The Art of Racing in the Rain
by Garth Stein
Published 2009 by Harper Paperbacks

Edgar Branch Library Book Club meets Tuesday, February 2, 2010 at 4:00 pm

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Jacket Notes:

Meet Enzo, the unforgettable canine narrator of this bittersweet and transformative story of family, love, loyalty, and hope. Enzo is a philosopher with a nearly human soul, and he's gained a wealth of knowledge from hours spent in front of the TV. A heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope--a captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life . . . as only a dog could tell it

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
by David Wroblewski
Published 2008 by Ecco

Hatley Branch Library Book Club meets Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 2:00 pm

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Jacket Notes:

This riveting saga of an American family captures the deep and ancient alliance between humans and dogs, and the power of fate through one boy's epic journey into the wild. Born mute, speaking only in sign, Edgar Sawtelle leads an idyllic life with his parents on their farm in remote northern Wisconsin. For generations, the Sawtelles have raised and trained a fictional breed of dog whose thoughtful companionship is epitomized by Almondine, Edgar's lifelong friend and ally. But with the unexpected return of Claude, Edgar's paternal uncle, turmoil consumes the Sawtelles' once peaceful home. When Edgar's father dies suddenly, Claude insinuates himself into the life of the farm--and into Edgar's mother's affections. Grief-stricken and bewildered, Edgar tries to prove Claude played a role in his father's death, but his plan backfires--spectacularly. Forced to flee into the vast wilderness lying beyond the farm, Edgar comes of age in the wild, fighting for his survival and that of the three yearling dogs who follow him. But his need to face his father's murderer and his devotion to the Sawtelle dogs turn Edgar ever homeward. David Wroblewski is a master storyteller, and his breathtaking scenes--the elemental north woods, the sweep of seasons, an iconic American barn, a fateful vision rendered in the falling rain--create a riveting family saga, a brilliant exploration of the limits of language, and a compulsively readable modern classic.

Publishers Weekly 02/18/2008

A literary thriller with commercial legs, this stunning debut is bound to be a bestseller. In the backwoods of Wisconsin, the Sawtelle familyGar, Trudy and their young son, Edgarcarry on the family business of breeding and training dogs. Edgar, born mute, has developed a special relationship and a unique means of communicating with Almondine, one of the Sawtelle dogs, a fictional breed distinguished by personality, temperament and the dogs' ability to intuit commands and to make decisions. Raising them is an arduous life, but a satisfying one for the family until Gar's brother, Claude, a mystifying mixture of charm and menace, arrives. When Gar unexpectedly dies, mute Edgar cannot summon help via the telephone. His guilt and grief give way to the realization that his father was murdered; here, the resemblance to "Hamlet" resonates. After another gut-wrenching tragedy, Edgar goes on the run, accompanied by three loyal dogs. His quest for safety and succor provides a classic coming-of-age story with an ironic twist. Sustained by a momentum that has the crushing inevitability of fate, the propulsive narrative will have readers sucked in all the way through the breathtaking final scenes. Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

Sense and Sensibility
by Jane Austen
Published 2003 by Penguin Books

Athens Branch Library Book Club meets Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 6:30 pm

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Jacket Notes:

New chronology and further reading; Tony Tanner's original introduction reinstated

Edited with an introduction by Ros Ballaster.

The Shack
by William P Young
Published 2008 by Windblown Media

Stratford Branch Library Book Club meets Monday, February 15, 2010 at 1:00 pm

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Jacket Notes:

A grieving father receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him to meet in the Oregon wilderness where his daughter has been abducted and murdered. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant, "The Shack" wrestles with the timeless question, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" Windblown Media Mackenzie Allen Phillips's youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation, and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later, in this midst of his great sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change his life forever.

The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak
Published 2006 by Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers

Mosinee Branch Library Book Club meets Monday, February 15, 2010 at 1:00 pm

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Jacket Notes:

It's just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak's groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can't resist-books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

