Friday, May 30, 2014

The June LibraryReads List!

The latest batch of librarian favorites are here! We've included descriptions* below and you can head to the LibraryReads website to see brief reviews submitted by librarians. We'd love to hear what you think about the titles, let us know on Facebook, Twitter, or in the comments below!

Top 10 Books Loved by Librarians in June

Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey
Published: June 10,2014

Elizabeth is missing' reads the note in Maud's pocket in her own handwriting, and the one on the wall. Maud's been getting forgetful. She keeps buying peach slices when she has a cupboard full, forgets to drink the cups of tea she's made and writes notes to remind herself of things. But Maud is determined to discover what has happened to her friend, Elizabeth, and what it has to do with the unsolved disappearance of her sister Sukey, years back, just after the war.

China Dolls by Lisa See
Published: June 3, 2014

In 1938, Ruby, Helen and Grace, three girls from very different backgrounds, find themselves competing at the same audition for showgirl roles at San Francisco's exclusive "Oriental" nightclub, the Forbidden City. Grace, an American-born Chinese girl has fled the Midwest and an abusive father. Helen is from a Chinese family who have deep roots in San Francisco's Chinatown. And, as both her friends know, Ruby is Japanese passing as Chinese. At times their differences are pronounced, but the girls grow to depend on one another in order to fulfill their individual dreams. Then, everything changes in a heartbeat with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Suddenly the government is sending innocent Japanese to internment camps under suspicion, and Ruby is one of them. But which of her friends betrayed her?

The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street by Susan Jane Gilman
Published: June 10, 2014

In 1913, little Malka Treynovsky flees Russia with her family. Bedazzled by tales of gold and movie stardom, she tricks them into buying tickets for America. Yet no sooner do they land on the squalid Lower East Side of Manhattan, than Malka is crippled and abandoned in the street. Taken in by a tough-loving Italian ices peddler, she manages to survive through cunning and inventiveness. As she learns the secrets of his trade, she begins to shape her own destiny. She falls in love with a gorgeous, illiterate radical named Albert, and they set off across America in an ice cream truck. Slowly, she transforms herself into Lillian Dunkle, "The Ice Cream Queen" -- doyenne of an empire of ice cream franchises and a celebrated television personality. Lillian's rise to fame and fortune spans seventy years and is inextricably linked to the course of American history itself, from Prohibition to the disco days of Studio 54. Yet Lillian Dunkle is nothing like the whimsical motherly persona she crafts for herself in the media. Conniving, profane, and irreverent, she is a supremely complex woman who prefers a good stiff drink to an ice cream cone. And when her past begins to catch up with her, everything she has spent her life building is at stake.

I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You by Courtney Maum
Published: June 10, 2014

Where'd You Go, Bernadette meets Beautiful Ruins in this reverse love story set in Paris and London about a failed monogamist's attempts to answer the question: Is it really possible to fall back in love?

Despite the success of his first solo show in Paris and the support of his brilliant French wife and young daughter, thirty-four-year-old British artist Richard Haddon is too busy mourning the loss of his American mistress to a famous cutlery designer to appreciate his fortune. But after Richard discovers that a painting he originally made for his wife, Anne --when they were first married and deeply in love -- has sold, it shocks him back to reality and he resolves to reinvest wholeheartedly in his family life...just in time for his wife to learn the extent of his affair. Rudderless and remorseful, Richard embarks on a series of misguided attempts to win Anne back while focusing his creative energy on a provocative art piece to prove that he's still the man she once loved.

The Matchmaker by Elin Hilderbrand
Published: June 10, 2014

Dabney Kimball Beech, the 48-year-old fifth generation Nantucketer, has had a lifelong gift of matchmaking (52 couples still together to her credit). But when Dabney discovers she is dying of pancreatic cancer, she sets out to find matches for a few people very close to home: her husband, celebrated economist John Boxmiller Beech; her lover journalist Clendenin Hughes; and her daughter, Agnes, who is engaged to be married to the wrong man. As time slips away from Dabney, she is determined to find matches for those she loves most - but at what cost to her own relationships?

Summer House with Swimming Pool by Herman Koch
Published: June 3, 2014

It all started the previous summer. Marc, his wife, and their two beautiful teenage daughters agreed to spend a week at the Meier's extravagant summer home on the Mediterranean. Joined by Ralph and his striking wife Judith, her mother, and film director Stanley Forbes and his much younger girlfriend, the large group settles in for days of sunshine, wine tasting, and trips to the beach. But when a violent incident disrupts the idyll, darker motivations are revealed, and suddenly no one can be trusted. As the ultimate holiday soon turns into a nightmare, the circumstances surrounding Ralph's later death begin to reveal the disturbing reality behind that summer's tragedy.

