New Books for the New Year

Buried within the 250 messages awaiting my return from the holidays, were two offers for author programs! I haven't read their books yet, but I did want to send out the publicity right away as they both sound like great reads and promise interesting programs!

Ambassador Mary E. Kramer, native Iowan and former Iowa Senate president, will discuss her new book, More Than a Walk on the Beach: Confessions of an Unlikely Diplomat, in the Central Library Meeting Room on Wednesday, January 19 at 6:30 PM, highlighting her unlikely journey from Iowa to the U.S. Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.

Her publicist tells me that the book is a "plainspoken and frank account of life as a U.S. Ambassador living abroad and gives insight to
the process a U.S. diplomat must go through, as well as Mary’s opinions on that lengthy—and sometimes frustrating—road to ambassadorship. Along the way, Mary relates her often humorous and entertaining experiences in dealing with dignitaries, foreign cultures, and the U.S. Government. More importantly, through her firsthand accounts of personal distress after witnessing the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan, to the delicate balancing act needed in order to maintain foreign relations, Mary shares her guiding wisdom, common sense and inspiration to a sometimes chaotic profession."

On February 7, local author Kimberly Stuart is coming to the Central Library to LAUNCH her newst book, Operation Bonnet.
Kimberly reports that her book, about a private investigator want-to-be who dons an Amish bonnet to go undercover, has already received a good review from Publisher's Weekly. She has even had an inquiry about possible movie rights. Kimberly will be the featured guest for the library's Writer's Workshop on February 7 which is open to the public. I'm sure she will have lots of advice to share--both with readers and with writers--as this is her fifth book to be published.

We will have books available for sale and signing at both events, so mark your calendars!

Need a Good Book?

Whether you are looking for suggestions on the next book to read, a good title for your book club, or perhaps a story that will appeal to a reluctant reader, our new Readers Advisory Wiki is just the ticket.

You will find all kinds of lists and links to helpful web sites. Looking for the next title in a series? Click on What's Next. Need a downloadable book? Click on Adult/Free Downloadable Audio and E-Books. How about a book with Iowa connections? Click on Iowa Interests/Contemporary Iowa Works.

Bestsellers, award-winners, thrillers - whatever you like to read! Visit the wiki often as our librarians will be updating the lists often and adding new recommendations. Please give this new wiki a try and let us know how you like it! We would love to hear from you if there's another list that you would like us to add.

How Many Rainbows Do You Know?

Whenever a publicist calls, I must admit that I feel a twinge of excitement, We have had some wonderful authors visit our library following such calls--Bill Geist, Lisa Scottoline, Jamie Ford, Joe Hill to name just a few.

Last week, I had a call from Rainbow Rowell's publicist. Have you ever known anyone named Rainbow? That was enough to pique my interest and then when I heard the premise of her debut novel, Attachments, I was really intrigued. It's about an I.T. guy who has been hired to monitor the internal emails at a small newspaper.

My reading time is somewhat limited right now because of all the holiday happenings, but I'm almost halfway through the book. It's full of delightful e-mail banter between two work friends that makes me wonder just how many employees spend their work time discussing their mundane daily lives via office email. (Is this the new watercooler chatter?) And how many employers actually hire folks to monitor those very emails.........

Rainbow Rowell, in real life, writes for the Omaha World Herald--so she's well suited to know the inside story of news rooms. And she's funny! And she wants to come visit us. She has a blog. (Note: She is a HUGE fan of Glee.)

Her book comes out in February. Take a look and let me know what you think.
And for the record, I actually do know another person named Rainbow, but I think she spells it without the w.