This Week in Reading Sept. 27 - Oct. 3

Authors born this week -

Novelists and story writers
Miguel de Cervantes, Prosper Merimee, Elizabeth Gaskell, Alain-Fournier, Thomas Wolfe, Graham Greene, Louis Auchincloss, Josef Skvorecky, Truman Capote, Gore Vidal, Elie Wiesel, Jurek Becker, Carol Lynn Pearson, Tim O’Brien, Bernard Cooper, Irvine Welsh, Ben Greenman, Cecelia Ahern

Poets and Playwrights
Poets: Wallace Stevens, William Empson, W. S. Merwin, Kay Ryan Playwrights: Steve Tesich

Thinkers, Believers, Scientists, Historians, Biographers
Thinkers: Confucius, Miguel de Unamuno Believers: Al Sharpton Scientists: Albert Ellis, James Herriot, Mihalyi Csikszenthmihalyi, Barron Lerner Historians: George Bancroft, Louis Arragon, Daniel Boorstin

Humorists, Essayists, Editors, Journalists, Officials, Media and Others
Humorists: Groucho Marx Essayists: Alvin Toffler, Rex Reed, Molly Haskell, Michael Medved Editors: Louis Untermyer Journalists: Sandy Gall, Dick Schaap Officials: Jimmy Carter Media and Others: J. B. Rhine

Mystery / Crime / Suspense Writers
Mystery: Colin Dexter Crime: Jim Thompson

Fantasy / Science Fiction Writers
Fantasy: Jack Finney, S. M. Stirling Horror: William Beckford

Adventure / Westerns
Westerns: Ernest Haycox

Visual Artists
Photographers: Annie Liebovitz Cartoonists: Thomas Nast, Al Capp, Harvey Kurtzman

Young People’s Writers
Children’s: Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin, Stan Berenstain, Bernard Waber, John Hegley

Events to read about this week:

THIS IS BANNED BOOKS WEEK which happens every year. Imagine if you were not allowed to read any of this week's authors or read books about events that happened this week. Go ahead. Imagine it

Then check out a once banned book to see what some people want others to miss.

Obituaries
Essayist, lexicographer, columnist William Safire (79)

This Week’s Questions:
Again there are no winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature among those born this week but there are two winners of the Nobel Peace Prize. Who are they?

Three of them have stong library connections and two have libraries named after them. Who are they?

A few authors from last week wrote several of the 100 most challenged novels of the 20th Century but only one author from this week has one on that list. Who is it?

Answer to Last Week’s Questions:
The term Gothic Fiction comes from literature that emerged at the same time as the Gothic Revival in architecture, the later eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth. Reacting against the realism and scientism of the Age of Reason, two threads of emotion developed. While the Romantics took their anti-materialism toward celebration of the beautiful in art and spirit, more often tragic than merely satisfying, the Gothic Revivalists found beauty in the feelings of horror and romantic terror. They set their stories in the crumbling ruins of old castles and estates that had been built at the time of the Goth peoples in England and Europe. Beginning with Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, the elements were haunting terrors, and romantic suspense. Even Bryron, a romantic poet, tried his hand at it.

Several other authors born last week and this week wrote gothic tales, Charles Maturin, William Beckford and Elizabeth Gaskell, while some of William Faulkner's books have been of the subgenre called Southern Gothic. Gothic themes have been in the works of the Brontes, Edgar Allan Poe, Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, Ambrose Bierce, Oscar Wilde and dozens of others up to and past Stephen King, Peter Straub, Clive Barker, through Anne Rice and Stephenie Meyer. Vampires and man made monsters have featured prominently in gothic romances from Mary Wollestonecraft Shelley and Bram Stoker to today's very popular vampires for whom romance is stronger than terror, but who are not free of the terror that the worst of their nature inspires in others and in themselves.

It has been said that Gothic fiction thrives most when the world seems like it's spinning out of rational control which is often the state of both the readers and the characters. "[T]his world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel," wrote Horace Walpole, who is credited with both the quote and the word "serendipity." The word, as the quote, comes from one of his letters to acquaintances, many of which are still worth reading today. He refers to an old folktale "The Three Princes of Serendip," (which, by the way, was the English version of what is Sri Lanka today,) to describe the "accidental sagacity" which he described as finding something while looking for something else.

Serendipity abounds in libraries. Simply by looking through shelves you can find other fascinating things to read instead of only the book for which you came into the library. You could call it libradipity. And if you happen to open a book unconsciously at the very page that includes the concept you were looking for, one of our librarians has a word for that, too. We call it bibliodipity.

