Programming
New Items
New items arrive at PCL on a weekly basis. We encourage patrons to recommend titles to be considered for our collection!
Staff and patron picks from titles on our shelves:
We Two by Gillian Gill is the story of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in the early years of their engagement and marriage and the surprisingly modern struggle for power within their loving relationship.
Edward Rutherfurd's new epic, New York, is recommended by PCL staff member Carol Olson. The historical novel is set against the backdrop of New York City and tells the story of the city from its beginnings to September 11th through the experiences of characters from different walks of life.
Carol is currently reading Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan, by the author of the best-seller, Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson. The book continues the story of Mortenson's humanitarian efforts to bring education to disadvantaged Middle Eastern countries. Carol, who loved the first book, feels that the second book is an even more personal look into the author's dedication to this area of the world.
The Queen Mother: The Official Biography, by William Shawcross, was very much enjoyed by patron Mary Lyon. The royal's personal documents tell the story of her service to convalescing World War I soldiers, family relationships and her refusal to leave London during the Blitz bombings. In the words of Mary Lyon, "She was very much an amazing woman who lived her values." Mary also recently read Carrie Fisher's Wishful Drinking. Mary felt it was an honest picture into how the "other half" lives and into the pitfalls of stardom. mary also enjoyed the books Last Man Standing: The Ascent of Jamie Dimon and JP Morgan Chase by Duff McDonald and Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters by Chesley Sullenberger.
PCL Director Vicki Shurly enjoyed the paperback novel, Two Rivers, by t. Greenwood. When a train derails in Two Rivers, Vermont, a railroad employee and single father who is haunted by grief over his role years before in a racial crime of hate, finds a chance for atonement when he takes in a fifteen year old survivor of the wreck. He soon begins to suspect that the African American teenaged girl's appearance in the small town is no chance circumstance.
In a Perfect World, by Laura Kasischke, is the story of family and the choices we make when there are no choices left to us. Reminiscent of Nevil Shute's 1957 novel, On the Beach, the story quietly draws the reader into an all too realistic end of the world scenario.
Mercedes Kimling highly recommends Alcuna by Barbara Kingsolver. In describing the book, she says, "From the mystical beginning with a young boy through his early life in Mexico and then the U.S., this is an unforgettable narrative of life there and here during the middle of the last century. Kingsolver's dedication to exposing disgraceful government actions of the past and depicting ordinary life here during those years makes for a mesmerizing reading experience. Add to that her talent for nature's description and you have a beautiful, poetic historical documentation of what used to be."
Karen Schmidt, patron and retired principal of OMPS, LOVED the book, I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. The 1948 novel, recently re-released, is a BBC Top 100 Pick. The story is told through a series of the young woman's journal entries while she teaches herself to write. First love, broken hearts and British preconceptions of Americans are themes interwoven throughout the book. J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, says, "This book has one of the most charismatic narrators I have ever met. "
The Help by Kathryn Stockett is another of Vicki's favorites. The novel, set in the racially biased south of the early 1960's, tells how three extraordinary women, as different from one another as they could be, come together to change a town and the way they see each other.
An epic in the classic sense of the word, Roses by Leila Meacham spans the 20th century and tells the tale of three generations of a powerful Texas family dynasty. Library Journal calls this saga a "sprawling novel of passion and revenge."
Claudia Murphy recommends The Last Surgeon by Michael Palmer. A flawed doctor suffering from post tramatic stress disorder and a psychopath cross paths in a thriller that keeps going until the final page. Palmer is the bestselling author of Second Opinion and The First Patient.
A sampling of new books at PCL includes:
U is For Undertow by Sue Grafton
Fantasy In Death by J.D. Robb
Split Image by Robert B. Parker
Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Ask by Sam Lipsyte
This Book Is Overdue by Marilyn Johnson
Angelology by Danielle Trussoni
I, Alex Cross by James Patterson
Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
The Three Weissmanns Of Westport by Cathleen Schine
Quants: How a New Breed of Math Whizzes Conquered Wall Street and Nearly Destroyed It byScott Patterson
Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton
The Pacific by Hugh Ambrose
Postmistress by Sarah Blake
Brava, Valentine by Adriana Trigiani
Breathless by Dean Koontz
13 Bankers by Simon Johnson & James Kwak
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
Caught by Harlan Coben
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith
Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel
SuperFreakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell
House Rules by Jodi Picoult
Oprah by Kittey Kelley
How To Raise the Perfect Dog by Cesar Millan
Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin
Change Your Brain, Change Your Body by Daniel G. Amen
Every Last One by Anna Quindlen
Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
This Time Together by Carol Burnett
Drive by Daniel H. Pink
Willie Mays by James S. Hirsch
the Big Short by Michael Lewis
The Imperial Cruise by James Bradley
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
Some of our new books on CD:
Iron River by T. Jefferson Parker
Worst Case by James Patterson
Shadow of Your Smile by Mary Higgins Clark
Honor of Spies by W.E.B. Griffin
Trial By Fire by J.A. Jance
Think Twice by Lisa Scottoline
Lucid Intervals by Stuart Woods
Caught by Harlan Coben
U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton
Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly
I, Alex Cross by James Patterson
True Blue by David Baldacci
Stones Into Schools by Greg Mortenson
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
Hothouse Orchid by Stuart Woods
Deception by Jonathon Kellerman
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Pursuit of Honor by Vince Flynn
Split Image by Robert B. Parker
My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor
A few of the hot DVDs at PCL:
Hurt Locker
Planet 51
Capitalism: A Love Story
Up in the Air
District 9
UP
Old Dogs
Precious
New Moon
Tooth Fairy
Leap Year
Lovely Bones
An Education
Invention of Lying
The Young Victoria
Avatar
It's Complicated
Inglourious Basterds
Serious Man
Amelia
Pirate Radio
Coco Before Chanel
Informant
The Boys Are Back
