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Book Display Ideas April 2017
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| Chronicles: Volume One by Bob DylanAdult Nonfiction. Written by musical great Bob Dylan, Chronicles: Volume One is the first book in a planned series (though there are reports he's working on volume two, this book continues to be the only volume that's been released so far). Among the topics that the famed singer-songwriter (and recent Nobel Prize winner for literature) discusses here are his intellectual development, some of his lesser known albums, his public persona, and his comeback during the 1980s. While this book doesn't follow a straight chronological trajectory, it is a great read that's "honest, bordering on confessional" (Booklist). |
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| Herbie Hancock: Possibilities by Herbie Hancock with Lisa DickeyAdult Nonfiction. Acclaimed jazz pianist and composer Herbie Hancock has worked with numerous stellar musicians, starting with Miles Davis and later collaborating with others, including Sting, Lang Lang, and Carlos Santana. In this autobiography, Hancock relates his early years in Chicago, where he was recognized by age 11 as a prodigy. The post-college start to his career was (as it is for many musicians) rocky, but working with Miles Davis provided a solid foundation from which to launch his own bands and experiment with eclectic sources for his compositions. This frank and inspiring account portrays a life in which "each moment is special and everything is always new" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| How Music Works: The Science and Psychology of Beautiful Sounds... by John PowellAdult Nonfiction. Music is a bit of a mystery to many, but physicist-musician John Powell can change that. In this accessible and engaging guide to how we experience music, he uses various disciplines -- such as science, math, and psychology -- and addresses pitch, harmony, rhythm, volume, acoustics, and more to explain what happens when we hear music. Both entertaining and educational (Library Journal calls it a "distinctive combination of scientific treatise and laugh-out-loud commentary"), this book also includes a CD and suggestions for future reading should readers want to continue their study of what lurks beneath the music they listen to. |
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| Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver SacksAdult Nonfiction. The late well-known neurologist Oliver Sacks wrote a number of intelligent, bestselling books. In Musicophilia, he used the individual experiences of patients, musicians, composers, and ordinary people to explore the complex relationship between music and the brain. From case studies that focus on patients who display synesthesia (the ability to "see" the colors of musical tones) to anecdotes that explore the relationship between language and music (children are more likely to have perfect pitch if they speak Mandarin), this is a fascinating look at how the human body and brain experience music. (Note: if you have the DVD of the "Musical Minds" episode of NOVA, it's based on this book and would fit this theme nicely!) |
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Amusement Parks (Adult Fiction)
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| The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch AlbomAdult Fiction. At Ruby Pier, a seaside amusement park, Eddie, an elderly maintenance man who kept all of the rides safe for decades, dies on his birthday while trying to push a little girl out of the way of a falling object. But that's just the beginning of Eddie's life-after-death story. When he awakens in heaven, he learns that he's on a journey where he'll meet five people, people whom he's had an impact or or who've an impact on him, and they'll teach him some lessons about life and its aftermath. This hugely popular bestseller will please those looking for a sweet but powerful story. |
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| Jurassic Park by Michael CrichtonAdult Fiction. Real live dinosaurs in a theme park? That's just what an American bioengineering firm creates on an island off the coast of Costa Rica, and they invite a group of scientists to be the first guests. Author Michael Crichton uses the formerly prehistoric beasts to provide the terror in Jurassic Park as rampaging raptors and other creatures give teeth to a cautionary story about science run amok. Publishers Weekly calls this bestselling 1990 book -- which was turned into a 1993 Academy Award-winning blockbuster film by Stephen Spielberg (using a screenplay by Crichton) -- "a scary, creepy, mesmerizing techno-thriller." |
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| Native Tongue by Carl HiaasenAdult Fiction. Someone has stolen two rare voles (named Violet and Vance) from the Amazing Kingdom of Thrills. Ex-reporter Joe Winder, now working as a PR flak for the amusement park, finds himself trying to spin the story; once he realizes all is not as it seems, he tries to sort out what's really going on. While doing that, he encounters Skink, an eccentric hermit who used to be the governor of the state (Native Tongue is the 2nd out of seven books that the popular Skink has appeared in), and things get a bit wild. If your patrons would like a bit of Florida mayhem and humor, this book has it in spades. |
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| Swamplandia! by Karen RussellAdult Fiction. This highly praised debut novel, mostly set at a rundown amusement park in Florida's Everglades, grounds numerous fanciful elements (alligator wrestlers, a ghost lover, a bird man) in the touching stories of three siblings struggling with grief in the aftermath of their mother's devastating death. Each seeks something -- brother Kiwi gets a job at a hell-evoking competing theme park, elder sister Ossie disappears with her ghost boyfriend, and Ava, who at 12 is too young to follow in her mother's alligator-wrestling footsteps, sets off, Orpheus-like, on a quest to find her sister. |
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Hotels (Juvenile Fiction)
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| The Hotel Cat: A Jenny's Cat Club Book by Esther Holden AverillJuvenile Fiction. During the Big Freeze in New York City, former stray cat Tom, an employee of the Royal Hotel, gives shelter to members of the Cat Club, including Jenny Linsky (who always wears a red scarf) and her brothers, and helps them to organize the very first Cat Club Stardust Ball. Kids who enjoy sweet stories about animals will paw through this quick read in no time. |
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| The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly ClearyJuvenile Fiction. Kids of all ages will love this delightful story of an adventurous mouse, Ralph, who lives in a hotel with his many family members. When he meets an understanding boy who is staying at the Mountain View Inn, Ralph plays with the boy's toy motorcycle -- and to both the boy and mouse's amazement, Ralph can make the machine move by making "Vroom!" sounds! This is the 1st book in an ever popular trilogy (Runaway Ralph and Ralph S. Mouse are the others). |
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| Greenglass House by Kate MilfordJuvenile Fiction. In the midst of a wild snowstorm, five unusual guests turn up unannounced at the creaky old Greenglass Inn. Milo, the innkeepers' son, is annoyed by the interruption to his winter break, but his frustration turns to intrigue when several items go missing from the guests' rooms. Encouraged by his friend Meddy, Milo draws on the skills of Negret (his character from the role-playing game Odd Trails) to investigate the strange thefts. Offbeat and vividly written, Greenglass House is a multilayered mystery loaded with tension, twists, and touches of fantasy. |
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| The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila TurnageJuvenile Fiction. After her teacher offers extra credit to the student who can interview the oldest citizen of Tupelo Landing, North Carolina, budding detective Mo LoBeau and her best friend Dale decide to one-up the competition and interview the ghost that haunts the Tupelo Inn. Colorful characters and sudden twists abound as Mo and Dale's attempt to contact the spirit uncovers evidence of treasure, bootlegging, and a decades-old murder. Mo's sassy Southern humor and "unfailing pluck" (School Library Journal) create a deliciously sweet yet tangy tone in this clever sequel to the Newbery Honor-winning Three Times Lucky. |
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