This Week in Reading September 20 -26

Authors born this week -

Nobel Prize in Literature

Poet T. S. Eliot (1948) novelist William Faulkner (1949), poet Jaroslav Seifert (1984)

Novelists and story writers

Charles Robert Maturin, Emmuska Orczy, Upton Sinclair, Lu Xun, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fay Weldon, Vladimir Voinovich, Fannie Flagg, Jane Smiley, Javier Marias

Poets and Playwrights

Poets: Stevie Smith,

Donald Hall Playwrights: Euripides, Henry Arthur Jones, Marsha Norman

Thinkers, Believers, Scientists, Historians, Biographers

Thinkers: Martin Heidegger, Leo Strauss Historians: Anthony Blunt, Robert Kagan

Humorists, Essayists, Editors, Journalists, Officials, Media and Others

Humorists: A. P. Herbert Essayists: C.F. Ramuz, J. Frank Dobie, Bell Hooks, Andrea Dworkin Editors: C.K. Scott-Moncrieff, Maxwell Perkins, Michael Varhola Journalists: Walter Lippman, Ana Marie Cox Officials: John Marshall, Christine Todd Whitman Media and Others: George Gershwin, Mickey Rooney, Joyce Brothers, Jim Henson, Lou Dobbs, Neil Cavuto, Ricky Lake, Nicole Ritchie

Mystery / Crime / Suspense Writers

Mystery: Minette Walters

Fantasy / Science Fiction Writers

Fantasy: John Brunner, Keith Roberts, Peter David Horror: Horace Walpole, Stephen King Science Fiction: H.G. Wells, George R. R. Martin, Will Self

Romance / Historical Fiction Writers

Romance: Rosamund Pilcher

Visual Artists

Illustrators: Charles Keeping Graphic Novelists: Steve Gerber, Louise Simonson Cartoonists: Chuck Jones

Young People’s Writers

Children’s: Shel Silverstein

Events to read about this week:

Galileo is tried for heresy, the Cannes film festival, gas powered cars, Joseph Smith gets his angelic directions, Billie Jean King beats the man who said she couldn't, the first NFL Monday Night football telecast, Sandra Day O’Connor becomes the first woman on the Supreme Court, Armenia becomes independent from the Soviet Union, The National Geographic begins, Kublai Khan reigns, the Hollerith tabulating machine in the nineteenth century and Nintendo in the twentieth, the trial of the Chicago Eight, national monuments are designated for the first time, the first newspaper in America, Balboa sights the Pacific Ocean, Drake's crew finishes circumnavigating the earth, Nixon uses a dog in a speech and later debates John Kennedy on television.

This Week’s Questions:
There is a nearly straight line of Gothic fiction from Horace Walpole to Stephen King, both born this week. What kind of work is meant by the term "gothic fiction"?

The very famous word "serendipity" was coined by an author born this week. Which one was it? What does it mean?

Also, who born this week said the following? "[T]his world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel."

Answer to Last Week’s Question:

Which author born last week, besides Agatha Christie, sold over one hundred million books?

Roald Dahl, who wrote mostly chlldren's books, reached the 100 million book sales benchmark. But he is only 55th on Wikipedia's list of bestselling authors. By the way, Agatha Christie, is only number two, behind William Shakespeare, yet she, like he, has sold between two and four billion.

Stephen King, born this week, has sold over 300 million books. Quite a prolific time of year, eh?

This Week in Reading September 13 - 19

Authors born this week –

Nobel Prize in Literature
Novelist F. E. Sillinpaa ( ), novelist William Golding ( )

Novelists and story writers
Francisco de Quevedo, James Fenimore Cooper, Hamlin Garland, Sherwood Anderson, William March, Frank O’Connor, Mike Waltari, Adolfo Bioy, Michel Butor, Larry Collins, Ken Kesey, Bernard MacLaverty, James Alan McPherson, Nancy Huston, Walt Becker, Justin Haythe

Poets and Playwrights
Poets: William Carlos Williams, Gunnar Ekelof, Mario Benedetti, Breyten Breytenbach Playwrights: J. B. Priestly, Anna Deavere Smith

Thinkers, Believers, Scientists, Historians, Biographers
Thinkers: Allan Bloom Historians: Francis Parkman, Enrique Krauze Scientists: Peter Scott

