Books
Book Award Winners, Finalists Announced
Book awards season is in full swing.
The Man Booker Prize for fiction has been awarded to Hilary Mantel for Bring Up the Bodies, the sequel to Wolf Hall, which won the prestigious award in 2009. This second book in the Tudor trilogy traces the bloody downfall of Anne Boleyn. Mantel is only the third author to win the award twice, and the first ever to win the award for a sequel.
In other book award news, the finalists for the National Book Awards have been announced.
Among the fiction finalists are the recently named MacArthur "Genius" Fellow Junot Diaz for his short story collection, This Is How You Lose Her. Two other finalists deal with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and their aftermaths: The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers, and Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain.
Completing the list of fiction finalists are The Round House by Louise Erdrich and Dave Eggers' A Hologram for the King.
Nonfiction finalists include Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Katherine Boo's account of life in a Mumbai slum, and journalist Anthony Shadid's House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family and a Lost Middle East. Sadly, Shadid died in February at 43 while covering the civil war in Syria for The New York Times.
Rounding out the nonfiction nominees is Robert Caro's fourth book on Lyndon Johnson, The Passage of Power; Anne Applebaum's Iron Curtain, The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944-1956; and The Boy Kings of Texas, a memoir of a sensitive soul growing up in the macho barrio of Brownsville, Texas, by Domingo Martinez.
National Book Award winners will be announced on November 14. Check out the complete list of finalists and come to the Troy Library's Adult Information area or check our catalog to reserve one of these great reads.
Read Great Books with Friends
Looking for titles for your next book club group? The Troy Library can help.
The Women's National Book Association has selected 20 titles in celebration of October's National Reading Group Month. Now in its fifth year, this event is designed to foster the values of camaraderie, the enjoyment of shared reading, and appreciation of literature and culture.
Another great resource for book discussion groups is the American Library Association's Book Group Buzz. On this site you will find book group tips, reading lists, and lively talk of literary news from Booklist Online.
Troy Library has book group kits for those who are starting a book discussion group. The kits, which include 12 to 15 copies of each title as well as discussion questions, can be checked out for eight weeks. They can be picked up at the Adult Information desk.
Questions? Contact the Adult Information Department at asref@troymi.gov, or 248.524.3534.
Happy reading!
October Is National Bake and Decorate Month
Do you want to bake something really special? For some tasty ideas, choose from a vast array of dessert and decorating books at the Troy Public Library.
There are books on cake decorating, birthday cakes for children, special occasion treats, easy bake recipes, bake sale ideas, and many more. Stop by the display in the Adult Information area of the Library and help yourself. And you can search the Library's catalog for more enticing possibilities.
Robert Redford Revisited
Thirty-seven years ago this October, Three Days of the Condor, a political thriller directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Robert Redford, opened. In the film, Redford played a C.I.A. employee pursued by an assassin. Prior to Three Days of the Condor, Pollack and Redford collaborated on Jeremiah Johnson andThe Way We Were.
Other popular films Redford starred in include The Candidate, The Sting, The Great Gatsby, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, All the President’s Men, A River Runs Through It, Quiz Show and many others.
In 1980, Redford founded the Sundance Institute to support aspiring film and theater artists and projects. The Sundance Film Festival has become an important festival for independent filmmakers, and has launched many successful films and careers.
To revisit these works on DVD, or to learn more about his life, stop by the Adult Information Department of the Troy Public Library.
Great Teen Reads
Overwhelmed by the number of fantastic Young Adult titles out there? Not sure what to read next? Do not worry -- the Troy Library has you covered. Our brand new Teen Reads pag
e is full of recommended titles for teens and those who love Young Adult literature. You can browse through lists of books, explore new genres, and place holds on anything that catches your fancy.
For even more books to explore, check out NoveList Plus by clicking here to log on with your Troy Public Library Card. This extensive electronic resource, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, allows you to search for titles and authors you are interested in while providing lists of similar titles, book discussion questions, author biographies and much more.
Adult Graphic Novels Are Here
If you are dreaming of The Sandman or dying for The Walking Dead, the Troy Public Library has what you are looking for!
We at TPL know that comics are not just for kids, so we have created a separate Adult Graphic Novels collection of popular titles geared toward grown-ups. To find series such as American Splendor, Watchmen, Y: The Last Man and much more, look between the Mystery and Science Fiction collections in the Adult Reference area of the library.
If you have any questions or suggestions for new titles, email Olivia at O.Olson@troymi.gov.
Happy reading!