Memphis Reads Archive

The Memphis Public Library & Information Center sponsors book clubs at many branches and at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library. Here's a list of the titles that will be discussed in May. For a book club's contact information, click the link for that branch or call (901) 415-2700.

Book Lover's Book Club

East Shelby Branch Library
Tuesday, May 20, 1:30 p.m.
Book selection: Plainsong by Kent Haruf

Central Readers' Club

Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library
Monday, May 19, 7:00 p.m.
Book selection: Call of the Wild by Jack London

Cordova Book Club

Cordova Branch Library
Tuesday, May 20, 12:00 p.m.
Book selection: Digging to America by Anne Tyler

North Renaissance Men's Book Club

North Branch Library
Saturday, May 17, 2:00 p.m.
Book selection: Daddy Was a Number Runner by Louise Meriwether
Learn more about this book club

North Women's Book Club

North Branch Library
Saturday, May 24, 2:00 p.m.
Book selection: I Believe I'll Testify: A Story of the Grace and Power of God by Lily M. Berry

Parkway Village Book Club

Parkway Village Branch Library
Wednesday, May 21, 2:30 p.m.
Book selection: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Second Saturday Book Club

Highland Branch Library
Saturday, May 10, 1:30 p.m.
Book selection: Hunting Season by Nevada Barr
Learn more about this book club

BOOK TALK is an informal, radio interview show featuring authors discussing their work. The show is produced at the studios of WYPL and can be heard Saturdays at 6 p.m. on FM 89.3.

Tomorrow, the public is invited to attend a live taping of an interview.


Award-Winning Author Lee Martin
Wednesday, April 30, 2:30 p.m.
WYPL Studios

Mr. Martin is the director of the creative writing program at The Ohio State University and was a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel, The Bright Forever. He will be discussing his latest book, River of Heaven. The interview will last approximately 30 minutes and is open to the public.


The WYPL Studios are located at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library (3030 Poplar Avenue, Memphis, TN 38111) and can be accessed from a separate entrance to the right of the main building entrance.

Labels: WYPL

Fiction/Romance

Beth reviews BLUE-EYED DEVIL by Lisa Kleypas (St. Martin's Press, 2008)

This “serious” romance novel by Lisa Kleypas is a sequel to her debut novel, Sugar Daddy.

Liberty has decided between Hardy Cates, self-made man, and Gage Travis, heir to a Texas fortune. Gage’s younger sister, Haven, attends Wellesley College and meets her husband-to-be, Nick Tanner. Nick, although a Texan, is considered unfit by Haven’s father. Haven, not to be strong-armed by her father, elopes with Nick and her father cuts her off.

Nick and Haven (renamed Marie by Nick) move to Dallas and both work so they are able to afford a small condo. Nick, who assumed Haven’s father would come around, becomes increasingly angry as they live on a tight budget. His solution is that Haven should have a baby—how could her father not help support his grandchild? When Nick finally pushes Haven to the breaking point—literally—she returns to Houston a beaten and bruised woman.

Hardy Cates is still in Houston and still at odds with the Travis family. The attraction between Haven and Hardy is as strong as ever, but her recent past may stand in their way. Can Hardy Cates, a man raised in a trailer park, convince an heiress to love him?

Lisa Kleypas has written a wonderful second novel full of romance and contemporary issues. This was a great page turner! Read Sugar Daddy and follow it up with Blue-Eyed Devil. You won’t regret it!


Beth, Highland Branch Library

Labels: Reviews by Beth, Romance

Fiction/Mystery

Dean Moore reviews FUNERAL IN BLUE by Anne Perry (Ballantine Books, 2001)

When a double murder is reported, Kristian Beck, a surgeon, becomes the prime suspect. His wife and an artist’s model were the two victims. Beck is arrested, accused, and put on trial for the murders. A short list of the other suspects includes the artist the model worked for, the owner of a gambling house, a previous acquaintance of the Becks, a complete stranger, and even a rebuffed lover.

Anne Perry's writing is excellent. The reader is kept in suspense until the very end and must decide which of the many plot details may or may not be critical to solving this mystery. One example is the gambling debt that has driven the surgeon and his wife to near poverty. Also, a previous acquaintance has paid visits to London to see the surgeon’s wife. Beck did not know of these visits, even though the two men were close friends.

