Check This Book Out! Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat

The Supreme’s at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat is a mildly humorous, but touching, story about the lives of three close friends.  Odette, Clarice, and Barbara Jean grew up together.  As a result of their closely knit friendship, they have become known in their small community as the “Supremes”.  Each week, they meet for dinner at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat cafe. However, their visits to Earl’s is not solely about food.  Earl’s has become a place where they can feed their minds, bodies, and soul with laughter and great conversation. This is something they all learn to appreciate as they face the most challenging year of their lives.

Written by Chicago native Edward Kelsey Moore, this story is about true sisterhood.  These women help each other through difficult situations by sharing wisdom, faith, and hope.  Similar to the  movie Soul Food, this book highlights the many wonderful traditions that unites African Americans within their communities.

Come check out this and many other new books from our new book display right next to the graphic novels!

A Spooky Tale

Excerpt-  
Ah broken is the golden bowl! the spirit flown forever!
Let the bell toll!--a saintly soul floats on the Stygian river;
And, Guy De Vere, hast thou no tear?--weep now or never more!
See! on yon drear and rigid bier low lies thy love, Lenore!
Come! let the burial rite be read--the funeral song be sung!--
An anthem for the queenliest dead that ever died so young--
A dirge for her the doubly dead in that she died so young.
Lenore by Edgar Allan Poe

October is an exciting time of the year when the world is teeming with ghastly, ghostly tales of terror and fright. All of this is done in recognition of “All Hallows Eve” or Halloween for short. It is a time for people to immerse themselves in the unknown through urban legends, ghoulish festivities, or deeply seeded traditions rooted in ancient beliefs.  It is a frightfully, fiendish time of the year where children love to don scary costumes and spend the evening carving pumpkins.

Over the years, Halloween has gained an enormous amount of popularity.  Not so scary is the revelation that Americans spend nearly six billion dollars annually for Halloween related festivities. According to data published by the National Retail Federation, the average person celebrating Halloween will shell out $72.31 on decorations, costumes, and candy. That’s a pretty sweet treat if you are in the retail business!  If you’re looking for a more economical way to spend Halloween, try spending the evening reading a “spooky” tale or sharing a few “spooky” poems. Reading a good story is one way to experience all of the excitement of Halloween without ever leaving your room.

If you need a few recommendations on good books to help set your holiday mood, stop by the reference desk and explore what’s available in your PSC Library.

Books We Love

Looking for a great book to read? Come check out the library’s Books We Love display.  A combination of classic literature and new treasures, these titles are our favorites.  We laughed, we cried, we couldn’t put them down!

Run through the streets of Vatican City with Robert Langdon in Angels and Demons as he tries to stop an Illuminati plot or travel to Barcelona shortly after the Spanish Civil War and enter the secret Cemetery of Forgotten Books in The Shadow of the Wind.  Follow the troubled tale of addict and card dealer “Frankie Machine” in The Man with the Golden Arm or fight through the harsh post-apocalyptic landscape of The Road.

If you prefer comedy, try Wake Up, Sir! the tale of a young man whose personal valet, Jeeves, steers him through one difficult situation after another.  Romance enthusiasts should grab The Time Traveler’s Wife, a love story about a man with a genetic disorder who travels through time and the woman who waits for him.

For more great titles, check out the books below and come visit the Books We Love display in person.

Halloween Display: Spotlight on Poe

Halloween approaches.  Time for pumpkin carving, costume making, scary movies, and more candy than you can ever eat in one night (though many try).  In the literary world, there are many dark, spooky stories that will help add to the spirit of the day.  In particular the works of Edgar Allan Poe, master of the macabre.

Edgar Poe was the 2nd son of two actors.  At two years old, after the departure of his father and death of his mother, Poe became the foster-child of John Allan.  Though Allan never adopted him, Poe chose to take Allan as his middle name.  After these early tragedies life continued to be turbulent for Poe.  He quarreled with his foster-father over money and his chosen vocation, and was eventually kicked out of the University of Virginia because of gambling debts.  Later, he was court martialed and kick out of West Point.  His love life was also difficult, his first love married another, and his second love and wife, Virginia Clem, died after a long illness.  Fear of poverty and the loss of his wife lead Poe to drink excessively, which some argue ultimately led to his death.

