Noir and Protest

download (4)I’ve said it before–I love noir fiction.

 

161c052a2e6d1d578f3bcec6f6ee7218I love everything about it–from the original hard-boiled, cynical detective novels, like Sam Spade, to the films of dim, foggy streets, shadows, and moral conundrums, like The Maltese Falcon.  Part of it, I think, is because I am an intensely wordy person (which, I am sure, comes as no surprise here), and the fact that noir fiction, traditionally, manages to cram so much meaning, emotion, and significance into the shortest of sentences is a marvel to me.  I also love the traditional noir hero (and the occasionally heroine, too!) whose heart is usually made of solid gold, but who has been so beaten down by the heartlessness of the world that they end up standing outside it–and, often against it.  There’s a reason why noir protagonists are private detectives, assassins, vampires (no, seriously), and generally loners–there is no place for them in the world, so they have to stand outside it and find a way to challenge it alone.  And while I enjoy the mysteries that make up the plot of many noir novels, I love the deeply personal character development that comes from the character’s almost mythical quest to take on all the darkness of the world around them.

So when I saw this article published in Electric Literature, titled “Noir Is Protest Literature: That’s Why It’s Having a Renaissance” I was thrilled.  It’s absolutely true that noir fiction is having a renaissance–from True Detective and Breaking Bad to popular authors like Charlie Huston, Denies Mina, and Adrian McKinty…but I never really thought about why.

Nicholas Seeley does a magnificent job pointing out that noir fiction has always been a form of protest, first and foremost against the traditional Anglo-American crime novel where a detective of some sort restores order to society that has been disrupted by a crime, and isolates and excises the evil from society.  But, especially in the years after the Second World War, the idea that evil could be expunged seemed ludicrous, and noir fiction directly confronts this.

Noir stories gave the stage to criminals and their motivations, which range from unspeakable passions to a firm conviction that their particular crime serves a greater good. A detective may pursue such a criminal, but noir reveals the line between them to be a product of chance and circumstance—if, indeed, such a line exists at all.

crimefiction2But even as noir rejected ideas of the world as it “should be” in favor of the world as it really was, it still remained the domains of very traditional heroes.  As Seeley notes, “Classic noir presented worlds of corruption and inequality, but it was still primarily inequality between white men. Women remained cutouts…Racial and sexual minorities fared even worse: they were cast mostly as set dressing, or as villains, tempting innocent white people into depravity.”

Thankfully, admitting you have a problem is the first step to solving it, and, with the resurgence of noir, there is the potential for making it the truly subversive, defiant genre that it can be, taking on not just issues of white-bred corruption, but themes of race, sex, gender, and class identities.  Once again, to quote Seeley:

Light can slant harshly though Venetian blinds in most any neighborhood on the planet; tough-as-nails private investigators can come in any gender identity or color of the rainbow; doom-driven crooks can ride from first kiss to gas chamber with a member of the same sex as easily as the opposite.

So, in honor of this fantastic article, which you should definitely read in its entirety, and in honor of the wonderfulness that is the noir genre as a whole, that I’d offer you a few atypical noir novels to get you started down your dimly-lit and dangerous path into the world of noir fiction…

2672653The Mystic Art of Erasing All Signs of DeathCharlie Huston, as I mentioned above, is a stupendous noir author, who brought the genre into the realm of the paranormal, as well as into the world of blue-collar works.  In this book, habitual slacker Webster Fillmore Goodhue finds  his teaching career destroyed by tragedy and, without any other options, joins the Clean Team, a company assigned to clean up some of L.A.’s grisliest crime scenes.  But when a dead man’s daughter asks for his help, Web finds himself in the middle of a war between urban cowboys and rival cleaning teams that forces him to make the first–and perhaps the most significant–choices of his life.  Huston was actually my first real entrance into noir, but he remains one of my favorite because he’s just so good: he conveys the voices of his diverse and varied cast with pitch-perfect accuracy, and brings the seedy, grim world they inhabit to life so vividly that you really want to wash your hands while reading.

