In This Issue

Cynthia's Picks

Mating in captivity : reconciling the erotic + the domestic / Esther Perel - Perel, Esther

Publisher: HarperCollins
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/1/2006
ISBN: 9780060753634
ISBN-10: 0060753633

This exceptionally profound and well-written book is for anyone who is in a long-term relationship, anyone who wants to be in one, or anyone who has been in one and is still trying to figure it out. In short, it’s for just about anybody. Perel’s prose is sparkling and blissfully jargon- and proclamation-free. And it’s not just about the sex. It’s also a wise and witty treatise on how to live a genuine, thoughtful, and joyous life. This will be my most-recommended book of the year.

First Chapter Table of Contents

O : the intimate history of the orgasm - Jonathan Margolis

Publisher: Grove Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/1/2004
ISBN: 9780802117861
ISBN-10: 0802117864

While the title does titillate, it is a bit misleading. More accurately, this is a fairly detailed history of society’s attitudes towards sex in general and sexual pleasure in particular. And in most of the western world, and especially for women, that’s a pretty depressing history indeed. It is, however, quite interesting and does generate some real heat.

First Chapter

Sex with kings : 500 years of adultery, power, rivalry, and revenge - Eleanor Herman

Publisher: Morrow
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 7/1/2004
ISBN: 9780060585433
ISBN-10: 0060585439

If you’ve ever fantasized about being royalty, female royalty anyway, read these books for a wake-up call. Yikes! The first book focuses mostly on Western Europe’s royal mistresses, the second, Sex With Queens on its queens. A fascinating and often repulsive look at the politics of sex and how sex affects politics. Little girls should probably give up their dreams of becoming princesses. The mistresses were much better off.

First Chapter Table of Contents

America's war on sex : the attack on law, lust and liberty - Marty Klein ; foreword by Nadine Strossen

Publisher: Praeger
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 8/30/2006
ISBN: 9780275987855
ISBN-10: 027598785X

Klein exposes the religious right’s war on the private behavior of the average American, examining everything from the failure of “abstinence only” education to a pharmacist’s right to refuse to fill legal prescriptions if doing so violates their “conscience.” A sad and logical extension of the history detailed in Mr. Margolis’s book above.

Table of Contents

Adam's curse : a future without men - Bryan Sykes

Publisher: W.W. Norton
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 4/1/2004
ISBN: 9780393058963
ISBN-10: 0393058964

Geneticist Sykes details here the perilous future of the Y chromosome, claiming it and the male sex itself, is in danger of a slow but steady extinction. Tracing the scientific history of the Y chromosome, Sykes uses this path to examine not only the physical and genetic differences between the sexes, but the psychological, social and even cultural differences as well.

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Nichole's Picks

The nature of Jade - Deb Caletti

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 2/27/2007
ISBN: 9781416910053
ISBN-10: 1416910050

Jade has a panic disorder, and one of her favorite things to do is watch the elephants at the local zoo, it calms her. One day, she notices a young man, about 20yrs old with a small baby... and instantly forms a connection, so much so that she decides to volunteer at the zoo in hopes of running into him. Come to find out, the baby is his, but he harbors a dark secret that Jade eventually finds out. The Nature of Jade is an excellent and intriguing read from an award winning teen author.

First Chapter

How to ruin a summer vacation - Simone Elkeles

Publisher: Flux
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/1/2006
ISBN: 9780738709611
ISBN-10: 0738709611

Amy can’t believe that her dad, commonly known as sperm donor, is barging into her life and taking her to Israel for the summer. Little does she know that in her homeland she will find family, friends and quite possibly love. This was a great teen book, a quick read and a look into life in Israel.

Story of a girl : a novel - by Sara Zarr

Publisher: Little, Brown
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 1/10/2007
ISBN: 9780316014533
ISBN-10: 0316014532

I can't say enough good things about this book. It has a local flair, taking place in Pacifica and mentioning other places like Half Moon Bay and Daly City. Deanna was found in a compromising position with a boy, by her father. She was 13, he was 17 and she has yet to live it down. This story is about coping, wanting to get out of a small town, and searching for the love of a father. Highly Recommended!

The invisible - Mats Wahl ; translated from the Swedish by Katarina E. Tucker

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 1/23/2007
ISBN: 9780374336097
ISBN-10: 0374336091

Translated from an older Swedish book, Invisible is the story of Hilmer, a young boy missing. The only problem is that he can see everything that is happening... and no one can see him. He is invisible. I was on the edge of my seat as Hilmer is trying to figure out what has happened to him, and who has done it. This is an incredibly suspenseful book and is going to be released as a movie on April 27th.

Hana-Kimi : for you in full blossom - story and art by Hisaya Nakajo

Publisher: Viz Media
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 6/1/2004
ISBN: 9781591163299
ISBN-10: 1591163293

Mizuki is completely obsessed with Japanese track and field star Sano, so much so that she decides to transfer to his school all the way in Japan! There is one catch, the school is an all boys school, so she has to disguise herself… and she quickly realizes how hard that is going to be seeing as she is now his roommate! Follow these two in a quirky romance and adventure that is easily one of my favorite manga series.