The Lobster Kings by Alexi Zentner
Published: May 27, 2014

The Kings family has lived on Loosewood Island for three hundred years, blessed with the bounty of the sea. But for the Kings, this blessing comes with a curse: the loss of every firstborn son. Now, Woody Kings, the leader of the island's lobster fishing community and the family patriarch, teeters on the throne, and Cordelia, the oldest of Woody's three daughters, stands to inherit the crown. To do so, however, she must defend her island from meth dealers from the mainland while navigating sibling rivalry and the vulnerable nature of her own heart when she falls in love with her sternman. Inspired by King Lear, The Lobster Kings is the story of Cordelia's struggle to maintain her island's way of life in the face of danger from offshore and the rich, looming, mythical legacy of her family's namesake.

The Hurricane Sisters by Dorothea Benton Frank
Published: June 3, 2014

Once again Dorothea Benton Frank takes us deep into the heart of her magical South Carolina Lowcountry on a tumultuous journey filled with longings, disappointments, and, finally, a road toward happiness that is hard earned. There we meet three generations of women buried in secrets. The determined matriarch, Maisie Pringle, at eighty, is a force to be reckoned with because she will have the final word on everything, especially when she's dead wrong. Her daughter, Liz, is caught up in the classic maelstrom of being middle-aged and in an emotionally demanding career that will eventually open all their eyes to a terrible truth. And Liz's beautiful twenty-something daughter, Ashley, whose dreamy ambitions of her unlikely future keeps them all at odds. The Lowcountry has endured its share of war and bloodshed like the rest of the South, but this storm season we watch Maisie, Liz, and Ashley deal with challenges that demand they face the truth about themselves. After a terrible confrontation they are forced to rise to forgiveness, but can they establish a new order for the future of them all? This is the often hilarious, sometimes sobering, but always entertaining story of how these unforgettable women became The Hurricane Sisters.

The Quick by Lauren Owen
Published: June 17, 2014

London, 1893: James Norbury is a shy would-be poet, newly down from Oxford and confounded by the sinister, labyrinthine city at his doorstep. Taking up lodging with a dissolute young aristocrat, he is introduced to the drawing rooms of high society and finds love in an unexpected quarter. On the cusp of achieving a happiness long denied to him, he vanishes without a trace. In Yorkshire, his sister Charlotte - only in her twentiesbut already resigned to life as a rural spinster - sets out to find her brother. Her search for answers leads her to one of the country's pre-eminent and mysterious institutions: The Aegolius Club, whose members include the richest, most ambitious men inEngland. Trying to save James - and herself - from the Club's designs, Charlotte uncovers a secret world at the city's margins populated by unforgettable characters: a female rope walker turned vigilante, a street urchin with a deadly secret, and the chilling "Dr. Knife."

Rogues edited by George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozios
Published: June 17, 2014

A thrilling collection of twenty-one original stories by an all-star list of contributors -- including a new Song of Ice & Fire story by George R. R. Martin and a new story by Patrick Rothfuss featuring Bast from the Kingkiller Chronicle. The collection also features stories by Gillian Flynn, Joe Abercrombie, Neil Gaiman, Scott Lynch, Cherie Priest, Garth NixConnie Willis, and Carrie Vaughn.

Which one will you read first?

If you need help placing a hold with your Chandler Public Library card, give us a call at 480-782-2800.

If you'd like more book recommendations, browse our Book Lists page or check out the previous LibraryReads lists.

*Book descriptions from the publisher.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Fizz, Boom, Read! It's Summer Reading Time!

The 2014 Summer Reading Program is here! This year readers of all ages can earn online badges and a book by reading, attending library programs, or visiting various sites in the community.

The program officially starts on May 29th and you can register for the program online here: http://summer.mcldaz.org/

Exciting and educational programs will be held at each Chandler Public Library branch throughout June and July. You can earn points just by attending! Please see our calendar to view events by branch, age group, or type of presentation. Some events require registration so it’s a good idea to plan ahead to make sure that you or your children are properly registered to guarantee a spot in the program you are interested in.

If you need ideas for books to read, check out our book lists page.

