Best of the Rest --- Summer Book Roundups

Here are a few more lists to round out your summer reading selection:

The New York Post has published Summer Books: Guilty Pleasures.

Real Simple Magazine has published The Best Summer Books and More Great Summer Reads.

WBUR radio has published a list of Summer 2008 Book Suggestions.

npr.org has a list of Summer Book Recommendations 2008.

Adult Summer Reading Program Event

Urban Legends : Truth and Lies From a Friend of a Friend
Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 2:00 pm in the Board Room
Presented by Steven Henegar

Everyone knows and tells these informal stories about the burglar in the closet, the real ingredients of that hamburger, or the poodle in the microwave. None of them happened to us, but we heard about it from a friend, who heard about it from a friend, or received it in an email. They're funny and scary and gross, and are probably modern legends.

We hear them at reunions, hanging out with friends, and over the Internet. They reflect legitimate anxieties, offer practical lessons, but also traffic in rumor and stereotypes.

This program promises to be a thoughtful, fun and participatory session of performance and discussion. You will discover how to spot these stories, ask why we tell them, and what we are saying about each other. And if you have your own urban legend to share you will have a chance to do that too.

This program is recommended for ages from 14-adults.

Books of Summer by Oprah

As usual, we can count on Oprah for providing us with a reading list -- from the July issue of her magazine here are "The Books of Summer". We are invited to "dive into some of the juiciest, thrilling-est, most riveting, provocative, lyrical, eye-widening books of the season".

Here is a partial list:

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

This debut novel is set in rural Wisconsin in the first half of the 20th century on a farm where the Sawtelles raise a fictional breed of dog.

Beginner's Greek by James Collins
Collins spins a chance encounter on an airplane into a perfectly calibrated comedy of missed opportunities and muddled loves.

Palace Council by Stephen L. Carter
Set in the 1950s and 60s, this novel takes you from Harlem drawing rooms to Washington enclaves were power corrupts and elegant conspiracies are born.

This Land is Their Land by Barbara Ehrenreich
Ehrenriech laces her essays on the high cost of being poor in America with biting humor.

The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry
A luminous and lyrical novel in which the protagonist loses her father, her new marriage and eventually her mental balance.

The Condition by Jennifer Haigh
The author warm portrayals reveal the fears and longings of five family members who, after more than 20 years of self-imposed exile, tentatively make their way home.

What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn
An aspiring detective vanishes, yet her spirit remains in this tale of love and loneliness.

How Far is the Ocean from Here by Amy Shearn
A sweet surrogate mother suddenly disappears right before giving birth to a couple's child.

The Story of a Marriage by Andrew Sean Greer
A beautiful, lyrical novel of the 1950s in a country at war with itself.

Central Park in the Dark by Marie Winn
Where does a sophisticated New Yorker go for a night on the town? This book offers glimpses of nocturnal visitors, including sexy slugs and rare owls.

Explorers of the Infinite by Maria Coffey
Coffey's interviews with athletes and scientists yield fascinating thoughts about the ecstasy of extreme sport.

Mind's Eye by Hakan Nesser
Swedish crime writer writes about the exploits of Chief Inspector Van Veeteren who is snappish, sardonic, unsentimental, depressed, and quite possibly psychic.

Shelter Half by Carol Bly
A unique mystery novel in which a body turns up on a stretch of country road.

Not in the Flesh by Ruth Rendell
A master of the mystery genre, Rendell tells another tale.

Careless in Red by Elizabeth George
Detective Superintendent Thomas Lynley is ready for another mystery to solve.

Ten Books Not To Miss This Summer

John Searles, book editor for Cosmopolitan magazine, shares his list of the season's sizzling reads:

Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles
After being stranded at O'Hare airport for an eternity, the author writes a scathing letter to American Airlines. This letter ends up turning into a funny and mesmerizing novel that tells the story of his life.

The Writing Class by Jincy Willett
The tale of a writing teacher who presides over a class full of oddballs. When one of her students turns up dead, she sets out to solve the mystery.

All We Ever Wanted Was Everything by Janelle Brown
A smart, darkly comic book in which a woman's life is turned upside down when she finds out that her husband is leaving her for his tennis partner.