Publishers Weekly 01/30/2006

This hefty volume is an achievement -a challenging book in both length and subject, and best suited to sophisticated older readers. The narrator is Death himself, a companionable if sarcastic fellow, who travels the globe "handing souls to the conveyor belt of eternity." Death keeps plenty busy during the course of this WWII tale, even though Zusak ("I Am the Messenger") works in miniature, focusing on the lives of ordinary Germans in a small town outside Munich. Liesel Meminger, the book thief, is nine when she pockets "The Gravedigger's Handbook", found in a snowy cemetery after her little brother's funeral. Liesel's father -a "Kommunist" -is already missing when her mother hands her into the care of the Hubermanns. Rosa Hubermann has a sharp tongue, but Hans has eyes "made of kindness." He helps Liesel overcome her nightmares by teaching her to read late at night. Hans is haunted himself, by the Jewish soldier who saved his life during WWI. His promise to repay that debt comes due when the man's son, Max, shows up on his doorstep. This "small story," as Death calls it, threads together gem-like scenes of the fates of families in this tight community, and is punctuated by Max's affecting, primitive artwork rendered on painted-over pages from "Mein Kampf". Death also directly addresses readers in frequent asides; Zusak's playfulness with language leavens the horror and makes the theme even more resonant -words can save your life. As a storyteller, Death has a bad habit of forecasting ("I'm spoiling the ending," he admits halfway through his tale). It's a measure of how successfully Zusak has humanized these characters that even though we know they are doomed, it's no less devastating when Death finally reaches them. Ages 12-up. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

03/01/2006 School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up -Zusak has created a work that deserves the attention of sophisticated teen and adult readers. Death himself narrates the World War II-era story of Liesel Meminger from the time she is taken, at age nine, to live in Molching, Germany, with a foster family in a working-class neighborhood of tough kids, acid-tongued mothers, and loving fathers who earn their living by the work of their hands. The child arrives having just stolen her first book -although she has not yet learned how to read -and her foster father uses it, "The Gravedigger -s Handbook", to lull her to sleep when she -s roused by regular nightmares about her younger brother -s death. Across the ensuing years of the late 1930s and into the 1940s, Liesel collects more stolen books as well as a peculiar set of friends: the boy Rudy, the Jewish refugee Max, the mayor -s reclusive wife (who has a whole library from which she allows Liesel to steal), and especially her foster parents. Zusak not only creates a mesmerizing and original story but also writes with poetic syntax, causing readers to deliberate over phrases and lines, even as the action impels them forward. Death is not a sentimental storyteller, but he does attend to an array of satisfying details, giving Liesel -s story all the nuances of chance, folly, and fulfilled expectation that it deserves. An extraordinary narrative." -Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA" Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Still Alice
by Lisa Genova
Published 2009 by Pocket Books

Women's Night Out meets at Wausau Library on Monday,
February 15, 2010 at 6:30 pm

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Jacket Notes:

"Still Alice" is a compelling debut novel about a 50-year-old woman's sudden descent into early onset Alzheimer's disease, written by first-time author Lisa Genova, who holds a Ph. D in neuroscience from Harvard University. Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children and a house on the Cape, is a celebrated Harvard professor at the height of her career when she notices a forgetfulness creeping into her life. As confusion starts to cloud her thinking and her memory begins to fail her, she receives a devastating diagnosis: early onset Alzheimer's disease. Fiercely independent, Alice struggles to maintain her lifestyle and live in the moment, even as her sense of self is being stripped away. In turns heartbreaking, inspiring and terrifying, "Still Alice" captures in remarkable detail what's it's like to literally lose your mind... Reminiscent of "A Beautiful Mind," "Ordinary People" and "The Curious Incident of the Dog" "in the Night-time," Still Alice packs a powerful emotional punch and marks the arrival of a strong new voice in fiction.

Publishers Weekly 10/20/2008

Neuroscientist and debut novelist Genova mines years of experience in her field to craft a realistic portrait of early onset Alzheimer's disease. Alice Howland has a career not unlike Genova'sshe's an esteemed psychology professor at Harvard, living a comfortable life in Cambridge with her husband, John, arguing about the usual (making quality time together, their daughter's move to L.A.) when the first symptoms of Alzheimer's begin to emerge. First, Alice can't find her Blackberry, then she becomes hopelessly disoriented in her own town. Alice is shocked to be diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's (she had suspected a brain tumor or menopause), after which her life begins steadily to unravel. She loses track of rooms in her home, resigns from Harvard and eventually cannot recognize her own children. The brutal facts of Alzheimer's are heartbreaking, and it's impossible not to feel for Alice and her loved ones, but Genova's prose style is clumsy and her dialogue heavy-handed. This novel will appeal to those dealing with the disease and may prove helpful, but beyond the heartbreaking record of illness there's little here to remember. Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

Twilight
by Stephenie Meyer
Published 2006 by Megan Tingley Books

Spencer Branch Library Book Club meets Monday, February 15, 2010 at 6:30 pm
and Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 1:30 pm

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Jacket Notes:

Isabella Swan's move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Isabella's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Isabella, the person Edward holds most dear. The lovers find themselves balanced precariously on the point of a knife-between desire and danger.Deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight captures the struggle between defying our instincts and satisfying our desires. This is a love story with bite.