Funeral in Blue features private investigator William Monk, who can also be found in at least 10 other Anne Perry titles. Other primary characters are well-developed. By the end of this book, many of the characters seemed like long-time acquaintances. The wonderful, historical detail of London in the mid-nineteenth century is also appealing. The ending to this mystery is a real surprise and worth the read.


Dean Moore, Frayser Branch Library

Labels: Mystery, Reviews by Dean Moore

Fiction/Fantasy Young Adult

Hillary Pesson reviews AIRBORN by Kenneth Oppel (EOS, 2004)

Young Matt Cruse, a cabin boy on the airship Aurora, rises to the occasion again and again as he is buffeted by the winds of fate. Driven to work on the same airship which claimed the life of his father, his swashbuckling adventure begins with the discovery of a hot-air balloon adrift over the Pacificus. Before the end of Oppel’s tale, Mr. Cruse will discover that even though he was born aloft, he cannot fly, but can learn to adjust his sails.

Highly recommended to all those who love a high-impact, fast-paced adventure the likes of Robinson Crusoe, Jean Craighead George, and Jules Verne. Marked as a Printz Award winner for excellence in Young Adult literature, Airborn packs a powerful plot, highly developed characters, and intense visual language into a powerhouse of a book. A must read, no matter the age.


Hillary Pesson, Children's Department

Labels: Fantasy, Reviews by Hillary Pesson, Young Adult

What is your favorite genre?








Thanks to Beth, Highland Branch Library, for another great question!

Labels: Memphis Reads Question

Fiction/Suspense

Beth reviews LAST KNOWN VICTIM by Erica Spindler (Mira Books, 2007)

Hurricane Katrina has come and gone, but New Orleans has something new to fear—and it has nothing to do with water. It’s a serial killer. "The Handyman" kills women and keeps their right hands as souvenirs. After Katrina hits, his work is discovered in one of the massive refrigerator graveyards, with six hands found inside of a refrigerator's freezer compartment.

Labels: Reviews by Beth, Suspense

Fiction/Mainstream

Andrea Bledsoe reviews FREE FOOD FOR MILLIONAIRES by Min Jin Lee (Warner Books, 2007)

The year is 1993 and Princeton graduate Casey Han is feeling stifled by her parents. Trying to stay loyal to her immigrant Korean parents’ values as well as trying to spread her Westernized wings in Manhattan is causing all kinds of turmoil in Casey’s life.

At the beginning of the novel, readers are introduced to the Han family eating dinner together. Subservient wife Leah and Casey's younger sister are so excited that she is finally out of school. Unfortunately, strong-willed Casey and her hot-tempered father, Joseph, get into a violent fight, and Joseph throws Casey out of the house and out of his life.

The years go by and Casey falls in and out of love, moves in and out of different people’s homes, decides and re-decides what to be when she grows up, and accrues more and more credit card debt. It seems every time Casey gets a leg up financially or emotionally, she makes some kind of hasty decision that throws everything back into a tailspin.

I did enjoy reading about Casey and those around her since she and I are around the same age and have experienced some of the same life events-but, definitely not all of them. I also related to being the headstrong older daughter. This was a fascinating book.


Andrea Bledsoe, Poplar-White Station Branch Library

Labels: Mainstream Fiction, Reviews by Andrea King

Your book club meets in two days, you have to lead the discussion, and you have no idea what to say about the book. Or, possibly another scenario, you have to suggest a book for the club but haven't a clue. What do you do?

A couple of websites that have been a big help to me in leading book club discussions and suggesting titles that book club members might enjoy are Reading Group Guides and Reading Group Choices.

Both websites have discussion questions for a number of popular book club titles, suggestions for books that other clubs have enjoyed, book club contests, newsletters, and other tools which can make planning for your next book club meeting exciting and less stressful.


Jesse Pool, Highland Branch Library

Labels: Book Clubs, Resources

The Pulitzer Prize winners for 2008 have been announced. In addition to journalism, awards are given in music, poetry, drama, fiction, nonfiction and biography. The actual prizes will be awarded in May at an annual luncheon at Columbia University.

Labels: Awards, News and Notes

Nonfiction/Adventure

Katie Redus reviews INTO THE WILD by Jon Krakauer (Villard Books, 1996)

After abandoning or giving away all of his money and possessions, Christopher McCandless walked into the Alaskan wilderness alone. He was profoundly influenced by the writings of Henry David Thoreau, Jack London and Leo Tolstoy. McCandless went on his own search for the wilderness he had read about in books like White Fang and Walden.

