Recently in Recommendations Category

"This completely awesome book's awesomeness is so awesomely awesome that it's difficult to get across just how awesome it is."

Your English teacher would never let you get away with a sentence like this, but doesn't it make you want to pick up the book and see if it really is so awesome?

The book is Packing for Mars by Mary Roach. 

Here is the entire review:

Library Journal Review

Are you looking for something fun and entertaining to read this summer in your spare time?

The Class of 2009 came up with a list of their all-time favorite books.  There are 99 books on the list in order of popularity, so you're sure to find something to match your interests here:

Many of you enjoyed reading Gordon Korman’s books and talking to him when he was on our campus last year.  His newest book was just published a few weeks ago:

Gecko, Arjay, and Terence, all in trouble with the law, must find a way to keep their halfway house open in order to stay out of juvenile detention.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you were impressed by the science department demonstrations last semester and want to try your hand at blowing things up, you might be interested in Backyard ballistics : build potato cannons, paper match rockets, Cincinnati fire kites, tennis ball mortars, and more dynamite devices

by William Gurstelle.  Just be sure to follow all the safety precautions so that you don’t end up in the emergency room!

 

 

 

 

 

 

You might not be able to afford sessions with a sports psychologist, but this book will help you train your mind as well as your body:

Mind gym : an athlete's guide to inner excellence by Gary Mack

Drawing on his work with some of the top teams in professional sports, noted sport psychology consultant Gary Mack shares with you the same techniques and exercises he uses to help elite athletes build mental "muscle." These 40 accessible lessons and inspirational anecdotes will help you gain the "head edge" over the competition.

Need a new book series to start on?  We now have 9 books of Jim Butcher’s fantasy/sci fi Dresden Files series, beginning with Storm Front:

In this first book in the offbeat Dresden Files, readers are introduced to Harry Dresden, a wizard with a consulting practice in modern-day Chicago. Dresdens profession offers him little money, lots of mockery, the suspicion of his magical colleagues, and plenty of danger.

Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card is a new sequel to the sci fi classic Ender’s Game:

At the close of "Ender's Game," Andrew Wiggin--called Ender--is told that he can no longer live on Earth. The 12-year-old chooses to leave his home world and begins the long relativistic journey out to the colonies.

Neil Gaiman has just won the Newbery Award for The Graveyard Book and is becoming wildly popular.  Are you one of his many fans?

Prince of stories : the many worlds of Neil Gaiman by Hank Wagner

This book chronicles the history and impact of the complete works of Neil Gaiman in film, fiction, music, comic books, and beyond. Containing hours of exclusive interviews with Gaiman and conversations with his collaborators, as well as wonderful nuggets of his work such as the beginning of an unpublished novel, a rare comic and never-before-seen essay, this is a treasure trove of all things Gaiman. In addition to providing in depth information and commentary on Gaiman's myriad works, the book also includes rare photographs, book covers, artwork, and related trivia and minutiae, making it both an insightful introduction to his work, and a true "must-have" for his ever growing legion of fans. -- from publisher's description.

Curious about our new administration or the presidency in general?  Check out some of our newest books:

"This is the story of a man who faced down personal challenges and tragedy, to become a public servant who refuses to be cynical about political leadership. As a senator from Delaware since 1973, Joe Biden has been a witness to the major events of the past four decades. Here he reveals what these experiences taught him about himself, his colleagues, and the institutions of government. He shows how the guiding principles he learned early in life--the obligation to work to make people's lives better, to honor family and faith, to get up and do the right thing no matter how hard you've been knocked down, to be honest and straightforward, and, above all, to keep your promises--are the foundations on which he has based his life's work as husband, father, and public servant.--From publisher description.

"After November 4th, 2008, the President-elect will have just over six weeks to set up his administration. Hess, first involved in the U.S. presidential transition process when it was between Ike and JFK, here delineates every step of "how to best organize a presidency." He addresses the reader as the President-elect and magically combines expertise, charm, and implicit wit. Numerous diagrams show, e.g., the real layout of the West Wing (with a text box on the TV version) and the seating arrangement for the cabinet at its meetings and questions to ask your potential PIP (that's primus inter pares-read the book!). This is a marvelous, elegantly informative read." -- Review from The Library Journal by Margaret Heilbrun

"This thoroughly researched work provides an unbiased examination of the office of the President of the United States." -- from the Library Journal review.

Michael Nelson, professor of political science at Rhodes College, is a co-editor of this book.

The Angel Experiment and others in the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson (Genetically modified kids who can fly struggle to understand their own origins and purpose.)