Poe’s diverse body of work includes poetry, criticism, short stories, dark love stories, and the invention of the detective novel.  Many people are familiar with The Raven, which has made it’s way into popular culture through television shows like The Simpsons and Gilmore Girls, and The Tell-Tale Heart, the story of a man haunted by the beating heart of his murder victim.  Other important achievements include The Murders in the Rue Morgue (the first detective novel), the development of the short story genre, and considerable contribution to science fiction.

Come check out the Halloween Book Display in the library.  In addition to some great works by Poe, we have detective novels, thrillers, horror stories, vampire tales, and spooky short stories. Or if you would like to check out some more Halloween tales check out last year’s post The Origins of Halloween: Terror on Display at the Library.

 

One Last Summer Read

As summer draws to a close, I enjoy reading one last fun, easy novel before the responsibilities of fall begin.  This year I picked up Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.  Before Katniss and Peeta fought in the Hunger Games, before Harry, Ron, and Hermione battled Lord Voldemort, even before Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy went into the wardrobe, Anne Shirley was inadvertently causing mayhem on Prince Edward Island. Green Gables is a little farm in Avonlea, a small community on the island.  Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, two middle-aged siblings, decide to adopt a boy to help Matthew run the farm.  In a fortunate mix-up, the orphanage sends a young girl with bright red hair and a vivid imagination instead of a boy.

With nothing but good intentions, Anne gets into one scrap after another.  Green hair dye, leaky boats, and haunted woods are just a few examples of her many adventures.  A perfect escape for readers of all ages, take some time to enjoy the escapades of this lovable redhead before the summer ends.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

I rarely get the chance to travel, so I explore new territory by reading. I find that novels set in other countries—especially if written by natives of those cultures—often teach me much about the those countries’ history and people. Afghanistan is regularly in the news, but like many Americans, I knew little about this country—until I read the novels of Khaled Hosseini. His stories seamlessly weave together the historical events of his complex homeland with the personal lives of his vividly human characters who demand the reader’s sympathy.

Hosseini rose to fame with his first novel, The Kite Runner, which tells the story of fathers, sons, and the brotherly bond of male friendship. In his second book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Hosseini turns his attention to the relationships of women. Against the backdrop of thirty years of Afghan history–including the Soviet invasion, civil war, and the rise and fall of the Taliban–A Thousand Splendid Suns narrates the story of two women a generation apart whose lives become intimately intertwined. Mariam, the illegitimate child of a maid and a wealthy businessman, is forced by her mother’s death to marry young. Over a decade later, Laila, the daughter of an educated, middle-class family, loses her brothers and parents in the war with the Soviets and, in desperation, becomes the second wife to Mariam’s abusive husband.  Together, these women suffer the reign of the Taliban—a regime notorious for oppressing women and condoning domestic violence—but remain resilient.

This novel not only informed me about Afghanistan and its history; it also evoked in me such a strong sense of connectedness to the characters that my memories of their experiences haunted me for days after finishing the book. To me, this is one mark of an excellent story.

Literary Criticism

Writing an essay can be a daunting experience. Especially when you don’t understand the literature or the time period that you are writing on. Writing a paper comparing the poems of Edgar Alan Poe and Walt Whitman will be difficult if you don’t know anything about the author, the 19th century, the author’s contemporaries, or the genres of literature the authors composed. When trying to accomplish such a task it is helpful to call on some very useful resources that we have available to you here at the PSC Library.

We have an excellent collection of literary criticism books, located north of the computers, in our reference section. From contemporary criticism to period specific (19th century; 20th century) or genre specific such as poetry, short story, or drama; We have what you need. Whether you are old school and prefer hard text or have a proclivity to use digital resources, again we have what you need.

We offer the database MagillOnLiterature Plus. This resource gives access to many articles written on the author of certain works and also on individual works themselves. In addition Magill provides the Master Plots I&II Series (which include plot summaries in addition to analysis). This resource also offers encyclopedia articles on authors, literary characters, and settings. We also have the database Biography In-context. This database provides over 600,000 entries updated daily with biographical information, newspaper, and journal articles on many individuals. So if the literary essay is what you are writing, check out these resources as well as many others that we carry. If you have trouble locating them ask your Librarian!