2006 MARRTY BEST BOOK AWARD

The 2006 MARRTY Best Book Award goes to Anne Tyler's DIGGING TO AMERICA. In a very close second was Sara Gruen's WATER FOR ELEPHANTS. In third place was Cormac McCarthy's book THE ROAD. Thank you to all who partcipated in this years MARRTY award.

WHAT CHA BEEN READING? February 2007

Alicia Ahlvers-KCPL
HOUSE OF MEETINGS by Martin Amis
THE RHYTHM OF THE ROAD by Albyn Hall
THE ATTACK by Yasmina Khadra

Rita Miziorko- KCKPL
SNOW FLOWER & THE SECRET FAN by Lisa See
DANCING GIRLS OF LAHORE by Louise Brown
THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck

Pat Wells- UMKC Pen/Faulkner
THE LEADWAY COTTAGE by ?
THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING by Laura Moriarty
SUCH SWEET THUNDER by Vincent Carter

Meredith Roberson- NKCPL
FAT KID RULES THE WORLD by K.L. Going
UGLIES by Scot Westerfeld
PRETTIES by Scot Westerfeld

Cindy Guyler- JCPL
FALSE MIRROR by Charles Todd
WHAT'S UP WITH HARD CORE JEWISH PEOPLE? by Margery, Isis Schwartz

UNITED WE READ 2007

The Kansas City Library and Information Network announces that THE FINAL SOLUTION by Michael Chabon is the United We Read selection for 2007. This deceptively simple novella, set at the time of the blitz in World War II Britain, resurrects an aged Sherlock Holmes, never actually mentioned by name. The old man is asked to help police discover the murderer of a commercial traveler and the whereabouts of a missing parrot belonging to a young Jewish boy rescued from Germany. As the mystery unfolds, layer upon layer of meaning is discovered and yet in the end the meaning is ambiguous. Chabon has penned an exquisite homage to Sir Conan Doyle, obliquely examining not only the horror of the Holocaust, but the legacy of racism in Great Britain, and the vicissitudes of aging. Readers of all ages will find much to discuss in this elegant novel. The Final Solution is the winner of the 2005 National Jewish Book Award and also the 2003 Aga Khan Prize for Fiction by the Paris Review.

Submitted by Susan Burton KCMLIN

Great Books Foundation Announcement

From: Susan Burton KCMLIN

The Great Books Foundation will provide a one-day, 6-hour workshop on the Shared Inquiry Method, an inclusive and egalitarian approach for leading book discussion groups. This workshop will take place at Linda Hall Library in Kansas City, MO on Wednesday, January 10, 9-4

The Shared Inquiry Method
Training in the Shared Inquiry produces skilled discussion leaders who know how to stimulate group members to take an active role in educating themselves. In this training, you will learn skills to help you formulate and ask productive questions about a topic, manage the flow of the group's responses, ensure that all members participate, and keep the discussion dynamic.

Costs & Registration
The cost per participant is $150, which includes all the Great Books Foundation materials used in the workshop. The workshop will apply the Shared Inquiry Method training to Charles Wohlforth's book, The Whale and the Supercomputer: On the Northern Front of Climate Change. Individual participants are responsible for obtaining their own copy of the book. Reading the book in advance of the workshop is strongly recommended.

To enroll in this workshop, please register through Great Books Foundation website, or you may also register by phone at 1-800-222-5870, Mon. through Fri., 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST

Location
Linda Hall Library
5109 Cherry Street
Kansas City, MO 64110-2498

Questions
Please contact Jenny Bruenger at Linda Hall Library for more Information. 816-926-8725 email: education@lindahall.org

WHAT CHA BEEN READING?

These are from the past few meetings:

Alicia Ahlvers-KCPL
SURVIVAL AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD by ?
OLD FILTH by Jane Gardam
THE GRAVEDIGGER by Peter Grandbois
MY LIFE IN FRANCE by Julia Child
THE TERRORIST by John Updike
GOLDEN COUNTRY by Jennifer Gilmore
SPACE RACE by Deborah Cadbury
VOODOO HEART by Scott Snyder
LA PERDITA(graphic novel) by Jessica Abel