After graduating from Emory University in 1990, Christopher McCandless began a journey that would take him across the country and into the lives of an interesting array of people that he met along the way. Author Jon Krakauer meticulously recreates McCandless’ journey from college graduation all the way to the tragic discovery of his dead body in an abandoned bus in Alaska.

McCandless was undeterred along his journey into the wilderness. His letters and diary told of his travels and gave some insight into the mind of a young man from a well-to-do family who left everything behind to invent a new life for himself.

Krakauer reveals the overconfidence of a young man who was brilliant, brave and some may even say crazy. Into the Wild is woven around excerpts from some of McCandless’ favorite readings and also stories from Krakauer’s youth. This brings about a more compelling and fulfilling version of the story of Chris McCandless.


Katie Redus, Frayser Branch Library

Labels: Nonfiction, Reviews by Katie Redus

BOOK TALK is an informal, radio interview show featuring authors discussing their work. The show is produced at the studios of WYPL and can be heard Saturdays at 6 p.m. on FM 89.3.


Next week, the public is invited to attend live tapings of two interviews.


Best-Selling Author Ann B. Ross
Wednedsay, April 9, 10:30 a. m.

Ms. Ross is the author of the best-selling Miss Julia series of books. She will be in-studio to discuss her latest installment, Miss Julia Paints the Town, published by Viking. Dr. Carolyn Gibson will host the program. The interview will last approximately 30 minutes.







New Book by Former Library Employee Lori Johnson
Friday, April 11, 11 a.m.

Ms. Johnson's debut novel, After the Dance, was recently published by Dafina/Kensington. She now lives in North Carolina, but will be in town next week to publicize her book. Lynette Williams will host the program, which will last approximately 30 minutes.





The WYPL Studios are located at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library (3030 Poplar Avenue, Memphis, TN 38111) and can be accessed from a separate entrance to the right of the main building entrance.

Labels: Book Talk, WYPL

Tuesday, April 8th
6:30 p.m.
Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library
Memphis/Shelby County Room

Professor Bobby L. Lovett, author of The Civil Rights Movement in Tennessee, speaks.

Dr. Lovett is a professor of history and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Tennessee State University. His articles and reviews have been published widely in such journals as Tennessee Historical Quarterly and the Journal of Southern History. Together with Linda T. Wynn, he edited the book, Profiles of African Americans in Tennessee. The Civil Rights Movement in Tennessee: A Narrative History was published in 2005.

A book signing will follow the presentation.

Please call (901) 415-2742 for more information. The Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library is located at 3030 Poplar Avenue, Memphis, TN, 38111.



An event of We Are The Beloved Community: 40 Years--Honoring Dr. King's Legacy

April


Film: Nim's Island
Book: Nim's Island by Wendy Orr

Film: The Ruins
Book: The Ruins by Scott B. Smith

Labels: Books and Movies, Coming Attractions

The Memphis Public Library & Information Center sponsors book clubs at many branches and at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library. Here's a list of the titles that will be discussed in March. For a book club's contact information, click the link for that branch or call (901) 415-2700.

Book Lover's Book Club

East Shelby Branch Library
Tuesday, April 15, 1:30 p.m.
Book selection: The Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene

Central Readers' Club

Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library
Monday, April 21, 7:00 p.m.
Book selection: Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream by Barbara Ehrenreich

Cordova Book Club

Cordova Branch Library
Tuesday, April 15, 12:00 p.m.
Book selection: The Vanished Man by Jeffery Deaver

North Renaissance Men's Book Club

North Branch Library
No book club meeting due to Real Men's Conference (see below).
Learn more about this book club

Real Men's Conference
Saturday, April 19, 2:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Call 276-6631 for more information

North Women's Book Club

North Branch Library
Saturday, April 26, 2:00 p.m.
Book selection: The Penny by Joyce Meyer

Parkway Village Book Club

Parkway Village Branch Library
Wednesday, April 16, 2:30 p.m.
Book selection: Saturday by Ian McEwan

Second Saturday Book Club

Highland Branch Library
Saturday, April 12, 1:30 p.m.
Book selection: The Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears
Learn more about this book club