a time when the edge of American settlement barely reached beyond the Appalachian Mountains, two visionaries, President Thomas Jefferson and millionaire John Jacob Astor, foresaw that one day the Pacific would dominate world trade as much as the Atlantic did in their day.Astoria is the harrowing tale of the quest to settle a Jamestown-like colony on the Pacific coast. Astor set out to establish a global trade network based at the mouth of the Columbia River in what is now Oregon.He dispatched two groups of men west: one by sea around the southern tip of South America and one by land over the Rockies.Unfolding from 1810 to 1813, Astoria is a tale of high adventure and incredible hardship, drawing extensively on firsthand accounts of those who made the journey.

Tyson

In Memory

Harold Ramis 1944-2014   

Harold Allen Ramis, actor, director and writer,  started his career in comedy as Playboy magazine's joke editor and reviewer. Before moving to New York to help write and perform in "The National Lampoon Show" with other Second City graduates including John Belushi, Gilda Radner and Bill Murray. His Hollywood debut came when he collaborated on the script for National Lampoon's Animal House (1978). This success was followed by many critically acclaimed films including Groundhog Day, Ghostbusters and Caddyshack.
 Harold Ramis died of autoimmune disease at his home in Chicago last week.

DB

Films added to the National Film Registry for Preservation

In December, 2013, the Library of Congress inducted 25 films into the National Film Registry to preserve for future generations based upon cultural, historical, or cinematic significance.

You can rest easy that these favorites were added:

Mary Poppins





Right Stuff

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Check out the list and see if  some of your other favorites are included and reserve them from the library!
SH
 

 

2014 Grammy Award Winner: Best Spoken Word Album

Did you know that there's a Grammy Award for best spoken word album?  

Check out this year's winner and request from the library today!

America Again: Re-becoming The Greatness We Never Weren't by Stephen Colbert




Other Nominees:

Carrie and Me by Carol Burnett
Carol Burnett shares her personal diary entries and correspondence revealing her anguish as a mother of a troubled teenager, the epiphanies that helped her help her family, and the grief and then the hope she felt after Carrie's death.



Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris
From the unique perspective of David Sedaris comes a new collection of essays taking his listeners on a bizarre and stimulating world tour.




Still Foolin' 'Em By Billy Crystal
Billy Crystal is 65, and he's not happy about it. With his trademark wit and heart, he outlines the absurdities and challenges that come with growing old, from insomnia to memory loss to leaving dinners with half your meal on your shirt.

The Storm King by Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger recounts his most engaging stories, narratives, and poems, set to new music created by over 70 musicians from traditions as diverse as African Music, Blues, Bluegrass, Celtic Music, Classical Guitar, Folk, Israeli Music, Jazz, Native American Music, and Tuvan Throat Singing.

LB

New Mystery and Fiction for March

What are some new fiction titles for March?

Three Brothers by Peter Ackroyd
This author is a Guardian and Whitbread winner for his fiction and his new novel follows the lives of three brothers as they make their way in the world in 1960s London.

Hangman by Stephen Talty
Policewoman Abbie Kearney returns to track a nasty killer called the Hangman who has escaped from jail.

Kill Fee by Owen Laukkanen
One of Minnesota's wealthiest men is murdered in broad daylight in downtown St. Paul, witnessed by Minnesota state investigator Kirk Stevens and FBI agent Carla Windemere.

JSTOR--Named Best Overall Database by Library Journal

JSTOR named "Best Overall Database" by Library Journal

Hundreds of searches of the arts, humanities, and social sciences have been completed on JSTOR by academics, local authors, students, and interested Wellesley residents.  

This unique database of articles from over 2000 current and archival journals, books, and primary sources offers information not found in the popular periodical databases and on the Internet.  

So what are you waiting for?  Call the Reference Desk for more information or try it out and then tell your neighbors and friends!  SH