Staff


Library Staff Recommended Titles February 2011 Tennis Magazine. ATTENTION: players of the Recreation Department’s Tennis program and the Elm Grove Tennis Club. The library currently has a new subscription to TENNIS magazine. It is published 8 times a year and back issues can be checked out. Sections include MASTER Class (which help you improve your game, one stroke at a time), Gear, Style, Food and articles on current players. The magazine is easy to read but does have its share of advertising. Laurie Moon Over Manifest, by Clare Vanderpool is the winner of this year's Newbery Medal. It is the story of Abilene Tucker who is sent to Manifest, Kansas in the summer of 1936 to stay with a friend of her dad. Abilene and her dad have always lived on the move, so she knows nothing about Manifest or anyone there. However, during the summer she uncovers some extraordinary events that took place 18 years earlier and begins to understand her dad and his connection to the town. This book reminded me of The Guernsey Literary...Society and Because of Winn-Dixie with a little bit of Tom Sawyer thrown in. Sue. The First Assassin, by John J. Miller. Newly elected President Abraham Lincoln is loved by many but hated in 1861 by those who perceived his leadership as a threat to their way of life. The story opens as the new president travels to Washington, D.C. for his inauguration. Exciting from the start, this historical novel is set in D.C. and told from the perspective of the Colonel assigned to arranging the security for the inauguration. I enjoyed the author's attention to historical detail and his ability to bring several story lines together for a satisfying conclusion. Nancy. Howards End is on the Landing: a Year of Reading from Home, is an account of Susan Hill’s voyage through her own book collection. The journey begins when she is on the hunt for her copy of E.M. Forster’s Howards End. She doesn’t find it right away, but while searching, she encounters many other books that she purchased but never read, and books that she wants to re-read, either because they’re meaningful to her or just because they’re so much fun. She vows to not make any new book purchases for a full year, but rather enjoy what she already owns. She gives great suggestions for both classics and contemporary writing. This is a thoroughly enjoyable literary journey, recommended for readers who liked Michael Dirda’s Bound to Please or Classics for Pleasure. Sarah. The Hill Bachelors, by William Trevor. Acclaimed as the “greatest English-speaking short story writer” Anglo-Irish author Trevor justifies that praise. The stories are set in the mid to late twentieth century, and the locales are Ireland and England. Trevor’s greatest gift is the ability to instantly put you in a time and place and the characters he creates are so very real. Sometimes accused of pessimism, he counters that the “coping” and “making do” of his characters is reason for optimism. Robert. A Short History of Wisconsin, by Erika Janik. This is a very readable, concise history of Wisconsin, covering several centuries of Wisconsin’s past. It is divided into chapters covering subjects such as “Lead and Lumber”, “Becoming America’s Dairyland”, “Progressive Politics” and “Migration and Civil Rights”, to name a few examples. The book does a good job of portraying the people, places, and events that make Wisconsin what it is today. There are a number of black and white illustrations that enhance the text. For those who would like to know more, the author ends the book with an “Essay on Sources and Suggestions for Further Reading”. The book is published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press. Susan.