2403661The Song Is YouMegan Abbott was one of the first female authors to tackle the hard-core noir genre (the sensational cover art alone immediately recalls some of the mid-century’s best noir pulp novels), but she remains one of the best, because she doesn’t back down from very modern themes of sexism, violence, and class prejudices.  In this break-out novel, she re-imagines the infamous Black Dahlia case of 1947, as Hollywood publicist Gil “Hop” Hopkins finds himself confronted by a friend of Jean Spangler, a woman who vanished in a presumed murder two years previously.  Driven by guilt (and by the fear of blackmail), and by the persistence of a female journalist on the case, Hop descends into the underbelly of Hollywood in search of answers to Jean’s disappearance–and, inevitably, about himself, as well.  Abbott gets the historical details here to a “T”, but brings a modern sensibility to her work that makes these books feel at once familiar, and endlessly new and inventive.

2698306Black Noir: The sad truth is that there are very few detective novels written by (or, for that matter, about) African Americans.  NPR has offered some theories why, which you are welcome to read, but the fact is that, even though there were authors, as early as 1900 in the case of Pauline E. Hopkins’s tale “Talma Gordon”, they weren’t getting the same audiences or publicity that white authors were.  This anthology marks an attempt to rediscover some of the crime, mystery, and noir fiction composed by African American and Black writers from the 20th century.  While there are some well-known names here, like Walter Mosley and Chester Himes, this collection also gives readers the chance to meet new marvels like Edward P. Jones (whose story “Old Boys, Old Girls” is stunning) and Eleanor Taylor Bland, and is guaranteed to give them a chance to realize the real potential for noir fiction going forward.

The Nebula Awards!

Guess what, dear readers?!

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Recall, in the past year, how we have talked about book awards, gender, and the discrepancies between the number of women authors in the world, and the lack of recognition they receive?

To recap, briefly, a number of statistics have shown that books about male characters win more awards than books about women, and books by male people tend to win more awards than those written by female people, despite the fact that women are publishing more books overall.  See this graph from The Huffington Post for further details:

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This graph only points to one award (though the Pulitzer is certainly a significant award), and doesn’t even hint at the lack of diversity in mainstream literary awards in terms of identity, sexuality, or religion…anyways, the point is that awards, as a whole, need to be doing a much better job.

And today….they did.  Or, at least, one did.  Because yesterday, women writers swept the Nebula Awards!

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The Nebula Awards are handed out by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.  All members are allowed to suggest books for consideration, and only members can select nominees.  This means that those invested in the genre and its success are responsible for nominating books, and also that publishers, agents, or any other other outside entity cannot tilt the scales in their favor through any kind of promotional or financial influence.

download (4)For several decades, science fiction and fantasy have been in the position to examine issues of identity, prejudice, and belonging, often in a way that more reality-based fiction genres cannot.  For example, in an interview with The Paris Review, Ursula K LeGuin mentioned how her seminal novel, The Left Hand of Darkness was inspired by emerging debates on gender and identity, saying “We didn’t have the language yet to say that gender is a social construction, which is how we shorthand it now…Gender had been thrown into the arena where science fiction goes in search of interesting subjects to revisit and re-question.”  Similarly, author Octavia Butler, who has made her career out of using science fiction to question issues of gender, race, and identity, noted to Democracy Now that “I think I stayed with [science fiction] because it was so wide open, it gave me the chance to comment on every aspect of humanity. People tend to think of science fiction as, oh, Star Wars or Star Trek, and the truth is there are no closed doors, and there are no required formulas. You can go anywhere with it.”

So it isn’t terribly surprising that the SFWA would be so open to nominating and supporting women, and the challenging, imaginative, and daring books that they write.  But recently, there has been an enormous backlash against women and people of color in the science fiction genre (as represented over the horrible debacle that was the Hugo Awards, but more about that later), so the fact that the SFWA is clearly reaffirming its support of diversity of both authors and books is enormously gratifying, and offers readers a whole new opportunity to discover some fantastic stories!

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So, without further ado, here are the nominees and winners of this year’s Nebula Awards!  Check out the Library this week to discover these phenomenal books for yourself (links are provided below for stories available online)!

