New Slacker Title: Corduroy Mansions by Alexander McCall Smith

January 2012
In London’s Pimlico neighborhood lies a tenement described in architectural guides as “a building of no interest whatsoever.” But the residents of Corduroy Mansions are a captivating collection of quirky characters.–including a literary agent, a wine merchant, a thoroughly unpleasant member of Parliament, and a vegetarian dog. The author traces their amusing foibles and interactions through the ins and outs of neighborliness in all its unexpected variations.

New Slacker Title: Durable Goods by Elizabeth Berg

December 2011

This coming of age tale told by 12 year old narrator Katie is warm, heartbreaking and often funny. Katie is on target as she observes her overbearing father dealing with the grief of losing his wife and having to raise two daughters. In some ways Katie is wiser than her older sister, who would rather make plans to leave home than to deal with the life she’s been dealt. This was Elizabeth Berg’s first novel and there’s a sequel to look forward to (Joy School) if you enjoy it!

New Slacker Title: Ape House by Sara Gruen

October 2011

Sam, Bonzi, Lola, Mbongo, Jelani and Makena are no ordinary apes. These bonobos, like others of their species, are capable of reason and carrying on deep relationships—but unlike most bonobos, they also know American Sign Language.  Isabel Duncan, a scientist at the Great Ape Language Lab, doesn’t understand people, but animals she gets—especially the bonobos. Isabel feels more comfortable in their world than she’s ever felt among humans . . . until she meets John Thigpen, a very married reporter who braves the ever-present animal rights protesters outside the lab to see what’s really going on inside.

New Slacker: Any title by Ann Hood

August through October 2011

The next Slacker will feature an author’s entire collection. We’ll be ordering multiple copies of books by Ann Hood and putting them on the Slacker display in preparation for her visit to our library in October.  She will be the featured speaker at our annual Book Group Night on Wednesday, October 12,  so we would like to give people a couple of months to familiarize themselves with her work.
Ann Hood is the author of the bestselling novels THE RED THREAD, THE KNITTING CIRCLE and SOMEWHERE OFF THE COAST OF MAINE. Her memoir, COMFORT: A JOURNEY THROUGH GRIEF, in which she shares her personal story of losing her 5 year old daughter Grace in 2002, was a New York Times Editor’s Choice and named one of the top 10 non-fiction books of 2008. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

New Slacker Title: Labor Day by Joyce Maynard

June 2011

With the end of summer closing in and a steamy Labor Day weekend looming in the town of Holton Mills, New Hampshire, lonely, friendless thirteen-year-old Henry spends most of his time watching television, reading, and daydreaming with only his emotionally fragile, long-divorced mother for company. But everything changes on the Thursday before the holiday weekend when a mysterious bleeding man named Frank asks Henry for a hand. Over the next five days, Henry will learn some of life’s most valuable lessons, about the breathless pain of jealousy, the power of betrayal, and the importance of putting those we care about above ourselves—and that real love is worth waiting for.

New Slacker Title: A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

May 2011

Goolrick twists a familiar story, refashioning it into something completely original. Many authors have employed the timeworn rural-man-advertises-for-mail-order-bride plot device, but few have permeated their narratives with gothic elements and suspense to such great effect. All is not as straightforward as it seems when Catherine Land steps off the train in rural Wisconsin in 1907. Who is Catherine, and what is her true intent? What shadowy secrets could middle-aged Ralph Truitt be hiding? Both these complex characters have plenty of traumatic baggage that is peeled away layer by layer as the two engage in a darkly dangerous game of check and checkmate. The unforeseen conclusion provides a big payoff for readers of this tension-laden debut from a promising new talent.

(Margaret Flanagan – Booklist)

New Slacker Title: The Poems of Billy Collins

April 2011

Playfulness, spare elegance, and wit epitomize the poetry of Billy Collins. With his distinct voice and accessible language, America’s two-term Poet Laureate has opened the door to poetry for countless people for whom it might otherwise remain closed.

The New York Review of Books claims, “It is difficult not to be charmed by Collins, and that in itself is a remarkable literary accomplishment.”

Celebrate National Poetry month with a slim volume of poetry by someone who captures the simple joys and sadness of life and makes you laugh – all at the same time!

New Slacker Title: The works of Roland Merullo

March 2011

Read one of Roland Merullo’s books this month and then join us when the author comes to Reading Public Library on Wednesday, March 23 at 7 p.m. in the Library Meeting Room.

Roland Merullo is the critically acclaimed author of novels and nonfiction including Fidel’s Last Days, American Savior, Breakfast with Buddha, Golfing with God, A Little Love Story, Revere Beach Boulevard, A Russian Requiem, and Leaving Losapas currently optioned for film rights by John Turturro. Masterfully written and diverse in theme, his books range from political mysteries to spiritual comedies to nuanced family dramas.

This free event is sponsored by The Reading Public Library Foundation as part of The Helen A. Nigro Speaker Series.

New Slacker Title: All souls : a family story from Southie by Michael Patrick MacDonald

February 2011

A bestseller since its first printing, All Souls takes us deep into Michael Patrick MacDonald’s Southie, the proudly insular neighborhood with the highest concentration of white poverty in America. Rocked by Whitey Bulger’s crime schemes and busing riots, MacDonald’s Southie is populated by sharply drawn characters like his Ma, a miniskirted, accordion-playing single mother who endures the deaths of four of her eleven children. Nearly suffocated by his grief and his community’s code of silence, MacDonald tells his family story here with gritty but moving honesty.

New Slacker Title: Wishin’ and Hopin’ by Wally Lamb

January 2011

With his latest story, WISHIN′ AND HOPIN′, Wally Lamb takes a turn toward the lighthearted and laugh-provoking. In a vein similar to Jean Shepherd′s A Christmas Story and David Sedaris′s The Santaland Diaries, Lamb′s holiday tale focuses on a feisty parochial school fifth grader named Felix Funicello–a distant cousin of the iconic Annette! Both poignant and hilarious, WISHIN′ AND HOPIN′ transports us back to 1964, when LBJ and Lady Bird were in the White House, Meet the Beatles was on everyone′s turntables, and Christmas meant mistletoe, mangers, and midnight mass. Then it propels us from the past to the present so that we might measure what we′ve gained and what we′ve lost. Although this is billed as a holiday story – it doesn’t have to be Christmas to laugh your head off reading this wonderful book!