We know it’s a busy time what with all the family and social events of the holidays upon us but there should always be a part of every day spent reading something you enjoy. This year has produced a plethora of books with long holds lists so we’d like to recommend some of last year’s best books that you may have missed or overlooked. What better way to pass the time while you wait for your turn to read The Help or The Last Symbol?

2008 was a great year for book lovers. Check out any of the long-lists for the major literary awards and they were full of viable contenders. Here are a few we’d like to recommend again:

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga ~~ “In this novel about India’s class struggles, an amoral chauffeur who has risen up from his poor village, relates to the Chinese premier how, with bloody entrepreneurship, he got ahead in life.” Adiga’s next book, Between The Assassinations, is on award short-lists this year and also comes highly recommended.

The Elegance Of The Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery ~~ “In this bestseller from France, a friendship develops between a disillusioned 12-year-old girl and the concierge at her family’s exclusive Paris apartment.” Packed with reflections on the wisdom that comes from disappointment and success and only with age contrasted with the wisdom and cynicism of youth. Too brief a treat so don’t miss out on her Gourmet Rhapsody.

The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry ~~  Barry is no stranger to award short lists and The Secret Scripture won last year’s Costa Award for good reason. This is one of the most beautifully written and memorable books we have enjoyed recently and it is hauntingly narrated in the audio version–also available on our Overdrive downloadable audiobook service. “Barry explores long-held secrets, love, corruption, and tragedy in this tale of a 100-year-old mental Irish patient, Roseanne McNulty, whose recollections of her life do not match the record.”

Sea Of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh ~~ “During China’s 19th-century Opium Wars, a crew on the Ibis–a motley cast of Indians, Americans and French–form bonds that are destined to last through generations. This is the first volume in the planned Ibis trilogy.”

Netherland by Joseph O’Neill ~~ “A Dutch banker living in London recalls his years in New York just after 9/11–and his life-altering friendship with a cricket-playing, idealistic Trinidadian entrepreneur.” Netherland won the 2009 Pen/Faulkner Award for fiction.

A Case Of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif ~~ “In 1988, Pakistani dictator Mohannad Zia ul-Haq was killed in an airplane crash. This satirical novel imagines what could have happened–from curses to conspiracies.”

Home by Marilynne Robinson ~~ “Her Pulitzer Prize-winning Gilead looked at the life of John Ames; here she focuses on the family of hs best friend, the Reverend Robert Boughton. A National Book Award finalist, Home won the 2009 Orange Prize.

Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith ~~ Short-listed for the Man-Booker Prize, this book won the CWA Ian Flemming Silver Dagger in 2008. “In the last days of Russia’s Stalinist era, a war hero discovers a series of brutal child murders–and sets out to challenge the state.” Don’t miss the sequel: The Secret Speech.

We’re big fans of England’s The Guardian newspaper and their book reviews–literate, articulate and wry.  As a treat, they asked some well-known, best-selling authors what their favorite reads of 2009 were. You’ll recognize the authors here and the books they liked as well. Michael Chabon got a nod for his book Manhood For Amateurs as did his wife, Ayelet Waldman for hers, Bad Mother. There was one vote for The help and interestingly, a couple of votes for Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team Of Rivals (included here for some reason although published in 2005 in the U.S.) but it seems Colm Toibin’s Brooklyn got the most votes. Hilary Mantell’s Wolf Hall also came away with multiple votes. We love ‘best of the year’ book lists not only because we can confirm our own selections but they also provide additions to our ‘must read’  and holiday gift lists.

Check out The Guardian’s considerate gathering of some of this year’s best books.

The winners of the 2009 National Book Awards were announced yesterday. Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann won in the Fiction category and The First Tycoon: The Epic Life Of Cornelius Vanderbilt by T.J. Stiles won in the Non-Fiction category.

Philip Hoose’s Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice won in the Young people’s Literature category and Transcendental Studies: A Trilogy by Keith Waldrop won in the Poetry category.

Click here to see the finalists for fiction and non-fiction and click here to see the finalists for young people’s literature and poetry.

Our patrons can take advantage of some great additions to our downloadable audiobook service. Remember that all our downloadable audiobooks can be transferred to compatible portable audio devices such as MP3 players, select cell phones, iPods and iPhones.

If you’ve been waiting to listen to the audio version of The Help–one of the best audiobooks ever produced, or are waiting in another long holds queue for The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, they’re both here on Overdrive now. There’s humorous books–A Spot Of Bother, The Vintage Caper; a couple of the bestselling Jane Austen horror take-offs and bestsellers from James Patterson, David Baldacci, Nicholas Sparks and Danielle Steel.

Here are some of November’s additions, click on the title to go to the Overdrive catalog:

Alex Cross’s Trial by James Patterson

The Big Burn by Timothy Egan

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Haiku by Andrew Vachss

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

The Mark of the Assassin by Daniel Silva

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Katherine Kellgren

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Katherine Kellgren

Southern Lights by Danielle Steel

A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon

True Blue by David Baldacci

The Vintage Caper by Peter Mayle

The War That Killed Achilles by Caroline Alexander

When the Game Was Ours by Larry Bird, et al.

