Published in 1963,  The Collector,  by John Fowles, gives readers one of the first, and still one of the best, psychological thrillers.  Frederick Clegg is a dull and colorless nobody whose only passion is for the butterflies he captures and mounts. That is, until he sees a beautiful girl. Miranda Grey, an art student, dazzling and full […]

In my next life I want to be a cartographer.  More specifically, a cartographer in the time of Columbus, Magellan and de Gama.  In 1992, to coincide with the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ voyage to what turned out to be the West Indies, Rand McNally published Atlas of Columbus.  This beautiful book is a collection […]

Libraries are a place with something to offend everyone. They are also places of discovery, wonder, enrichment, and understanding. Throughout this week dedicated to bringing Banned (and Challenged) Books to people’s attention, we have had some heart-warming moments: Listening to a mother tell her child the reasons given for banning Green Eggs and Ham, an […]

I first read Maus when I was in 7th grade and I can recall the experience almost like it was yesterday. The book was created by Art Spiegelman and has been nominated for over 10 national and international book awards. In the graphic novel, Spiegelman retells the account of his father, Vladek Spiegelman, a Polish Jew who […]

The past is a fearsome ghost hanging over Sethe’s life. It is 1873, slavery has been abolished, and while she now lives a safe and seemingly peaceful life, she remains haunted by a dark act she committed 20 years ago. She has stayed sane by “beating back the past” , but the horrendous legacy of […]

In 1995, the fading farm town of Mount Holly, Indiana, has an air of mourning. Shops are empty. Factory farms have muscled out people like Jim Falls, a struggling chicken farmer. A Korean-War veteran with old age ailments, he fights to survive each day while raising his biracial teenage grandson Quentin. With an off-putting weirdness, […]