Child 44
by Tom Rob Smith
Published 2008 by Grand Central Publishing

Wausau's Mystery Book Club meets at Wausau Library on Thursday,
February 18, 2010 at 7:00 pm

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Jacket Notes:

In Stalin's Soviet Union, it's a crime against the State to suggest that a murderer--much less a serial killer--is in the midst of the populace. Exiled from his home, a war hero must find and stop a criminal that the State won't admit even exists. Grand Central Publishing A propulsive, relentless page-turner.

A terrifying evocation of a paranoid world where no one can be trusted.

A surprising, unexpected story of love and family, of hope and resilience.

CHILD 44 is a thriller unlike any you have ever read.

""There is no crime.""

Stalin's Soviet Union strives to be a paradise for its workers, providing for all of their needs. One of its fundamental pillars is that its citizens live free from the fear of ordinary crime and criminals.

But in this society, millions do live in fear . . . of the State. Death is a whisper away. The mere suspicion of ideological disloyalty-owning a book from the decadent West, the wrong word at the wrong time-sends millions of innocents into the Gulags or to their executions. Defending the system from its citizens is the MGB, the State Security Force. And no MGB officer is more courageous, conscientious, or idealistic than Leo Demidov.

A war hero with a beautiful wife, Leo lives in relative luxury in Moscow, even providing a decent apartment for his parents. His only ambition has been to serve his country. For this greater good, he has arrested and interrogated.

Then the impossible happens. A different kind of criminal-a murderer-is on the loose, killing at will. At the same time, Leo finds himself demoted and denounced by his enemies, his world turned upside down, and every belief he's ever held shattered. The only way to save his life and the lives of his family is to uncover this criminal. But in a society that is officially paradise, it's a crime against the State to suggest that a murderer-much less a serial killer-is in their midst. Exiled from his home, with only his wife, Raisa, remaining at his side, Leo must confront the vast resources and reach of the MBG to find and stop a criminal that the State won't admit even exists.

Tom Rob Smith graduated from Cambridge in 2001 and lives in London. Child 44 is his first novel.

Publishers Weekly 03/03/2008

Set in the Soviet Union in 1953, this stellar debut from British author Smith offers appealing characters, a strong plot and authentic period detail. When war hero Leo Stepanovich Demidov, a rising star in the MGB, the State Security force, is assigned to look into the death of a child, Leo is annoyed, first because this takes him away from a more important case, but, more importantly, because the parents insist the child was murdered. In Stalinist Russia, there's no such thing as murder; the only criminals are those who are enemies of the state. After attempting to curb the violent excesses of his second-in-command, Leo is forced to investigate his own wife, the beautiful Raisa, who's suspected of being an Anglo-American sympathizer. Demoted and exiled from Moscow, Leo stumbles onto more evidence of the child killer. The evocation of the deadly cloud-cuckoo-land of Russia during Stalin's final days will remind many of "Gorky Park" and "Darkness at Noon", but the novel remains Smith's alone, completely original and absolutely satisfying. "Rights sold in more than 20 countries. Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

The Last Lecture
by Randy Pausch
Published 2008 by Hyperion Books

Rothschild Branch Library Book Club meets Wednesday,
February 24, 2010 at 11:00 am

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Jacket Notes:

Based on the extraordinary final lecture by Carnegie Mellon University professor Pausch, given after he discovered he had pancreatic cancer, this moving book goes beyond the now-famous lecture to inspire readers to live each day with purpose and joy. Photos.

Mrs. Dalloway
by Virginia Woolf
Published 1998 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt P

Readers of Classic Literature meets at Wausau Library on Wednesday,
February 24, 2010 at 12:00 Noon

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Jacket Notes:

Some 70 years after its original publication, and following on the heels of the remarkable film adaptations of "Orlando" and "A Room of One's Own", a film version worthy of "Mrs. Dalloway's" startling originality and fresh view of a woman's life has been conceived and made. Now, some seventy years after its original publication, a film version worthy of Mrs. Dalloway's startling originality and fresh view of a woman's life will be released. Following on the heels of the remarkable film adaptation of Woolf's novel Orlando and Eileen Atkins's smashingly successful performances in A Room of One's Own and Vita and Virginia, Mrs. Dalloway promises to be a rare event for both those familiar with the novel and those who will be meeting Clarissa Dalloway for the first time.

Driftless
by David Rhodes
Published 2009 by Milkweed Editions

Marathon City Branch Library Book Club meets Thursday,
February 25, 2010 at 1:00 pm

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Jacket Notes:

Rhodes's long-awaited new novel turns an unblinking eye on an array of eccentric characters and situations. The setting is Words, Wisconsin, an anonymous town of only a few hundred people, but under its sleepy surface, life rages.