Sarah's Picks

The thirteenth tale : a novel - Diane Setterfield

Publisher: Atria Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/12/2006
ISBN: 9780743298025
ISBN-10: 0743298020

This is a book about and for people who really, really love books. The frame story is about Margaret Lea, a young woman whose father owns a rare book business. The interior story is about a famous writer named Vida Winter, who is dying and who has asked Margaret to write the story of her life. Vida has never told anyone the truth about her past, but she promises Margaret that this time, she will reveal everything. Margaret and Vida, it turns out, have a great deal in common, and both of their stories are uncovered bit by bit. It’s a modern gothic story, one that reminded me a lot of nineteenth-century British novels: Dickens, Hardy, and the Brontes. Jane Eyre, in fact, plays a significant role in The Thirteenth Tale, and anyone familiar with that book will find echoes of it here. The audio book is beautifully narrated by Bianca Amato and Jill Tanner.

First Chapter

The Brooklyn follies - Paul Auster

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 12/27/2005
ISBN: 9780805077148
ISBN-10: 0805077146

Paul Auster has a reputation for being a difficult and “literary” writer. But his latest novel is very accessible and actually sweet and life-affirming. Nathan Glass is a 59-year-old retired insurance agent and lung cancer survivor, recently divorced, and estranged from his only daughter. He decides to move from the suburbs back to Brooklyn. Once there, he begins to make connections with others, starting with his nephew Tom and Tom’s boss, an eccentric rare book seller and sometime con-man. Eventually Nathan creates around himself a sort of family of charming misfits.

First Chapter

Wildwood dancing - Juliet Marillier

Publisher: Knopf
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 1/23/2007
ISBN: 9780375833649
ISBN-10: 0375833641

This magical tale of trust, bravery, betrayal, and true love is set in Transylvania, where Jena and her four sisters cross over to the Other Kingdom every month at Full Moon. Fairy folk, dwarves, “Night People,” a talking frog, and an evil cousin all have their places in this novel, which uses elements of several familiar folk tales. Marillier is one of our finest storytellers, and this book continues her tradition of telling stories with a striking sense of place, magical elements, beautifully portrayed characters, strong heroines, and an emotional core that touches the heart.

First Chapter

American born Chinese - Gene Luen Yang ; color by Lark Pien

Publisher: First Second
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/5/2006
ISBN: 9781596431522
ISBN-10: 1596431520

First, let me say that I am not a graphic novel reader, as a rule. I’m the kind of text-based reader who often misses the joke in the Sunday comics because I’m just reading the words and forgetting to look at the pictures. But American Born Chinese won the 2007 Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in young adult literature, so I read it, and I am certainly glad I did. Yang draws (pun intended) from his own life story, from American pop culture, and from ancient Chinese mythology for this book. Told in three parts, American Born Chinese follows a Chinese-American teenager’s struggle to define himself against racial stereotypes.

Love is a mix tape : life and loss, one song at a time - Rob Sheffield

Publisher: Crown Publishing
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 1/2/2007
ISBN: 9781400083022
ISBN-10: 1400083028

Sheffield is a writer for Rolling Stone, and this memoir focuses on the eight-year period from when he met his wife, Renee, to when she died suddenly of a pulmonary embolism. Because they were both music lovers, their life together was punctuated by “mix tapes” of the songs they shared with each other, and Sheffield uses the tapes as the frame for his story. Sheffield himself narrates the audio version, and I found myself laughing, crying, and trying to remember the songs he mentioned. In fact, I frequently found myself hauling out old CDs to listen to old favorites and looking on the Internet to find songs by artists I’d never heard of before.

First Chapter

Cindy's Picks

Library lion - Michelle Knudsen ; illustrated by Kevin Hawkes

Publisher: Candlewick Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 7/25/2006
ISBN: 9780763622626
ISBN-10: 0763622621

This is a story of a lion, who enjoys visiting the library to listen to story hour. He tries not to break the rules, but sometimes, he just can’t help but let out a roar. One day, the lion breaks the rules but saves a worker at the library. The lion feels terrible for breaking a library rule, so he leaves the library. The workers must find and bring him back, because everyone misses him.

How do dinosaurs eat their food? - Jane Yolen ; illustrated by Mark Teague

Publisher: Blue Sky Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/1/2005
ISBN: 9780439241021
ISBN-10: 0439241022

Another book from the author and illustrator of How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon? And How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? These dinosaurs never misbehave when it is time to eat. They always use their best manners by eating their food quietly and never making a mess at the table!

Travels of Thelonious - by Susan Schade and Jon Buller

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 5/23/2006
ISBN: 9780689876844
ISBN-10: 068987684X

The first book in the Fog Mound series, it takes place in a time when humans have disappeared. Thelonious is a young chipmunk who is suddenly swept away in a flood. He ends up in an abandoned city, but soon meets other creatures. Some are friendly, such as Fitzgerald the porcupine, and Olive the bear. Others do not seem as friendly, like Brown the lizard. The story alternates between a chapter book and a comic book.

Babymouse : rock star - by Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm

Publisher: Random House
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/26/2006
ISBN: 9780375832321
ISBN-10: 0375832327

This is the 4th book in the Babymouse series, about a girl mouse whose best friend is Wilson Weasel and whose nemesis is the popular girl, Felicia Furrypaws. When Babymouse isn’t daydreaming in class or fighting with her locker, she’s caught up in a new adventure. In this story, Babymouse wants to be a great musician, but her flute is not cooperating. Read the book and see if Babymouse can become musical in time for the school concert.

To dance : a memoir - by Siena Cherson Siegel ; with artwork by Mark Siegel

Publisher: Aladdin Paperbacks
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/5/2006
ISBN: 9781416926870
ISBN-10: 1416926879

Siena has always wanted to dance. This is the story of how she trained to become a professional ballet dancer at the School of American Ballet in New York. Siena even meets the famous choreographer George Balanchine and dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov. This is an autobiography and a comic book.