Humorists, Essayists, Editors, Journalists, Officials, Media and Others
Humorists: Robert Benchley, Rita Rudner, Wendy Northcutt Essayists: Clive Bell, T. E. Hulme, Laurence J. Peter, Richard Norman Perle, Marc Reisner Editors: Samuel Johnson, Roger Angell Journalists: Chris Hedges Media and Others: Jean Renoir, James Lipton, Judith Martin, Joan Lunden, Tavis Smiley

Mystery / Crime / Suspense Writers
Mystery: Agatha Christie

Fantasy / Science Fiction Writers
Science Fiction: Damon Knight, Norman Spinrad, Howard Waldrop

Visual Artists
Graphic Novelists: Kurt Busiek Cartoonists: Jeff MacNelly

Young People’s Writers
Children's: H.A. Rey, Robert McCloskey, Roald Dahl, Hope Larsen

Events to read about this week:
The events include Constitution Day, the founding of General Motors, the NFL, the American Legion, the criminal career of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid as a tem, and the air ace career of the Red Baron. Two people ran into barriers in Hollywood: an actress jumped of the Hollywood Sign and a Russian premier was denied access to Disneyland.

Obituaries
Biographer, poet Jim Carroll (60)
Screenwriter Larry Gelbart (81), last week.

This Week’s Question:

Which author born this week besides Agatha Christie sold over one hundred million books?

Answer to Last Week’s Questions:

"To the Puritan, all things are impure, as somebody says." – D. H. Lawrence
"The great artists of the world are never Puritans, and seldom even ordinarily respectable." – H.L. Mencken
"Perhaps there is no happiness in life so perfect as the martyr's." - O. Henry
"Puritanism persists, yet there is a remarkable shift away from moralism and hypocrisy and toward plain inconsistency." – Paul Goodman

"Pure and complete sorrow is as impossible as pure and complete joy.” – Leo Tolstoy

New exhibition catalogs from LA area museums

Brand Library has many new exhibition catalogs from Los Angeles area museums! Come check them out!

Current exhibition, closes this weekend!

Your Bright Future: 12 Contemporary Artists from Korea (LACMA - on view through September 20th)

Upcoming exhibition:

Luis Meléndez: Master of the Spanish Still Life (LACMA - on view starting September 23rd)

Recent exhibition:

Paul Outerbridge: Command Performance (J. Paul Getty Museum)

You can also check out what is happening at Brand Library on our website or become a fan on !

This Week in Reading September 6 - 12

Authors born this week –

Nobel Prize in Literature
Poet Frederic Mistral (1904)

Novelists and story writers
Leo Tolstoy, O Henry, Alexandr Kuprin, D.H. Lawrence, Elinor Wylie, Franz Werfel, George Bataille, Julien Green, James Hilton, Cesare Pavese, Carmen Lafloret, Grace Metalious, Michael Ondaatje, Anne Beattie, Barry Siegel, Alice Sebold, Jennifer Egan, James Frey

Poets and Playwrights
Poets: C. J. Dennis, H.D, Siegfried Sassoon, Edith Sitwell, Louis MacNeice, Mary Oliver Playwrights: Lodivico Ariosto, Alfred Jarry, Michael Frayn, Jerome Ragni

Thinkers, Believers, Scientists, Historians, Biographers
Philosophers: Charles Sanders Peirce, Theodor Adorno Believers: Neale Donald Walsch Scientists: Jared Diamond, Stephen Jay Gould, Michael Shermer, Terry Tempest Williams Biographers: Carl van Doren, Robert M. Pirsig

Humorists, Essayists, Editors, Journalists, Officials, Media and Others
Humorists: Jeff Foxworthy Essayists: Jane Addams, Mary Hunter Austin, Paul Goodman, Paul Miller Editors: H. L. Mencken Journalists: Jessica Mitford, Simon Reeve, Maria Bartiromo, Markos Moulitisas Media and Others: Elia Kazan, Sid Caesar, Charles Kuralt, Pamela des Barres, Bill O’Reilly, Carly Fiorina

Mystery / Crime / Suspense Writers
Mystery: Phyllis A. Whitney

Fantasy / Science Fiction Writers
Science Fiction: Stanislaw Lem, Dan Cragg, China Mieville

Visual Artists
Illustrators: Sergio Arragones Photographers: Ben Shahn Graphic Novelists: Alison Bechdel

Young People’s Writers
Children's: Felix Salten, Eric Hill, Philip Ardagh

Events to read about this week:
Philo T. Farnsworth perfected his telvising process so that years later we could see the first events such as the Miss America contest, the Star Trek series, ESPN, a network devoted totally to sports, on which we saw Cal Ripken break Lou Gehrig's iron man record, and news events such as President Ford pardoning Richard Nixon for his Watergate indiscretions, and the opening of the Kennedy Center for the Arts. What we did not see on television, however, was the discovery of prehistoric paintings in a cave in France, and the the founding of California as a state.

