Idaho Falls Reads...

coming in March 2009

Idaho Falls Reads... is the Idaho Falls Public Library annual community-wide book club, where we provide the books, the speakers, the events and the discussions for everyone in Idaho Falls, well actually for everyone in Bonneville County!

We are so excited to be reading Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson this year. This book is especially poignant for the southern Idaho region, as it deals with haunting issues of prejudice towards the Japanese Americans during World War II.

from the publisher:

San Piedro Island, north of Puget Sound, is a place so isolated that no one who lives there can afford to make enemies. But in 1954 a local fisherman is found suspiciously drowned, and a Japanese American named Kabuo Miyamoto is charged with his murder. In the course of the ensuing trial, it becomes clear that what is at stake is more than a man's guilt. For on San Pedro, memory grows as thickly as cedar trees and the fields of ripe strawberries — memories of a charmed love affair between a white boy and the Japanese girl who grew up to become Kabuo's wife; memories of land desired, paid for, and lost. Above all, San Piedro is haunted by the memory of what happened to its Japanese residents during World War II, when an entire community was sent into exile while its neighbors watched. Gripping, tragic, and densely atmospheric, Snow Falling on Cedars is a masterpiece of suspense — one that leaves us shaken and changed.

Snow Falling on Cedars:
· Winner of the 1995 PEN/Faulkner Award
· American Booksellers Association Book of the Year Award
· Pacific Northwest Bookseller Association Award

Other people said:
· "Compelling...heartstopping. Finely wrought, flawlessly written." The New York Times Book Review
· "[A] thoughtful, poetic first novel, a cleverly constructed courtroom drama with detailed, compelling characters....Packed with lovely moments and as compact as haiku — at the same time, a page-turner full of twists." Kirkus Reviews
· "A powerful meditation on the nature of pride and prejudice and personal responsibility....Casts a deepening spell." Seattle Post Intelligencer
· "The novel poetically evokes the beauty of the land while revealing the harshness of war, the nuances of our legal system, and the injustice done to those interned in U.S. relocation camps. Highly recommended." Library Journal

IFPL is looking for volunteers for the planning committees for this program. if you are interested, please contact Jenniffer at the library, 612-8330 or jennifferh@ipl.org

book talks @ open mic

tell us what you think!

next tuesday night (the 20th @ 7pm) we want you to come to the library and tell us what you thought was the best book of 2008--or at least what you thought was the best book you read in the past year!

you can talk about almost any book you want, and we welcome discussion starters!

please contact me jennifferh@ifpl.org if you are interested in speaking next week.

the best of...

2008

i've created a list of the best books of the past year--not only with my own opinion, but with the "collective brain" of librarians nation-wide, as well as the best seller lists and just from what YOU have told me. check out the what to read blog for the lists with a brief synopsis for each book. you can also snag your lists at the library...

happy reading in 2009!

time to curl up with a good book!

with the lovely

distractions of family and friends during the Christmas season, we don't seem to notice the the snow and cold. there are all of those FUN things to look forward to...

... and then we're faced to deal with the reality of winter! well, i think i have a bandaid cure for the bleakness of winter--reading a good book!

TIKI! TIKI! TIKI! also known as the IFPL winter reading program is still running strong, and you have until February 28 to read and win prizes! and i have been hearing that people are wandering over into the 800 section and finding really good stuff--stuff they might never have found without being encouraged. for example, did you know that Isaac Asimov wrote about his favorite jokes? you can read all of them in Isaac Asimov's Treasury of Humor. or did you know that the illustrated Ten Great Plays (by Shakespeare) is the most popular--according to circulation stats--book in the 800 section? or did you know that there is a book full of poems and stories about baseball? Baseball: a literary anthology is here and hiding out in the 800s! stroll over there and browse the shelves...

just so you know, the libraries (Idaho Falls and Iona) will be closed on January 19 for Human Rights Day. please plan ahead.

on to other things... Open Mic Night is on January 20 @ 7pm and we're going to focus on books we read in 2008--either books we LOVED or those we really didn't. please come and give us a little synopsis about your book, to talk about your feelings about the book, and maybe be prepared to defend your stance.

it should be a fun night!

and like i said before, we are all feeling that winter is here... please, please plan ahead on your borrowing. we can usually renew a book/magazine/audio book (as long as no one has requested the item), but there is no way we can renew DVD or VHS items.

keep that in mind while taking those items home.

Idaho Falls Reads... is just around the corner. this is a major event for us at the library, and we think that your input would help us make this program even better! contact me (jennifferh@ifpl.org / 612-8330) if you have suggestions or comments. thanks!

see you in the library!