Love a Good Mystery?

Do you love a good mystery? Want to find out more about your favorite mystery author or find out when the next mystery in a series is coming out? (Yes, the next book in the Maisie Dobbs series is due to be released this month).

Check out the Stop You're Killing Me! website Stop You're Killing Me

But don't stop there.  Your library also has some great information available through the Marvel database Novelist Plus.  You may access this database from home in your jammies and all you need is your library card number! 

Want a quick tutorial?  Stop by your Falmouth Memorial Library and have one of the staff show you how to access all sorts of information from the Marvel databases, including Novelist Plus. 

Once upon a time....

Once upon a time…

One of our recent posts talked about entering your favorite fairy tale. Did you think fairy tales were just for kids? Think again.

One of the new trends in adult fiction is fairy tales, with a twist. These aren’t your childhood happily-ever-after stories. These tales delve into the darker elements of life and love, but you’ll still recognize the bones of the fairy tale within. Whether you’re a fan of the classic story lines or like something a little more modern - you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll have a hard time putting these down. Here are some of our adult fairy tale holdings:

Second Nature by Alice Hoffman (Beauty and the Beast)

The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy (Hansel and Gretel)

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire (Cinderella)

And in the tradition of a fairy tale:

Onion Girl by Charles de Lint

Or if you like a mystery using fairy tale characters, try:

The Nursery Crime series by Jasper Fforde

Do you have a favorite tale? Share it with us!  Joyce D.

"The Distant Hours" and Fairy Tales

Ever wished you could enter your favorite fairy tale?  That’s exactly what Edie Burchill does in this gothic novel when she explores Milderhurst Castle, the location of her mother’s evacuation during World War II as well as the site of her beloved childhood tale.  Read Kate Morton’s The Distant Hours.  Available in fiction.  Susan C.

Book Chat Cafe--Second Saturday--Starts February 12th!

Please join us for our new monthly programming! Every second Saturday of the month, we will be presenting several programs geared toward adults---young and not so young! 

@ 9:30am, please join us for a new kind of book club,,,no lists to follow,,,no predetermined questions to answer.  Just come, sip some tea or coffee, nibble on a scone or muffin and tell the others in this reading circle what you're reading!  We'll have informal booktalks about what participants are currently reading and why! 

Staff from the library will be sharing some great resources to find that next great read, and we'll even wander into the world of e-books.  

" A Short History of Portland"

Allan Levinsky, author of "A Short History of Portland" will be discussing his book at the Falmouth Memorial Library, on Friday, February 4th @ 1pm.  The FML Book Group is hosting this event for the library.  The public is more than welcome and refreshments will be served.  Please join us!

Staff Picks

Have you ever lived in a house you really loved or a house with a history?  If you have you will enjoy The House at Bunganuc Landing by Susan Drinker Moran.  And if you think you know Maine but don’t know Bunganuc Landing it’s on the west side of Maquoit Bay in Brunswick.  The changes in the fortune of the house and Bunganuc Landing mirror the changes in life as her husband’s serious illness progresses.  Available on interlibrary loan.--Susan C.

Have You Checked Out the YA Section?

Busy lives means little time for settling in to read the great American novel. But just because you don’t have a lot of time on your hands doesn’t mean you can’t read some fabulous fiction. If you’re looking for a story with a fast-moving pace, thought-provoking concepts, and characters you’ll absolutely love (or love to hate) you need to look in the young adult section.

More and more young adult fiction is appealing to adults, and publishers know it. New titles like Harry Potter and Twilight paved the way – and taught adults where the YA section is in their library. Now you can find all sorts of fascinating reads that appeal to young and old alike. A few titles that have been popular among adults lately include the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, a dystopian story about a young girl who finds herself thrown into an arena where teens are forced to fight one another to the death – think Survivor meets Lord of the Flies. Continuing on the dystopian theme, you might enjoy Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, again the first in a series about a new world where everyone undergoes surgery to be pretty so that no one is different. (And the good news is, both of these series are complete, so there’s no waiting around for a year before you can find out what happens next.)

If dystopian isn’t your thing, how about something from our world? Try Anna Godbersen’s The Luxe series about a group of teenage girls breaking the rules of society in the late 1800s. Or, if you want a single title that’s a little more modern, try last year’s Printz Award winner Going Bovine by Libba Bray, or from the year before Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta. The Printz Award is the American Library Association’s award for best Young Adult book of the year. They just announced this year’s winner and honor books; you can find the list by going to www.ala.org/yalsa and clicking on booklists. While you’re there, check out some of the other cool lists of Young Adult books they’ve put together.

There are some amazing stories waiting for you in the Young Adult section. Because even though we may be adults, we’re all still young of mind.  Joyce D.