Literary Witches

As a companion to today’s In-Site Bank post for the Literary Witches Quiz from the Guardian, here are some terrific books with witches in all their glory:

Macbeth by Shakespeare

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

The Worst Witch series by Jill Murphy

The Witches by Roald Dahl

Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett

The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson

Wicked by Gregory Maguire

The Tempest by Shakespeare

The Crucible by Arthur Miller

The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike

The Dark Tower by Stephen King

His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman

College Prep In November

Our College Prep series returns on Monday, November 10th from 7-8p.m. with How to Pay Less for College! This workshop lists colleges that pay you to attend!

Come to a workshop hosted by the Essex Library and Sam Rosensohn, founder of College Planning Partnership.  As personal finances weaken and lenders get tough, learn which colleges will pay you to attend their schools. Discover how to identify the schools that are offering merit money (money not based on need but based on academic accomplishment) and how to qualify for merit money.  Merit scholarships can be helpful in financing your college education. In contrast to need-based grants or scholarships, merit scholarships are awarded to students based on grades, accomplishments or other personal characteristics rather than financial need.  Sam, author of the newspaper column College 101, will share with parents and students how to identify the schools that offer merit academic awards and honors programs that they can acquire.  Sam will offer school lists, web sites and tips on how to prepare, starting in the ninth grade, for merit money and honors programs.

Most students do not actively seek merit awards because they do not know about this pool of money. They learn about merit money once they’ve been accepted to college. Come to this workshop and get ahead of the curve.

Please contact the Essex Library at 767-1560 or jmccann@essexlib.org to register for this important informational evening.

2008 National Book Awards Finalists Announced

This year over 200 publishers submitted 1,258 books for consideration for the National Book Award which carries with its prestige a cash award of $10,000. The winners will be announced on Wednesday,  November 19th. Titles selected as finalists this year include:

For Fiction:

The Lazarus Project by Aleksandar Hemon
Telex from Cuba by Rachel Kushner
Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen
Home by Marilynne Robinson
The End by Salvatore Scibona

For Non-Fiction:

This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War by Drew Gilpin Faust
The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed
The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals by Jane Mayer
Final Salute: A Story of Unfinished Lives by Jim Sheeler
The Suicide Index: Putting My Father’s Death in Order by Joan Wickersham

For Young People’s Literature:

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
The Underneath by Kathi Appelt
What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp

Steve Berry, In Pursuit Again

Steve Berry’s first novel, The Amber Room, was published in 2003. The book, about a search for the famed amber panels taken by the Nazis from Russia’s Catherine Palace was a bestseller. Since then, Berry has written five more thriller bestsellers, pursuits in the vein of The Da Vinci Code. Of these six books, the first three (The Amber Room, The Romanov Prophecy and The Third Secret) had unrelated protagonists, while the last three (The Templar Legacy, The Alexandria Link and The Venetian Betrayal) share ex-U.S. Justice Department agent Cotton Malone as the star character. The Charlemagne Pursuit is due out December 2nd and looks to be the best of Berry’s Cotton Malone books yet.

Man Booker Prize Announced

Culled from a longlist of thirteen books, the surviving 6, listed below, formed the Shortlist for the Man Booker Prize. Of those, Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger came away with the £50,000 prize yesterday.

Aravind Adiga   The White Tiger
Sebastian Barry   The Secret Scripture
Amitav Ghosh   Sea of Poppies
Linda Grant   The Clothes On Their Backs
Philip Hensher   The Northern Clemency
Steve Toltz    A Fraction Of The Whole

At Long Last, The Sequel

There are a handful of authors who have sequels just out, or about to be released, with the original books having been published 20 or more years ago. John Updike’s The Witches Of Eastwick was originally published in 1984 to popular acclaim with a Hollywood film adaptation starring Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer released in 1987. The sequel, The Widows Of Eastwick, will be released this later this month. It follows the lives of Jane, Alexandra and Sukie as they cope with their grief and decide to return to Eastwick.

Katherine Neville published The Eight in 1988. The story surrounds a chess set that once belonged to Charlemagne which allows those who play with it to tap into powers that could change the course of the world. The Fire, to be released next week, continues the chase with historical settings filled with interesting characters, complex puzzles and conspiracies to keep the reader enthralled.

Pillars Of The Earth by Ken Follett was written in 1989 and created a cult following which has only expanded since the sequel, World Without End, was released a year ago. Many book clubs have happily taken it up despite its length. Pillars describes the building of a cathedral in 12th Century England. The sequel takes up the tale 200 years after the cathedral’s completion. each book stands on its own but together they create a reading experience of epic proportions.

Nelson DeMille wrote The Gold Coast in 1990 and has finally followed it up with The Gate House, to be released later this month. Wall Street lawyer John Sutter gets mixed up with a Mafia don who lives next door and has eyes for Sutter’s beautiful wife. The sequel sees Sutter returning to his former home after a 10-year absence, discovering his ex-wife living just up the street and the Mafia don’s son out for revenge.

More than 30 years ago, Paul Theroux took a trip across Asia by train and wrote what has become a modern classic of travel literature–The Great Railway Bazaar. He took the trip again, more recently, and wrote Ghost Train To The Eastern Star as a follow-up. Though not exactly a sequel, the latest book describes the adventure as Theroux retraces his steps.

One other sequel just out is Home by Marilynne Robinson, author of the very popular, Pulitzer Prize-winning Gilead. This sequel was not so long in the making but given its predecessor’s popularity, it also deserves a mention. Jack Boughton has returned home to Gilead. His sister Gloria is also there caring for their dying father. Told from Gloria’s point of view, we learn how Jack’s uneasy homecoming proceeds.

New To Town?

If you have recently moved to Essex, Centerbrook or Ivoryton, please let us know. We have a free Essex Library tote bag full of information for you sponsored by The Essex Library, The Ivoryton Library, The Essex Historical Society, The Essex Land Trust, The Connecticut River Museum, Essex Art Association, Essex Auxiliary of the Child & Family Agency of SE CT,  Essex Citizens for Clean Energy, FISH Volunteer Driving (860 388-2693), and Visiting Nurses of the Lower Valley. Just call the Essex Library at 767-1560 or email us at: staff@essexlib.org