The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman

Join us for our Book Discussion on June 2nd at 6:30pm
We will be discussing The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman

What Friedman means by claiming 'the world is flat' is that barriers to communication have diminished and access to people, places, products, and ideas is easier than ever. His book discusses this phenomena, how it developed and what the future holds.

Listen to an interview with author Friedman here

Read the author's blog which expands on his ideas and experiences

Quick Pick

"The Barefoot Believers" by Annie Jones (Center Point Large Print
edition)
---This is a GOOD book and if you like happy endings, this
is for you. If you have sisters, even better. Keep your hankie close.

- Margie, Eldridge

Amish Fiction

I have read two series by Wanda Brustetter, The Daughters of Lancaster and The Brides of Lancaster. They are both Amish fiction and are really good reads.

Click here to visit Wanda's website.

I have read a lot of Beverly Lewis- juvenile, young adult, and adult fiction. They are really good too.

See Beverly Lewis' series here

--Margie, Tech Services, Eldridge branch

The Killer's Wife

I would recommend The Killer's Wife by Bill Floyd. This is his debut novel, and I hope he writes more. What is the life like for a convicted serial killer's wife and young son? Thought by many to have knowledge ofher husbands' crimes or perhaps be a participant, she changes her name and moves across the country. But she is not safe when the father of one of the victims traces and confronts her. It is gripping and keeps you reading to find out what happens.

-Maggie

A Grief Observed

Easily the saddest book I have ever read, C.S. Lewis' book A Grief Observed is his journal he wrote after his wife Joy died of cancer.
It was the first time in his life that he had experienced such a sudden jolt of pain and it is evident in his words that he was completely lost. Lewis' faith was tested and he shares his doubts and anger towards God with readers.
"What chokes every prayer and every hope is the memory of all the prayers H. and I offered and all the false hopes we had. Not hopes raised merely by our own wishful thinking, hopes encouraged, even forced upon us, by false diagnoses, by X-ray photographs, by strange remissions, by one temporary recovery that might have ranked as a miracle. Step by step we were 'led up the garden path.' Time after time, when He seemed most gracious He was really preparing the next torture."

It is a very personal experience that few people are willing to share with the world. As time passes, Lewis comes to conclusions about death and life that will give hope to anyone who has lost a loved one.

"God has not been trying an experiment on my faith or love in order to find out their quality. He knew it already. It was I who didn't."

Paul Ingram's Book Talks

Paul Ingram from Prairie Lights visited the library on April 8th. Here is a list of the books he brought along to talk about.

The Age of American Unreason by Susan Jacoby
Can I Keep my Jersey by Paul Shirley
Christine Falls by Benjamin Black
Custodian of Paradise by Wayne Johnston
Discovery of France by Graham Robb
Emerald Horizon: The History of Nature in Iowa by Connie Mutel
The Flowers by Dagoberto Gilb
The Gentle Axe by R.N. Morris
Go With Me by Castle Freeman
Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris
Little Book of Atheist Spirituality by Arthur Compte-Sponville
Lush Life by Richard Price
Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks
Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Paula Spencer by Roddy Doyle
Secret Lives of People in Love by Simon Van Booy
Silver Swan by Benjamin Black
Slip of the Knife by Denise Mina
Tenderness of Wolves by Stephanie Penney
Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann
What is the what? by Dave Eggers
Winter in Madrid by C.J. Sansom

Click HERE to search the library catalog for these titles

Click HERE to visit the Prairie Lights Bookstore website

Quick Pick

CENTURY GIRL, 100 Years in the life of Doris Eaton Travis, Last Living Star of the Ziegfeld Follies by Lauren Redniss (2006)

A dreamy new style of biography! 100 years of art, dancing, performing on
the stage and of life. An inspiration for all ages!
- Penne, Princeton

From the book jacket...
The Ziegfeld Follies, Florenz Ziegfeld's stage spectacular, promised
the best performers, the most lavish sets, and the most ravishing
girls. Doris Eaton Travis was one of these prized beauties and, at 14,
was chosen as the youngest chorus girl in the Follies.
"Mine eyes are yet dim with the luminous beauty of a girl
named Doris," one Chicago reviewer wrote. Today, at the age of 102,
Eaton is the last living Ziegfeld girl.