Obituaries
Hollywood columnist Army Archerd, (87)
Literary critic Richard Poirier (83) (late last week)

This Week’s Questions:

This week gives us several very famous literary authors and most of us know them through their work, yet some held social and political ideas that could give others pause. Many complained about the puritanism of their time. We all probably know Mencken's famous quote - "Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy" - but who, born this week, said these words?

"To the Puritan, all things are impure, as somebody says."

"The great artists of the world are never Puritans, and seldom even ordinarily respectable."

"Perhaps there is no happiness in life so perfect as the martyr's."

"Puritanism persists, yet there is a remarkable shift away from moralism and hypocrisy and toward plain inconsistency."

"Pure and complete sorrow is as impossible as pure and complete joy. "

Answers to Last Week’s Questions:
Eleanor Alice Burford Hibbert (we hadn’t even caught onto her real married last name at the library). (1906 – 1993) was the prolific “Queen of romantic suspense” who is credited with reinvigorating the gothic romance genre as Victoria Holt in 1960. She wrote close to two hundred novels under pseudonyms for her historical romances, among the most well know were Jean Plaidy (the "Tudor Sagas," "Plantagenet Sagas", the "Norman Trilogy," ((not to be confused by the three play trilogy called "the Norman Conquests" by Alan Ayckbourn.)) etc) and Philippa Carr (the "Daughters of England" series.) She also used at least five other names for other series, with her own birth name, Eleanor Buford, leading the list which includes Kathleen Kellow, Ellalice Tate, Anna Percival, and Elbur Ford. She also wrote a few stories and some books for children.

C. J. Cherryh, a contemporary writer with over forty books already, has wrttien at least seventeen different kinds of science fiction genres from space opera to high fantasy. Her series include "Tristan," "Cyteen," "Compact Space," "Faded Sun," "Merovingen Nights," and she has contributed to other series and has written many stories.

Joan Aiken, (1924 – 2004), daughter of the famous poet Conrad Aiken, created about a hundred fantasy novels which she called “unhistorical romances” for youth (mostly) and adults. Her most well known series was "The Wolves of Willoughby Chase" but "Arabel and Mortimer," and "Black Hearts in Battersea" were also popular. She also wrote plays and many stories.

Edgar Rice Burroughs, (1875 – 1950,) wrote many more pulp series besides the Tarzan adventures we all know him by. The other series include the "Barsoom" books about fighting Martians on the planet Mars, the "Pellucidar" series about going to the center of the earth, along with series about the Moon, about the planet Venus, and the "Land That Time Forgot." He also wrote historical novels, western novels, other jungle series books, and other science fiction, as well as many stories.

Mary Renualt, (1905 – 1983,) wrote contemporary fiction as well as the historical novels set in Ancient Greece that she was most well known for. The name 'Mary Renault' is a pseudonym, as is the name Cherry Wilder, another prolific genre author born last week.

All the authors above, and their series, may be found in the Novelist database available through the Online Resources page with your Glendale Public Library barcode (found on the back of your library card.) And while there, check out Biography Resource Center for more on the lives of fascinating authors to be found here at the library.

Glendale teen photography exhibit is now online!

For 10 weeks last summer, a group of teens at Glendale Public Library, armed with digital cameras, documented the little-noticed and often-overlooked in Glendale as part of a grant-funded statewide humanities project created by the California Council for the Humanities.

Now you can see the results of the teens' explorations in an online exhibit at http://www.calhum.org/myplace/. The exhibit is the culmination of "How I See It: My Place," a project involving 21 libraries and over 200 teens statewide. The goal was to get young people to know the places where they live; to give them new skills in photography, writing, and critical thinking; and to spark their interest in the humanities.

The exhibit features over 300 photographs as well as descriptive material about the photos written by the teens themselves, along with other information about the program. Let us know what you think of our local teens' hard work!