An Absolute Scandal by Penny Vincenzi
The perfect page turner for the beach -- a few wealthy families are drawn together during a financial downturn and the results are scandalous.

The Beach House by Jane Green
An elderly woman rents out her Nantucket home one summer and finds her life filled with a cast of characters.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrow.
This novel is about a book club formed as an alibi during World War II in order to protect its members from arrest by German soldiers.

Careless in Red by Elizabeth George
The newest installment in the Inspector Lynley series by an American author who writes the most authentic British mysteries.

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
Crazy tales and essays inspired by his real life.

Summer of Naked Swim Parties by Jessica Anya Blau
The title of this book says it all.

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
This novel is based on the true story of the love affair between Frank Lloyd Wright and a woman named Mamah Cheney.

We have a few of these titles now, but be on the look out for the others to be added to our collection soon.

Summer Books -- For Guys

The NY Daily News has published a list of books called "beach reads for guys this summer" described as a dude-oriented list of beach reading, with something for the sportsman, the mystery addict and the guy who's just thrilled not be be at the office.

Here are the titles by subject:

Meaty Historical Epic: The Steel Wave by Jeff Shaara
The second book in his WWII trilogy, Shaara plunges readers into the minds of such figures as George Patton and Dwight Eisenhower.

Morose Music Memoir: Sing Me Back Home: Love, Death and Country Music by Dana Jennings
A journalist relates the struggles of his boozy, violent, poverty-stricken youth in New Hampshire to the country music with which he grew up.

Suspenseful Scorcher: In the Heat by Ian Vasquez
The author transports us to his native Belize, where the sizzling weather is the backdrop to a complicated detective job.

Unsportsmanly Sports Book: How to Really Stink at Golf by Jeff Foxworthy
A quick read with tips for honing horrible drives and putts.

Pulpy Pop Adventure: I Have Fun Everywhere I Go by Mike Edison
Edison offers the seamy secrets of magazine writing.

Voyage to Dirty NYC: The Finder by Colin Harrison
Harrison's latest thriller introduces the reader to a sleazy but sensational New York in which no one is to be trusted.

Comic Collection: Lamentations of the Father by Ian Frazier
Comic essays that discuss the trials of such childhood moments as dinner and bath time.

Funny Faux Guide: Executricks: Or How to Retire While You're Still Working by Stanley Bing
Fortune columnist, Stanley Bing, outlines the basics of living large while still going to the office.

Summer Reading Program 2008 for Adults

Mission Read: Explore Your World
Adult Summer Reading Program 2008
June 21st-August 23rd

Today is the first day of our ASRP (Adult Summer Reading Program). Stop by the Library to sign up and receive your reading log and a bookmark.

Then all you have to do is read (or listen to) books!!!

Books need to be at least 250 pages and audiobooks/Playaways need to be at least 4 hours long. Write the title & author of each book or audiobook you finish in the reading log and bring it back to the Library.

For the first book you read you will receive a special pen. For each book you read you will get an entry form for the opportunity drawing for a chance to win one of the fabulous gift baskets!!

Have a great summer.

Summer Books of 2008

USA Today has published a list of the upcoming Summer Books of 2008.

They say: "Whether you're sitting on the beach, gone camping or waiting to catch a flight, a good book is an essential part of summer." We agree, so check out the list on their website and start reading!

Buena Park Library Goes Virtual!

The Buena Park Library District recently invested in several electronic reference books from the Gale Virtual Reference Library. Access to the full text of these e-books will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week from anywhere that has an Internet connection.

Click on the Gale Virtual Reference library icon on our home page or search for any of the titles using the New WebPAC catalog.

The titles we offer are:

• American Decades
• American Decades, Primary Sources
• Ancient Greece and Rome: An Encyclopedia for Students
• Chemical Elements: From Carbon to Krypton
• Drugs and Controlled Substances: Information for Students
• Encyclopedia of Volcanoes
• Gale Encyclopedia of Science
• Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia
• UXL Encyclopedia of Biomes
• UXL Encyclopedia of Drugs and Addictive Substances
• UXL Encyclopedia of Landforms