(Bold indicates category winner)

Novel

Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy

Novella

Novelette

  • ‘‘Our Lady of the Open Road’’, Sarah Pinsker (Asimov’s 6/15)
  • ‘‘Rattlesnakes and Men’’, Michael Bishop (Asimov’s 2/15)
  • ‘‘And You Shall Know Her by the Trail of Dead’’, Brooke Bolander (Lightspeed 2/15)
  • ‘‘Grandmother-nai-Leylit’s Cloth of Winds’’, Rose Lemberg (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 6/11/15)
  • ‘‘The Ladies’ Aquatic Gardening Society’’, Henry Lien (Asimov’s 6/15)
  • ‘‘The Deepwater Bride’’, Tamsyn Muir (F&SF 7-8/15)

Short Story

Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation*

  • Mad Max: Fury Road, Written by George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, Nick Lathouris
  • Ex Machina, Written by Alex Garland
  • Inside Out, Screenplay by Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley; Original Story by Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen
  • Jessica Jones: AKA Smile, Teleplay by Scott Reynolds & Melissa Rosenberg; Story by Jamie King & Scott Reynolds
  • The Martian, Screenplay by Drew Goddard
  • Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Written by Lawrence Kasdan & J.J. Abrams and Michael Arndt

Additioanlly, Sir Terry Pratchett was posthumously awarded the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award, and C.J. Cherryh was named a Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master, both awards of lifetime achievement voted on by the SFWA.

Congratulations to the winning authors, and to the SFWA for recognizing such a sensational selection!

*The Ray Bradbury Award is not considered a Nebula award, but is handed out at the same ceremony

Saturdays @ the South: Gettin’ Crafty

wool-1313994_640There’s a poorly-kept but still little-known secret here at the South Branch. We have a knitting group. It was started a few months ago in the most wonderful way for a library program to start: organically and based on patron needs. A  wonderful patron who enjoys knitting and wanted to share that joy with others and came to me about starting a group. Now she comes in one Saturday a month and guides a small group that uses our community room to knit and chat.

In case this group wasn’t a clue, we at the South Branch love crafters and have a few crafters on staff, including yours truly. (As an example, this foxy little crochet cozy helps keeps my tea warm and IMG_0999gives my desk a bit of always-welcome whimsy.) We love chatting crafts as well and have a combination of knitting, crocheting, quilting, sewing and other skills that patrons are always welcome to talk to us about! While we’re a couple of months after National Craft month (apparently created by the Craft and Hobby Association in 1994), for which the South Branch did a display of craft books and crafty fiction in March, there’s never a bad time to get out the knitting needles, crochet hooks, felt, yarn, beads, glitter, glue sticks and more! We love offering craft-based programs for kids and adults at all the library locations to help keep the community’s creative juices flowing.

Since the blog turned 1-year old this past Thursday and 1 year is a paper anniversary, I thought it would be appropriate to combine crafting with the paper anniversary and share this tutorial on how to make origami books:

this one to make an origami bookcase to put your origami mini books:

and this intricate origami cat bookmark (because who couldn’t use another bookmark!) for those of you ready for a challenge:

As further celebration of things crafty, here are some books that can teach you some great crafts start-to-finish, whether you’re just exploring a new hobby or are an experienced crafter:

3553517The Knowledgeable Knitter by Margaret Radcliffe

This wonderful, illustrated compendium is great for new knitters and experienced. This book will teach you the basics of pattern reading, yarn weights and how to purchase knitting needles and accessories through several projects and adding borders, embellishments and more. This is not a pattern book, you’ll have to find those elsewhere, but Radcliffe will show you techniques that even an experienced knitter might not be familiar with step-by-step instructions and helpful, guiding illustrations. what’s more, she even put an appendix with an illustrated glossary of terms for quick reference. This is one book that can be easily digested in bites to learn one or two new techniques or might need to be renewed several times to give yourself a complete knitting course.

3690547The Embroidered Garden by Kazuko Aoki

This lovely, unique book has fanciful patterns inspired by nature and gardening. In an untraditional format, Aoki starts with showing the reader the finished projects to give a sense of the variety of stitches, ideas and projects one can achieve. The projects are arranged by their seasonal inspirations so the reader gets four sections with an array of project possibilities including card-making, coordinated sewing sets and more traditional samplers. She follows with a section on gaining real-life inspiration by going out into nature to see what inspires you. After the reader is fully inspired and eager to start, she offers the more traditional how-to section with stitch glossaries and pattern guides. This book has such pretty patterns, it may just make any nature-lover take up a needle and thread!