This Week in Reading August 30 - September 5

Authors born this week -

Novelists and story writers
Theophile Gautier, Sarah Orne Jewett, Blaise Cendrars, Joseph Roth, Sally Benson, Arthur Koestler, Frank Yerby, Richard Wright, Alison Lurie, Sergei Dovlatov, Paul William Roberts

Poets and Playwrights
Playwrights: DeBose Heyward, Antonin Artaud, William Saroyan, Alan Jay Lerner, Caryl Churchill

Thinkers, Believers, Scientists, Historians, Biographers
Historians: John Gunther Biographers: Alma Mahler

Humorists, Essayists, Editors, Journalists, Officials, Media and Others
Humorists: Andrei Platonov, Bob Newhart, Molly Ivins, Lewis Black Essayists: Maria Montessori, Cleveland Amory, Raymond Williams, Elridge Cleaver, Jonathan Kozol, Jerome Corsi, Paul Miller Journalists: Daniel Schorr, Frederick Kempe, Anna Politkovskaya , Lisa Ling Media and Others: Sanford Meisner, Paul Harvey, Warren Buffett, Dr. Phil, Drew Pinsky, Kenny Mayne

Mystery / Crime / Suspense Writers
Suspense: Chris Kusneski

Fantasy / Science Fiction Writers
Fantasy: Joan Aiken, Cherry Wilder Science Fiction: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, C.J. Cherryh

Romance / Historical Fiction Writers
Historical Romance: Victoria Holt, Jean Plaidy, Historical Fiction: Phillipa Carr, Mary Renault

Adventure / Westerns
Adventure: Edgar Rice Burroughs Westerns: Forrest Carter

Visual Artists
Graphic Novelists: Walter Simonson, G. Willow Wilson Cartoonists: Mort Walker, R. Crumb, Cathy Guisewhite

Young People’s Writers
Children: Tom Glazer, Jon Berkeley

Events to read about this week:
World War Two and the Great London Fire started, and so did the City of Los Angeles, ATMs, Google, and EBay. Movies got projected and later produced. The War of Independence officially ended, and the Russian dominance in the chess world ended as well.

This Week’s Questions:
This is the first week since our current listing style began that does not boast a winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. And there are no poets or philosophers this week, either. It seems disappointing, but it had to happen. There are plenty of other awards won by these folks, but none still alive would be likely to achieve Nobel status.

It is a strong genre week, however, but with no mystery writers per se. But, as we've said before, some authors can fit into several categories. William Saroyan wrote novels and stories as well as plays. And as famous as Mary Shelley is for writing Frankenstein, which itself has been put in many varied versions, she also wrote in other genres, (most of which can be found in public libraries today,) even though such a thing as "genre" of fiction didn't exist at the time. Appropriately, however, some of the other authors this week wrote in more than one style, too.

One of them wrote no less than fourteen different series (sagas, trilogies) in fiction as well as one nonfiction trilogy under various pseudonyms. Another wrote at least seventeen series of mulitple genre books, one wrote at least ten series, another wrote four series, while another wrote two series. Who are they?

Answer to Last Week’s Questions:
1 (o), 2 (q), 3 (l), 4 (p), 5 (r), 6 (k), 7 (j), 8 (c), 9 (m), 10 (n), 11 (s), 12 (t), 13 (d), 14 (e), 15 (h), 16 (g), 17 (f), 18 (i), 19 (b), 20 (a). All these films were made from original works of these authors.

Glendale History: Amelia Earhart in Glendale

With a new film about the life of Amelia Earhart scheduled to hit theaters in October, we thought it might be a nice time to post photographs of the aviation pioneer from the Glendale Public Library's Special Collections. Once a week (give or take), we'll be posting a new photograph featuring Amelia, her planes, and her associates on the Library's Flickr site.

Earhart's link to Glendale history dates back even before the city's Grand Central Air Terminal became one of Southern California's most important early airports. While the official grand opening of Grand Central took place in 1929, Earhart had been flying her Kinner Airster out of Glendale in the early 1920s.

Additional materials about Ameila Earhart and Grand Central Air Terminal can be found at the Glendale Public Library.

A nice history of the Grand Central Air Terminal is also available on the Glendale City website (click here to access the site).