Donna Jo Atwood-Olathe PL
MAN WHO LOVED JANE AUSTEN by Sally Smith O'Rourke
CONSUELO AND ALVA VANDERBILT: THE STORY OF A DAUGHTER AND A MOTHER IN THE THE GILDED AGE by Amanda Mackenzie
DEAD BEAT: LOST SOULS, LUCKY STIFF AND THE PERVERSE PLEASURES OF OBITUARIES by Marilyn Johnson
IMPERIUM by Robert Harris
QUIRKY QUERTY by ?
THE PIRATES AND THE SCIENTISTS, BOUND WITH THE PIRATES AND AHAB by Gideon Defoe
BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS by Dai Sijie
FRENCH WOMEN FOR ALL SEASONS by Mireille Guiliano
THE GILDED TONGUE by Rod Evans
ALTRUISTIC ARMADILLOS, ZENLIKE ZEBRAS by Jeffrey Masson
SASSY ONE by Susan Mallory

Susan Burton-KCMLIN
EXPECTED ONE by Kathleen McGowan
13TH TALE by Diane Setterfield
SPLIT SECOND by David Baldacci
CAMEL CLUB by David Baldacci

Trish Downey-JCPL
RED HOT MURDER by JoAnne Pence
THE BLIND SIDE:EVOLUTION OF A GAME by Michael Lewis

Amy Fisher-MCPL
IN DANGERS PATH by W.E.B Griffin
TEA HOUSE ON MULBERRY STREET by Sharon Owens
STORM FRONT by Jim Butcher
ENTER SECOND MURDERER by Alanna Knight

Cindy Guyler-JCPL
DARK STAR SAFARI by Paul Theroux
I MARRIED ADVENTURE by Osa Johnson
JOY LUCK CLUB by Amy Tan
AFTER THE WRECK by Joyce Carol Oates

Virginia Hermes-JCPL
THIRTEEN MOON by Charles Frazier
THE COLLECTOR by David Baldacci
NIGHT WATCH by Sara Waters
SHIP OF BRIDES by Jojo Moyes
ON AGATE HILL by Lee Smith
HOME TO BIG STONE GAP by Adriana Trigiani
THE MESSENGER by Daniel Silva

Andrea Kempf-JCCC Library
TO RESCUE A ROGUE by Jo Beverley
A WOMAN IN JERUSALEM by Abraham B. Yehoshua
BLIND WILLOW, SLEEPING WOMAN by Haruki Murakami
BOOK OF SAMSON by David Maine
END OF MR. Y by Scarlett Thomas

Kaite Stover-KCPL
TOMATO RED by Daniel Woodrell
THE THIRTEENTH TALE by Diane Setterfield
THE SHADOW OF THE WIND by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Rita Miziorko-KCKPL
THE HISTORIAN by Elizabeth Kostova
SOUND LIKE THUNDER by Sonney Brewer
SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN by Lisa See
DIGGING TO AMERICA by Anne Tyler
WATER FOR ELEPHANTS by Sara Gruen
OCTOBER SUITE by Maxine Claire
THE COLLECTORS by David Baldacci
CROSS by James Patterson

Pat Wells-UMKC Pen/Faulkner
AFTERMATH by Brian Shawver
TRIAGE by Scott Anderson
AFTERMATH by David Woodrell

THE QUILL AWARDS

The Quill Awards is an initiative launched with support of Reed Business Information. It is designed to be an industry qualified "consumers choice" awards program for books, honoring the current titles readers deem most entertaining and enlightening.

The Quills celebrates the best books of the year in nineteen popular categories, ranging from romance to biography to graphic novels..."

Here are some of the winners:

The Variety Blockbuster Book To Film Award
The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

Debut Author of the Year
Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell

Audio Book
Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog by John Grogan

General Fiction
A Dirty Job: A Novel by Christopher Moore

Graphic Novel
Naruto, Volume 7 by Masashi Kishimoto

Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Twelve Sharp by Janet Evanovich

Poetry
Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem by Maya Angelou

Romance
Blue Smoke by Nora Roberts

Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror
A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon

Biography/Memoir
Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog by John Grogan

To see the rest of the list of award winners and the nominees for each award got to the link at the side of this page.

Submitted by Trish Downey, JCPL

NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS

The National Book Foundation presented the 57th National Book Awards on November 15, 2006. They are:

Young People's Literature: THE ASTONISHING LIFE OF OCTAVIAN NOTHING, TRAITOR TO THE NATION VOL. 1 by M.T. Anderson

Poetry: SPLAY ANTHEM by Nathaniel Mackey

Nonfiction: THE WORST HARD TIME: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THOSE WHO SURVIVED THE GREAT AMERICAN DUST BOWL by Timothy Egan

Fiction: THE ECHO MAKER by Richard Powers