3719518Crochet Ever After by Brenda K. B. Anderson

This book is a delightful collection wearable fairy tales to make. From adult “Bad Apple” fingerless mitts to a unicorn hoodie for kids, these patterns are all inspired by fairy tales, some literal, some fanciful, all adorable and infinitely wearable. Make no mistake, these are not all patterns for children. There are some lovely, sophisticated and whimsical adult patterns in here as well. This book is for anyone looking to take a more fanciful approach to their crocheting. (I’ve got my sights set on the dragon neckwarmer featured on the cover, myself….)

3706096Stamp Stencil Paint by Anna Joyce

I had to add this book to the collection because the concept was just so cool. Joyce encourages the crafter to take patterns to a whole new level and with a bunch of new media in unexpected ways. Starting with basic instructions on sizing, scale and mixing colors and supplies, she then takes the reader on a discovery of patterns that can be applied to virtually anything. She offers templates and step-by-step instructions along with project ideas that are unexpected, but amazing. In combination with the gorgeous photos that accompany each project, this book is well worth browsing through, just to get inspired.

3641551Freeform Wire Art Jewelry by Gayle Bird

This book somehow manages to be both basic and comprehensive in this slim, but heavily-illustrated volume that could take anyone from novice to jewelry-maker in short order. Bird talks to the reader about tools, wire, color theory to ensure that the designs can be complementary and step-by-step techniques. She then follows with a series of patterns and instructions for jewelry that is both classy and modern and is easily adaptable to tastes and personal style. I tend to stick to more traditional needle-work myself, but after exploring this book and seeing a few patterns that I’d love to make, I might just become a jewelry-making convert…

I want to congratulate Free For All for one year of bookish wonderfulness and our awesome head-blogger Arabella for her wonderful work, tireless devotion to the blanket-fort cause and letting me play around in this sandbox to reach out to our great patrons and chat about the fun things at the South Branch. Till next week, dear readers, here’s to more years of bookish adventures together!

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Happy Birthday to Us!

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So apparently the Library doesn’t have a “celebratory fireworks” line item in its budget, so we’ll have to make do with these as I announce, with enormous pride and delight, that it is the Free For All’s first birthday!

That’s right, beloved patrons, today is the first anniversary of our first post.  Since then, we’ve discussed nearly 700 books, films and audiobooks in over 300 separate posts!  We’ve provided plenty of helpful hints on how to get the most from the Library’s many resources, offered plenty of tips on how to construct and stock an epic blanket fort, and, hopefully, helped to expand your reading horizons with posts on your right to read, as well as genre tours and book recommendations.  We’ve traveled to London, reported on literary awards and world events, and discovered plenty of new and innovative days to celebrate.  I don’t know about you, but we’ve certainly had a blast this past year!

The Free For All is very much a labor of love, so we owe an enormous fanfare of thanks to our contributors, here at the Main Library, particularly Kelley, who created our magnificent graphics, and our esteemed colleagues at the South and West Branches, who do such inspiring and creative work here.  And, last but never least, we owe a colossal thanks to you, our readers!  To each and every one of you who has checked out our blog, who has come into the library and commented on it, who have offered recommendations to keep our displays well-stocked–thank you!  We are here because of you, and, with any luck, we’ll be here for quite a while to come.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s our paper anniversary, so I’m going to take my cake, and go find a new book to cuddle…

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Celebrating the Shirley Jackson Awards!

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Readers of the Free For All will know that I am rather an enormous fan of dark fantasy, horror, and all the odd things that boggle and beguile the imagination.  So it was, naturally, with great interest that I read of this years nominations for the Shirley Jackson awards, which were established in 2007 specifically to celebrate specifically those creepy, unsettling, imaginative, and somehow wondrous books that keep us up and night…for a number of reasons.

ShirleyJackThough her work was popular during her lifetime, Shirley Jackson’s novels only really began to get the attention and appreciation they deserve after her death in 1965.  Part of the reason for this may be because Jackson’s stories are so ambiguous that readers were desperate to get a simple explanation of what they meant, rather than appreciating their full effect, and the skill it took to produce such an unsettling effect on readers.  When her short story “The Lottery” was published in the New Yorker in 1948, it produced, quite literally, a flood of letters, that Jackson herself described as full of “bewilderment, speculation, and old-fashioned abuse”.