Good luck and happy reading!

Monday, May 26, 2014

Library Closed - Get started on genealogy research

All four Chandler Public Library branches will be closed Monday, May 26 for Memorial Day.

While the library's closed, you can still access many of our online resources, including HeritageQuest for genealogical research. View Census images from 1790 to 1940, search the text of books and articles, find records from the Revolutionary War, and more. And check out our Genealogy Resources page for links to even more online resources. (Sorry, Ancestry can only be used in the library during regular hours.)

Our friends at the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records have put together this brief article on how to get started with genealogy. Take a look, and remember that your state library is open to the public to help you with your research. Visit their website for their location and hours, and to learn more.

Read more

Monday, May 19, 2014

Staff Picks: Poetry

Every month, staff at our Downtown branch read books in a specific fiction genre or nonfiction subject, to familiarize themselves with titles they might not have discovered otherwise. For April, they celebrated National Poetry Month by reading poetry and plays. Here's what everyone read and what they had to say about it:


Dizzy in Your Eyes by Pat Mora
Not a poetry lover, but loved this book. 5 stars

Cactus Poems by Frank Asch
Very good children’s poetry book. 5 stars

Every Thing on It by Shel Silverstein
Not a poetry person at but loved, loved this book. For children and adults alike. 5 stars

Anything by E.E. Cummings
His poetry is delicate and visual. 5 stars

Heartless (a Play) by Sam Shepard
3 stars

Haiku U by David Bader
Very funny, 100 great books from Aristotle to Zola in 17 syllables. 5 stars

Good Poems edited by Garrison Keillor
5 stars   

I Could Pee on This: and other poems by cats by Francesco Marciuliano
Very fun and silly poems. 5 stars   

I Could Chew on This: and other poems by dogs by Francesco Marciuliano
Very funny poems, something a dog would say if they could speak. 5 stars   

Inherit the Wind (a Play) by Jerome Lawrence
Excellent especially if you like courtroom drama.  Reads easier if you envision yourself trying out for the play. 5 stars   

The Smallest Muscle in the Human Body by Alberto Rios
Excellent poet who teaches at ASU. 5 stars   

My Name is Jorge on Both Sides of the River by Jane Medina
In both English and Spanish, just wonderful. 5 stars

Howl and other poems by Allen Ginsberg
4 stars

The Best Loved Poems of the American People
Broken down by subject; would have been higher in ratings but there was no Whitman. 3 stars   

Poetry for Young People
This series is a wonderful introduction to poetry for young people. 5 stars   

Monday, May 12, 2014

Book Review: I Am Malala

I Am Malala is the incredible story of Malala Yousafzai, the 15-year-old girl who stood up for education and was shot by the Taliban at point blank range. A background of the politics and events leading up to the shooting, and the inspiring testimony of the power of education.

In a nation where education is freely provided to all children, regardless of their race, gender, or status, it is easy for students to take it for granted. Having taught in a public middle school, I witnessed this rejection of knowledge all too often. If we do not value education, we are supporting ignorance. It is ignorance that perpetuates discrimination and intolerance, and that makes people subject to manipulation and oppression. It is ignorance that tries to silence a girl who recognizes that knowledge is powerful.

Malala's story not only inspires me to raise my voice in support of education for all, but it also instills in me a greater personal desire to fight ignorance, and continually arm myself with knowledge and truth.

“Let us pick up our books and our pens, they are the most powerful weapons." -Malala Yousafzai


Review by Rebecca (Sunset). I Am Malala is a popular title with Chandler Library staff. Read our earlier review of the book here.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Book Review: Young Money

Young Money is a look at the aftermath of the economic crisis and follows eight newbies on Wall Street from 2010-2013.

The basics: Their lives suck, but they make great money.

The book reads quickly and while I would have liked a little more explanation of some of the job titles, acronyms, and the whats-its of finance, adding all of that would have slowed it down a lot. It's a good introduction to what it's like now for new recruits. I'm looking forward to skimming and viewing a few of the books (and a couple of movies) mentioned throughout Young Money.

Reading about the experiences of these young analysts definitely shows how someone could turn into one of the Wall Street jerks we all seem to be familiar with. The long hours, little recognition, tons of stress, no social life outside of work, and bosses that just keep piling on the work can definitely lead to excessive drinking, drug use, and depression. But by the end of the book, there's definitely a little hope that Wall Street has changed its ways. - Melissa (Downtown)