The Latest New Fiction

Smash Cut
by Brown, Sandra




PW Reviews 2009 June #4
This superlative romantic thriller from bestseller Brown (Smoke Screen) features a particularly memorable villain, sociopath Creighton Wheeler, who's obsessed with re-enacting scenes from films like Strangers on a Train and Frenzy. When Creighton's wealthy uncle, Paul Wheeler, is shot dead in an apparent robbery at an Atlanta hotel, Paul's close friend, gallery owner Julie Rutledge, attempts to persuade the police that Creighton ordered the hit. Creighton's father asks Derek Mitchell, a criminal lawyer, to represent the accused Creighton, but Derek declines because he had a plane tryst en route to Paris with Julie after Paul's murder. Angered by Derek's refusal, Creighton stalks Julie; targets Derek's dog, Maggie; and plots to kill the ex-girlfriend of his henchman, Billy Duke, after Billy has second thoughts about helping Creighton. Brown skillfully charts Julie and Derek's quest to catch the slippery fiend. Multiple smash cuts (abrupt scene shifts) lead to a wonderfully frenzied finish. (Aug.)
[Page 30]. Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.


The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder
by Wells, Rebecca

PW Reviews 2009 May #1
Wells (Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood) weaves more of the magic that made her a bestseller. At first, Calla Lily Ponder appears to be just like any other young woman growing up in the small town of La Luna, La., where life is simple and Calla Lily is supported by a loving, tightly knit family and a colorful cast of locals. But after a series of hometown heartbreaks, Calla Lily sets out for New Orleans to attend a prestigious beauty academy with dreams of one day opening her own salon. Calla Lily soon learns that while the Big Easy offers a fresh start, adventures and exhilarating new friends, it also presents its own set of tragedies and setbacks. The novel is chock-full of Southern charm and sassy wisdom, and despite its sugary sweetness, it benefits from a hearty dose of Wells’ trademark charisma. Calla Lily's story may not be as involved or satisfying as that of the Ya-Yas, but she's sure to be a crowd-pleaser thanks to her humble aspirations, ever hopeful heart and perseverance no matter what fate throws at her. (July)
[Page 30]. Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.


Blindman's Bluff: A Decker and Lazarus Novel
by Kellerman, Faye

PW Reviews 2009 June #3
In bestseller Kellerman's solid 18th novel to feature L.A. police detective Lt. Peter Decker and his wife, Rina finds that some jury duty should include hazardous duty pay. A shooting rampage at the 70-acre compound and mansion owned by shopping mall magnate Guy Kaffey leaves Kaffey, his wife and two guards dead. Kaffey's oldest son, Gil, apparently was left for dead and two other guards are missing. A plethora of suspects and motives has Decker and his colleagues looking at Guy's brother, Mace, and Guy's younger son, Grant, as well as the missing guards, other household staff, the remaining off-duty staff and possibly business rivals. Decker's cool professionalism is thoroughly tested when a chance courtroom encounter thrusts Rina into the case and puts her in harm's way. Kellerman expertly keeps interlocking investigations moving along with a minimum of confusion but plenty of doubt as to the guilty party or parties. (Aug.)
[Page 30]. Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.


South of Broad
by Conroy, Pat

Kirkus Reviews 2009 July #1
First novel in 14 years from the gifted spinner of Southern tales (Beach Music, 1995, etc.) a tail-wagging shaggy dog at turns mock-epic and gothic, beautifully written throughout. The title refers, meaningfully, to a section of Charleston, S.C., and as with so many Southern tales, one great story begets another and another. This one starts most promisingly: "Nothing happens by accident." Indeed. The Greeks knew that, and so does young Leopold Bloom King. It is on Bloomsday (June 16) 1969 that 18-year-old Leo learns his mother had once been a nun. Along the way, new neighbors appear, drugs make their way into the idyllic landscape and two new orphans turn up "behind the cathedral on Broad Street." The combination of all these disparate elements bears the unmistakable makings of a spirit-shaping saga. Working a paper route along the banks of the Ashley River and discovering the poetry of place ("a freshwater river let mankind drink and be refreshed, but a saltwater river let it return to first things"), Leo gets himself in a heap of trouble, commemorated years later by the tsk-tsking of the locals. But he also finds out something about how things work ("Went out with a lot of women when I was young," says one Nestor; "I could take the assholes, but the heartbreakers could afflict some real damage.") and who makes them work right or not. Leo's classic coming-of-age tale sports, in the bargain, a king-hell hurricane. Conroy is a natural at weaving great skeins of narrative, and this one will prove a great pleasure to his many fans. Copyright Kirkus 2009 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved

Twenties girl : a novel
by Kinsella, Sophie

When the spirit of Lara's great-aunt Sadie-a feisty--demanding girl with firm ideas about fashion, love, and the right way to dance--mysteriously appears, she has one last request: Lara must find a missing necklace that had been in Sadie's possession for more than seventy-five years, and Sadie cannot rest without it. Never mind that Lara has her own problems--which Sadie could care less about. Will this sparring duo ever find what they're after?