Fearless Fourteen

Janet Evanovich's latest novel will be release on June 17th, just in time for those beach or backyard vacations. Her novels are fast, plot-driven, hiliarious farces that always have a long waiting list for her library fans. Library holdings are usually increased by all the donations of copies that patrons just had to purchase because they couldn't be patient enough to wait, okay I confess, I usually have to buy my copy as soon as it hits the stores. .

Jane Austen Book Club

New for the summer of 2008, the adult book discussion group at the Tipp City Library has decided to start a Jane Austen book club, following the order of the novels in The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler, beginning with Emma. Sign up will be encouraged to help prepare us for a larger than usual crowd, especially if we want to serve refreshments. Early on in the group's history we decided to read young adult novels over the summer months, encouraged by idea of reading banned books. One of our earliest readings was The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson. Perhaps there will be more interest in Jane Austen sparked by the run of Jane Austen movies on Masterpiece Theater last winter and the release of the movie of Fowler's novel.

Funny in Farsi

Firoozeh Dumas was in Dayton last night for the Big Read event. Her talk was focused on the acceptance of Middle Easterners after 9/11. She made a point that publishers were a little leary of Middle Eastern humor. I especially like her story of how she got published, and the perserverance that it required. She was an excellent speaker and a good will ambassador for Iranian Americans. I am glad I didn't miss this opportunity to hear her. I want to thank Sharon Roth of Books and Company for her part in bringing Dumas to Dayton.