Bone by Jeff Smith (a graphic novel adventure series)

Framed and others in the Traces series by Malcolm Rose (In a futuristic London, sixteen-year-old forensic investigator Luke Harding and his robotic assistant, Malc, investigate murder cases). 

Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick (two boys with physical and learning disabilities form a unique friendship).

The Giver by Lois Lowry (Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives.)

All of the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling (The young wizard and his friends triumph over evil.)

The King's Arrow by Michael Cadnum (In England's New Forest on August 2, 1100, eighteen-year-old Simon Foldre, squire to the Anglo-Norman nobleman Walter Tirel, finds his future irrevocably altered when he witnesses the possible murder of King William II.)

The Lightning Thief and others in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series by Rick Riordan (After learning that he is the son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, Percy is sent to a summer camp for demigods like himself, and reluctantly joins a quest to prevent a war between the gods.)

The Merchant of Death and others in the Pendragon series by D. J. McHale  (Suburban jock Bobby Pendragon discovers parallel universes and gets hero training while being swept into an amazing 5-year quest to save the universe from ultimate evil.)

SilverFin and others in the Young Bond series by Charles Higson (This prequel series to the adventures of James Bond, 007, introduces the teen-aged James when he's just started boarding school in England and becomes involved in his first adventures.)

Son of the Mob and all other young adult books by Gordon Korman (Seventeen-year-old Vince's life is constantly complicated by the fact that he is the son of a powerful Mafia boss, a relationship that threatens to destroy his romance with the daughter of an FBI agent.) 

Finally, here are some inspiring non-fiction titles:

Gifted Hands by Ben Carson (Carson's odyssey from his childhood in inner-city Detroit to his position as director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital at age 33 provides a role model for anyone who attempts the seemingly impossible.)

We Beat the Streets by Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, & Rameck Hunt (Making a pact to stick together through the rough times in their impoverished Newark neighborhood, three boys found the strength and determination to work through their difficulties in order to make their dreams come true by completing high school, getting through college, and attending medical school together.)  

Are you in the mood for a good baseball book? Try H. G. Bissinger's Three Nights in August: strategy, heartbreak, and joy, inside the mind of a manager. This book has received great reviews. "A Pulitzer Prize-winning author captures baseball's strategic and emotional essences through a point-blank account of one three-game series viewed through the keen eyes of legendary manager Tony La Russa. Drawing on unprecedented access to La Russa and his team, Bissinger brings the same revelatory intimacy to major-league baseball that he did to high school football in his classic besteller, Friday Night Lights. Three Nights in August shows thrillingly that human nature -- not statistics -- can often dictate the outcome of a ballgame. We watch from the dugout as the St. Louis Cardinals battle their archrival Chicago Cubs for first place, and we uncover delicious surprises about the psychology of the clutch, the eccentricities of pitchers, the rise of video, and the complex art of retaliation when a batter is hit by a pitch." -- publisher's description. 

You can always count on John Feinstein for entertaining sports writing, and he has just published Tales from Q school : inside golf's fifth major. "It is the tournament that separates champions from mortals. It is the starting point for the careers of future legends and can be the final stop on the down escalator for fading stars. The annual PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament is one of the most grueling competitions in any sport. Every fall, veterans and talented hopefuls sweat through six rounds of hell at Q school, as the tournament is universally known, to get a shot at the PGA Tour, vying for the 30 slots available. The grim reality: If you don't make it through Q school, you're not on the PGA tour. John Feinstein tells the story of the players who compete for these coveted positions in the 2005 Q school. With arresting accounts from the players, established winners, rising stars, the defeated, and the endlessly hopeful, America's favorite sportswriter unearths the inside story behind the PGA Tour's brutal all-or-nothing competition." -- publisher's description.

You have required summer reading for English class, but summer is also a great time to read books that you never have time to read during the school year. Here are some suggestions: Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling. How can you let the summer go by and not find out the fate of the characters that you've grown up with? What's not to like about such mindless & fun reading? Even though it doesn't come out until July 21, there will be plenty of time to read it before school starts. 

 The Children of Hurin by J.R.R. Tolkien "The first complete book by Tolkien in three decades, this book reunites fans of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with Elves and Men, dragons and Dwarves, Eagles and Orcs. This stirring narrative will return fans to the rich landscape and characters unique to Tolkien." -Publisher's description. Tolkien's son Christopher compiled various pieces from his father's unpublished works to create this book. If you're a fantasy fan, you can't miss this one.