Essex Library Director Richard Conroy

Last year the Library had to make some difficult decisions due to the downturn in the economy.  We had to cut spending drastically in many areas (including staff hours) in order to weather the storm.  It was our hope last December that, despite having to take this action, we could continue to provide the high level of service that we take great pride in bringing to the community of Essex, without interruption.

The Library’s most valuable resource is its staff, and during the past year they have made a heroic effort to do more with less. Personally, I feel that they have done an outstanding job of providing exemplary service despite the challenges they faced.  Unfortunately, we have reached the point where the level of staffing that the Library can afford is not sufficient to let us stay open seven days a week.  I asked the Library Board, therefore, to approve closing the Library on Sundays.  The Board has agreed, and we will have a new schedule beginning on November 29, which is as follows:

Monday, Wednesday & Friday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Tuesday & Thursday: 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM

Saturday 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Sunday – Closed

Please note that we will now be open an hour later on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and an hour earlier on Mondays.  It is our expectation that by concentrating our staff resources this way we can better serve our patrons.

It was with great reluctance that we made this decision, and it is our sincere wish that our financial situation will improve enough in the future to enable us to open on Sundays again.  We cannot get to that point without your help, however, so I ask that you be as generous as possible when you return your Annual Membership Appeal reply envelope, and support other Library fund raising initiatives as well.

The Lord Mayor of Dublin announced that 156 titles have been nominated for the €100,000 Award, the world’s most valuable annual literary prize for a single work of fiction published in English. The nominations come from 163 libraries in 123 cities and 43 countries worldwide. The 156 authors come from 46 countries.  The books span 18 languages, 41 of which are translated from languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Croatian, Icelandic, Serbian and Slovenian. 33 are first novels. “These are books that might not otherwise come to the attention of Irish readers”, says Deirdre Ellis-King, Dublin City Librarian.  “The spread of languages and the number of books in translation continues to grow”.  This year at 41 novels, we have the largest number of books in translation to date.”

Irish writers, Sebastian Barry (The Secret Scripture) winner of the 2009 Costa Prize and Joseph O’Neill , (Netherland) longlisted for the 2009 Man Booker prize have been nominated as well as a slew of Brits and Americans: some examples below. To see all the nominations, check out the longlist.

Dublin City Council will announce the shortlist on April 14, 2010. The Lord Mayor will reveal the winning novel on June 17, 2010.

Aravind Adiga   The White Tiger

Muriel Barbery   The Elegance of the Hedgehog

Louis Bayard   The Black Tower

David Benioff   City of Thieves

Geraldine Brooks   People of the Book

Ethan Canin   America, America

Andrew Davidson   The Gargoyle

Leif Enger   So Brave, Young and Handsome

Jeffrey Ford   The Shadow Year

Amitav Ghosh   Sea of Poppies

Andrew Sean Greer   The Story of a Marriage

Zoe Heller   The Believers

Aleksander Hemon   The Lazarus Project

Philip Hensher   The Northern Clemency

Samantha Hunt   The Invention of Everything Else

Arnaldur Indridson   Arctic Chill

Rachel Kushner   Telex from Cuba

Dennis Lehane   The Given Day

David Lodge   Deaf Sentence

Toni Morrison   A Mercy

Kate Morton   The Forgotten Garden

Richard Price   Lush Life

Marilynne Robinson   Home

Tom Rob Smith   Child 44

Garth Stein   The Art of Racing in the Rain

David Wroblewski   The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

What’s the difference between this top ten list and Amazon’s you ask? Well, one glaring difference is that PW’s list includes no books by female authors; something for which they will definitely receive a dose of grief. Their list ot top 100 books of 2009 includes plenty of female authors however. Here is the Publisher’s Weekly list complete with their annotations:

Click on the title to navigate to the Essex Library catalog and place a hold on books you’d like to read.

Cheever: A Life by Blake Bailey
Bailey, who was given access to the journals Cheever kept throughout his life, shines a new light on Cheever’s literary output, making possible a fresh reappraisal of his achievement. In addition, Bailey offers up juicy, appalling, hilarious and moving anecdotes with verve, sensitivity and perfect timing.

Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon
Chaon was a National Book Award finalist for Among the Missing, and this gripping account of colliding fates, the shifty nature of identity in today’s wired world and the limits of family is easily as good, if not better. It’s a literary page-turner, a cunningly plotted and utterly unputdownable novel.

A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon by Neil Sheehan
The development of the ICBM as a key part of the cold war arsenal wasn’t inevitable. In a splendidly reported and narrated account, Sheehan credits Air Force Gen. Bernard Schriever with the foresight and shrewdness to triumph over powerful Pentagon opponents and develop the crucial and terrifying weapon.

In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin
An NBA finalist (we found him first), Mueenuddin delivers Pakistan through the stories of its people: yearning, struggling, plotting, in a heartbreaking story collection that is specific and universal all at the same time.