Another part of the reason for the late recognition of Jackson’s genius was that she refused to talk about her work–or talk at all to the many requests for interviews or sound bites that poured in.  As her husband, acclaimed editor Stanley Edgar Hyman explained after her death, “she consistently refused to be interviewed, to explain or promote her work in any fashion, or to take public stands and be the pundit of the Sunday supplements. She believed that her books would speak for her clearly enough over the years.”  As a result, any number of odd stories popped up to fill Jackson’s personal silence…that the darkness in her stories were the result of her own personal neurosis…that she was a recluse…that she herself was mad….

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The truth of the matter was that Jackson was a lovely lady, and, by all accounts, she and her husband were loving parents and very friendly hosts, and dedicated readers (their personal library was estimated at over 100,000 volumes).  But Jackson was also a perspicacious individual who was deeply conscious of what was going on in the world around her.  One of her first literary successes was the novel Hangsamanpublished in 1951 (and a short story called “The Missing Girl“, which wasn’t published until well after her death), a book that was deeply influenced by the (still unsolved) disappearance of a Bennington College sophomore named Paula Jean Weldon, which Jackson developed, adding her own experiences of her years at Bennington College, and her knowledge of the area where Weldon was said to have vanished (her family owned a house very nearby).  Later, she used news about the Cold War, America’s growing and pernicious xenophobia, and worldwide fears of nuclear and atomic energy to create stories as inspiration for her works.  She was actually delighted that “The Lottery” was banned in the United States because, she said, it meant that the government had finally realized what the story was really about.

2663371It was her uncanny ability to turn her readers’ fears against them, and to manipulate their own very real feelings of insecurity as the basis for her work that made Jackson such a noteworthy–and unsettling–storyteller.  Anyone who has read The Haunting of Hill House, and felt that ghostly hand creep into their own will know precisely of what I speak.  And, since 2007, when her estate established an award in her name, it is precisely these kinds of works that are honored with recognition from the Shirley Jackson Award.

The Shirley Jackson Award celebrates “outstanding achievement in the literatdownload (2)ure of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic”–and the nominees very frequently address the very real fears that permeate our own society, just as Jackson did in her own work.  This year is no different.  It’s remarkable to see how a diverse selection of authors grapple with issues of homosexuality and identity, racism, feminism, ageism, abuse, love, hatred, in ways that are beautifully human, terrifyingly real, and chillingly imaginative.  What’s even more interesting is how many small, independent, and diverse publishers are recognized in these years nominees.  More than most literary awards, which, as we’ve noted, tend to stick to the tried and true, the Shirley Jackson Awards are on the cutting edge of publishing, writing, and social issues, and, for that–not to mention the fact that these stories are all cracking good reads–they are definitely worth some attention.

Here is a list of the nominees…we are working to get some more on the shelves of the Library, but if there are titles below without a link, feel free to give us a call or stop by and we’ll find them for you in the meantime!

The nominees for the 2015 Shirley Jackson Awards are:

NOVEL

Eileen, Ottessa Moshfegh (Penguin Press)
Experimental Film, Gemma Files (ChiZine Publications)
The Glittering World, Robert Levy (Gallery)
Lord Byron’s Prophecy, Sean Eads (Lethe Press)
When We Were Animals, Joshua Gaylord (Mulholland Books)

NOVELLA

The Box Jumper, Lisa Mannetti (Smart Rhino)
In the Lovecraft Museum, Steve Tem (PS Publishing)
Unusual Concentrations, S.J. Spurrier (Simon Spurrier)
The Visible Filth, Nathan Ballingrud (This Is Horror)
Wylding Hall, Elizabeth Hand (PS Publishing-UK/Open Road Media-US)

NOVELETTE

“The Briskwater Mare,” Deborah Kalin (Cherry Crow Children, Twelfth Planet Press)
“The Deepwater Bride,” Tamsyn Muir (Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July-August 2015)
“Even Clean Hands Can Do Damage,” Steve Duffy (Supernatural Tales #30, Autumn)
“Fabulous Beasts,” Priya Sharma (Tor.com, July 2015)
“The Thyme Fiend,” Jeffrey Ford (Tor.com, March 2015)

SHORT FICTION

“A Beautiful Memory,” Shannon Peavey (Apex Magazine)
“Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers,” Alyssa Wong (Nightmare)
“Seven Minutes in Heaven,” Nadia Bulkin (Aickman’s Heirs)
“The Dying Season,” Lynda E. Rucker (Aickman’s Heirs)
“Wilderness,” Letitia Trent (Exigencies)