Big Machine by Victor LaValle
LaValle’s brilliant second novel is unlike anything else out there: Ricky Rice, an ex-junkie African-American bus station porter, gets sucked into the bizarre machinations of a rural Vermont cult dedicated to studying “The Voice.” The narrator is blisteringly funny in chronicling his bizarre quest, providing both a blazing story and an astute commentary on race.

The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes
In a thrilling narrative of scientific discovery and the spirit of an age, Holmes illustrates how the great scientists of Britain’s romantic era gripped the imaginations of their contemporaries and forever changed our understanding of the universe and our place within it.

Stitches by David Small
A graphic novel to bring us all back to comics, Small’s account of his terrifying childhood is amazing. The drawings of his parents and the small suffering boy who doesn’t quite understand until much, much later will pull you along panel by panel and tear your heart out.

Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew B. Crawford
Philosopher and motorcycle mechanic Crawford makes a brilliant case for the intellectual satisfactions of working with one’s hands—and why white-collar work is the assembly line of the new millennium. Crawford is catholic in his tastes (references range from Aristophanes to Dilbert), unsentimental and irresistible as he extols the virtues of “knowing how to do one thing really well.”

Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi by Geoff Dyer
Dyer creates an aging hipster grinding it out as a freelance journalist who pursues the girl instead of the story: covering the Biennale. Then, depending on your point of view, he either loses or finds himself when he’s sent to Varanasi. Dyer has many books to recommend him, but all you need is angst-ridden Jeff: funny, frank and utterly charming, and if you haven’t walked in his shoes, you’ll wish you had.

Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann
In this classic adventure tale, New Yorker writer Grann—who gets winded climbing the stairs of his New York City walkup—follows in the footsteps of early–20th-century Amazon jungle explorer Percy Fawcett, who disappeared along with his son on a 1925 expedition. Grann expertly and energetically weaves the story of Fawcett’s explorations with that of his own.

Every year, since 1952, The New York Times releases its list of the Best Illustrated Children’s Books from the thousands published that year. Picture books are one of the best ways of engaging young children in a love of reading and one of the nicest ways of spending time with a child is sharing a new picture book together–just in case any of you are thinking of the perfect holiday gift for the youngster(s)…or Library, you know.

Only A Witch Can Fly by Alison McGhee

Moonshot: The Flight Of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca

The Odd Egg by Emily Gravett

A Penguin Story by Antoinette Portis

The Lion And The Mouse by Jerry Pinkney

The Snow Day by Komako Sakai

Tales From Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan

Yummy: Eight Favorite Fairy Tales by Lucy Cousins

White Noise by David Carter

All The World by Liz Scanlon

The Macavity Award is named for the “mystery cat” of T.S. Eliot (Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats). Each year the members of Mystery Readers International nominate and vote for their favorite mysteries in four categories for books published in the previous year.

Best Mystery Novel Winner: Where Memories Lie by Deborah Crombie

Shortlist:
Trigger City by Sean Chercover
The Dying Breed (UK) / The Price of Blood (US) by Declan Hughes
The Draining Lake by Arnaldur Indridason
Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny
The Fault Tree by Louise Ure

Best First Mystery: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Shortlist:
Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris
Death of a Cozy Writer by G.M. Malliet
Calumet City by Charlie Newton
An Innocent Client by Scott Pratt
A Carrion Death by Michael Stanley
The Blood Detective by Dan Waddell

According to a report (Flurry Smartphone Industry Pulse, October 2009), 20% of the apps released in the App store in October were for reading books (eBooks); more than were released for gaming, an industry first. What does this all mean? Well, if you were thinking that Amazon’s Kindle, Sony’s Reader or Barnes & Noble’s Nook were going to be the eBook readers of choice, you might want to think again. Instead of going out and buying a second device, no matter how cleverly designed, many people are opting to read books on the cell phones they already own.

Unfortunately, here at the Essex Library we can’t offer downloadable eBooks due to lack of funds in our budget. However, we do offer downloadable audiobooks for iPhones and iPods–as well as many MP3 players through our FREE OverDrive downloadable audiobook service. In some cases, the audio version of a book enhances the story to make it a much more enjoyable experience.  Want to try out the service? It’s easy.

Just click on the Overdrive link on our online catalog, select the titles you’d like (you can check out 5 at-a-time), download the Overdrive software to your computer (you’ll only need to do this once, it only takes a minute) then download the books. You can then transfer them to your iPod or iPhone. It’s quick, easy and FREE!

We add new tiltes every month. Titles added in October include:

Alex Cross’s Trial by James Patterson

Alger Hiss And The Battle For History by Susan Jacoby

And The Desert Blooms by Iris Johansen

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

The Bonfire Of The Vanities by Tom Wolfe

Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

The Deep Blue Sea For Beginners by Luanne Rice

The Devil’s Company by David Liss

The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti

Hell’s Gate by Stephen Frey

Hothouse Orchids by Stuart Woods

Swimsuit by James Patterson