SINGLE-AUTHOR COLLECTION

The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, Stephen King (Scribner)
The End of the End of Everything, Dale Bailey (Arche Press)
Get in Trouble, Kelly Link (Random House)
Gutshot, Amelia Gray (FSG Originals)
The Nameless Dark – A Collection, T.E. Grau (Lethe Press)
You Have Never Been Here, Mary Rickert (Small Beer Press)

EDITED ANTHOLOGY

Aickman’s Heirs, edited by Simon Strantzas (Undertow Publications)
Black Wings IV, edited by S.T. Joshi (PS Publishing)
The Doll Collection, edited by Ellen Datlow (Tor)
Exigencies, edited by Richard Thomas (Dark House Press)
Seize the Night, edited by Christopher Golden (Gallery)

The Romance Garden!

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So it’s been an admittedly dismal spring around here, beloved patrons, and it’s been wreaking havoc on plants and emerging flowers.  So it’s a good thing that we have our Romance Garden, where there is no frost and no weeds…and plenty of dirt in our minds can grow!

So without further ado, here are our recommendations for you genre fans out there to savor, from the romance readers at the Peabody Library:

Bridget:
3738556 (1)Cuff Me by Lauren Layne

I’ve sung Lauren Layne’s praises before in these romance posts, but I’m happy to do it again, because her stories are so unexpected, and her characters are so genuine and interesting that these relationships end up staying with you for a long time after reading the book.

Cuff Me is the third book in Layne’s New York’s Finest series, which focuses on the Morettis, a family of NYPD officers (Dad is a retired commissioner, and the three boys are all moving up the ranks).  Each book works perfectly as a stand-alone novel, but throughout the series, we’ve come to see Vincent, a top homicide detective, as little more than a gruff, cranky, and generally unapproachable guy.  This book, however, changes everything.

Vincent’s partner on the force, Jill Henley, has been in Florida for several months, helping her aging mother recover, and generally trying to convince herself that Vincent will never–and possibly can never feel the same way about her that she does about him.  Hoping to move on, she even finds herself a boyfriend who is everything that Vincent is not…Even though he would never admit it, being without Jill has been hell for Vincent, but when she comes home with an engagement ring on her finger, Vincent realizes that what he feels for Jill is far, far more than professional…but how can he convince her?  And even if he can, are they both willing to risk their careers for a chance together?

While love triangles are generally the bane of my existence, this book handled things surprisingly well, and didn’t drag the story into the realm of melodrama at all.  What I loved most, however, was that Vincent’s primary concern was for Jill’s happiness above all else, and not about “winning”.  Their relationship was wonderfully sympathetic, and, as they try and navigate their growing attraction to each other, also desperately, gut-wrenchingly awkward, which isn’t something you often see in a romance novel.  Add to that an engaging murder mystery on the side, and you have the makings of one stellar romance!

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Kelley:
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The Art of Taming a Rake by Nicole Jordan

In the first of Nicole Jordan’s Legendary Lovers series, we’re introduced to Venetia Stratham, a victim of scandal who is shunned by her family and society; and Quinn Wilde, a charming earl with a rakish reputation who finds himself the target of an assassin. When Quinn demonstrates an interest in Venetia’s beloved sister, Venetia sneaks into a gentlemen’s club to confront him about the matter. Having been burned by a handsome and titled “gentleman” herself, Venetia wants better for her sister, and is determined to discourage Quinn’s attentions.

The confrontation results in an explosive kiss that sets the tone for the rest of the book. Despite Venetia’s attempts to escape Quinn’s interest, the two are forced to marry when a situation arises that could potentially ruin what is left of Venetia’s good reputation. Venetia does her best to deny her attraction to Quinn even after their marriage, but Quinn’s genuine efforts to earn her regard make him difficult to ignore. When Wildes marry, they marry for love and love for life, and Quinn is determined to make their marriage work.

The Art of Taming a Rake is a romance about trust, family, and seeing people as they are. As Quinn and Venetia come to know each other, Venetia learns that not all gentlemen with wicked reputations are truly wicked, and sometimes opening your heart despite your fears can change your life for the better.

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Saturdays @ the South: Easing some book anxiety

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We’ve all been there. You order a book, wait for your hold to come in and you *finally* get the e-mail (or call or text) that says your book has arrived and is ready for pickup! You bring your hurried anticipation to the library and take the book home with you to curl up and read (possibly in your blanket fort) and then…. deja vu. The words seem awfully familiar, character names are starting to ring a bell. Suddenly you realize…. you’ve read this book before! Cursing mildly  you think: How could this have happened? Was the cover different? Shouldn’t you have recognized the title? And suddenly, mournfully, you’re left lacking your expected reading material. Yes, you could read this book again (rereading is always an option) but not necessarily when you’ve had your heart set on a new reading experience, wanting to introduce yourself to new characters or re-discovering favorite characters in new situations. Very simply, you’re not in the mood to read this particular book again and you’re left disappointed and suddenly anxious about whether or not this will happen again.

dog-1126025_640We’ve discussed book anxiety here on the blog a bit these past couple of weeks, ensuring that people know that book anxiety can be a normal part of being a reader. We talked about peeking at endings as a way to ease some reading anxiety (a technique that has long worked for yours truly), but there are also ways to ease the anxiety of wondering if you’re going to unexpectedly get a book you’ve already read before.

There are external options. Several of our wonderful patrons here at the South keep notebooks with lists of books they’ve read, keeping particular track of series so that they read them in order. When it comes to to series books, the KDL What’s Next database is a fantastic resource for knowing not only what authors have written in a series, but keeping them in order so you don’t accidentally give yourself spoilers when you’re not expecting to (almost as bad as getting a book you’ve already read!). They have a printer-friendly version so you can print out a list of series books without having to transfer them to your notebook.

For those more digitally-inclined, there is the option of Goodreads (which I’ve mentioned on the blog before), which is my go-to source for keeping track of books that I’ve read, want to read, enjoyed, and didn’t enjoy so much. The ability to “tag” books into categories makes it easy to find books when I’m in the mood for something in particular and it also allows me to keep track of books that I’ve read for my book club or other purposes, like professional books to help make myself a better librarian for my awesome patrons. This site also has the handy resource of showing different covers and editions for the same book so you don’t get a book you’ve already read that was repackaged by the publisher (and sometimes even republished under a different title! This happened to me. The pictures below are the same Bill Bryson text, but with different covers- title and all! ).

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Some people, however, prefer not to add their information onto a massive social media site that asks even a few personal questions. This is perfectly acceptable as privacy is paramount here at the library (more on that in a bit) and we don’t want you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. There is good news, however, because Evergreen, our handy checkin/checkout system allows you to keep track of the books you’ve checked out of the library! If you manage your account online (and we recommend that you do, particularly if you want to suspend holds for yourself) you can keep track of your books; you just need to tell your account to do do it for you. Here’s how:

Log into your account from the library’s website:

Account login

username password

Once you’re in your account, click on the “Account Preference” tab, then on the “Search and History Preferences” tab. Check the box that says “Keep history of checked out items?”:

history check
That note on the bottom about making sure your e-mail is valid is a helpful one! You can check and update your e-mail address in the “Personal Information” tab.

Make sure you hit the “Save” button at the bottom of the screen! You might have to scroll to get to it, but it’s important!:

Save

Now you can go back into your account and everything you return to the library from the moment you’ve saved these new preferences, will be recorded in your history.  Unfortunately, it won’t backdate your history to everything you’ve checked out on your card, but it will note everything going forward. To access it, you only need to click on the “Items Checked Out” tab, then the “Check-out History” tab.

history

A couple of words about privacy (again). First, I used my account in order to show you how the history works and give you an example of the checked out history screen. I gave the library explicit permission to do this, otherwise something like this would never have appeared anywhere, let alone such a public forum.  Second, the wonderful people behind the desk who check out your books will NOT be able to see your history, even if your account is set to save it (and even if you ask them to). Your checkout history is accessible to you and you alone, because what you choose to read is your personal business and we consider your privacy to be the most important feature to using the library.

I hope this post has given some of you the opportunity to ease your anxiety about checking out a book you’ve already read unexpectedly. Until next week, dear patrons, may you never run out of new things to read. (That’s what the library here for, after all!)

"Once you learn to read, you will be forever free." ~Frederick Douglass