Happy Weekend!

Here's a great shot of used book buyer Kestrel, and a cuddly, chummy shark to start your weekend off right.  Come check our other great sidelines, including all the other Squishables.  I can attest to their superior cuddliness!

Art and the Public Transit Reader

Image from Underground NY Public Library

Yesterday, on the bus ride home, the gentleman beside me was reading.  And when I see someone with a book in their hand, I can't help but glance over to see what they're reading.  I either catch a glimpse of the cover, or sneak a peek the title on the top of the page.  He was reading War and Peace.  And I have to say I was impressed, not only because I have attempted to read that novel three times and failed, but because that is one big book to lug around on public transit.

I love seeing people reading, it's one of my favorite things about riding the bus, and if I happen to have read their book, I get an odd little thrill.  I almost never say anything to these bus readers, though it is a great way to start up a conversation.  It's one of the many reasons to dislike the Kindle and other eReaders.  Perhaps such devices are destroying the "brick and mortar" book industry, but more importantly they are denying me the joy I get by peeking into a stranger's life.

All of that being said, today I stumbled upon the greatest Facebook page ever.  Perfect for satiating my public transit, book fetish.  It's called Underground NY Public Library.  And the page is devoted to snapshots of New Yorkers, on the subway, reading.  That's all, so simple, but so lovely.  Check out the page.  Some of the shots are just beautiful and if you are a lover of books, and readers, they will make your heart swell.

Image from Underground NY Public Library

Posted by Erin B.

Pulitzer Prizes Announced

Wow.  The Pulitzer Prizes were announced today.  And everyone is stunned (or at least I am) that there was no prize awarded in the fiction category.  It's the first time since 1977 that there has been no fiction award.  However, the Pulitzer Board did reveal the finalists for fiction, I guess it was the least they could do.  The nominated finalists were Train Dreams, by Denis Johnson; Swamplandia! by Karen Russell; and The Pale King, by the late David Foster Wallace.  Seems in this case it might not have been an honor just to be nominated...

Other (actual) winners include:

Drama:  Water by the Spoonful by Quiara Alegría Hudes

History:  Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, by the late Manning Marable

Biography or Autobiography:  George F. Kennan: An American Life by John Lewis Gaddis

Poetry:  Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith

General Nonfiction:  The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt

I"m especially disappointed as the Pulitzer fiction prize is my favorite book prize.  I guess I'll just have to read all the finalists and choose for myself.  That being said, if I were awarding the prize it would go to the Tiger's Wife, by Tea Obreht.

Posted by Erin B.

New J.K. Rowling...at last!

There have been whispers and mutterings but it looks like the rumors are true.  J.K. Rowling's first post-Harry Potter release has a name... and a plot synopsis!  Grown-ups take heart, this one's for you!  Read all about it on Little, Brown's website, and mark your calendars.  I know what I'll be reading come September 27th.

Little House Love

We all have those books that forever ring true in our lives. Steve has long loved the Little House on the Prairie series, as a child and still, perhaps more, as an adult.

Before visiting Tolkien's Middle-Earth and William Gibson's cyberspace, I traveled across the American frontier with Laura, Pa and the rest of the Ingalls family. Like the realms of fantasy and science fiction to come, reading about Laura's world was a completely different, fascinating and new experience of the imagination. Not only was I immersed in the lives of these pioneers but I felt like a cherished member of the Ingalls family as well. Every time I finish the final book, I feel as if I am saying good-bye to very dear friends, at least until the next time I read it. -Steve

This Thursday, Third Place welcomes one author whose love for Little House arguably rivals that of our very own Steve.  At 7:00PM, Wendy McClure will present her new book, The Wilder Life : My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie

For anyone who has ever wanted to step into the world of a favorite book, here is a pioneer pilgrimage, a tribute to Laura Ingalls Wilder, and a hilarious account of butter-churning obsession.

Wendy McClure is on a quest to find the world of beloved Little House on the Prairie author Laura Ingalls Wilder-a fantastic realm of fiction, history, and places she's never been to, yet somehow knows by heart. She retraces the pioneer journey of the Ingalls family- looking for the Big Woods among the medium trees in Wisconsin, wading in Plum Creek, and enduring a prairie hailstorm in South Dakota. She immerses herself in all things Little House, and explores the story from fact to fiction, and from the TV shows to the annual summer pageants in Laura's hometown.

Whether she's churning butter in her apartment or sitting in a replica log cabin, McClure is always in pursuit of "the Laura experience." Along the way she comes to understand how Wilder's life and work have shaped our ideas about childhood and the American West.

Join us tomorrow for what is sure to be a delightful evening. I know Steve will be there!

Book Hilarity

Need a laugh?  You simply must, Must, MUST check out this hilarious site.  The Malcolm Gladwell Book generator.  Guffaw!  It's not that we don't love Malcolm Gladwell, because we do, but this is just too great.  Oh, how book humor makes me glow.

Surviving the Zombie Drought

Are you upset that The Walking Dead season is over?  Don't know how'll you'll make it until next fall?  Well don't worry one bit!  Along with stocking up your end of days pantry, and archery lessons for the coming zombie apocolypse, head on down to Third Place for some Walking Dead reading material.


We've got the Walking Dead Chronicles : The Official Companion Book.  This book goes behind the scenes of the first season of the beloved T.V. series.






But best of all, check out the graphic novel that started it all.  With 15 collected installments of the monthly comic, these fast-paced, action-packed books are sure to get you through the dry spell until Rick and the gang are back on the small screen.





And if you're looking for some hands on preparation, we've got loads of books on homesteading and the all important  Can YOU Survive the Zombie Apocalypse, by Max Brallier.


Good luck survivors.

Hungry for More?

You've read all the books and now you've seen the movie.  Now what?  How do you sustain yourself until the next screen installment?  While you could simply read and re-read the triology, we have some great suggestions of other books that are sure to satiate your hunger for more Huger Games.

Legend by Marie Lu

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths - until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Epitaph Road by David Patneaude

2097 is a transformed world. Thirty years earlier, a mysterious plague wiped out 97 percent of the male population, devastating every world system from governments to sports teams, and causing both universal and unimaginable grief. In the face of such massive despair, women were forced to take over control of the planet--and in doing so they eliminated all of Earth's most pressing issues. Poverty, crime, warfare, hunger . . . all gone.

But there's a price to pay for this new "utopia," which fourteen-year-old Kellen is all too familiar with. Every day, he deals with life as part of a tiny minority that is purposefully kept subservient and small in numbers. His career choices and relationship options are severely limited and controlled. He also lives under the threat of scattered recurrences of the plague, which seem to pop up wherever small pockets of men begin to regroup and grow in numbers.

And then one day, his mother's boss, an iconic political figure, shows up at his home. Kellen overhears something he shouldn't--another outbreak seems to be headed for Afterlight, the rural community where his father and a small group of men live separately from the female-dominated society. Along with a few other suspicious events, like the mysterious disappearances of Kellen's progressive teacher and his Aunt Paige, Kellen is starting to wonder whether the plague recurrences are even accidental. No matter what the truth is, Kellen cares only about one thing--he has to save his father.

Pure by Juliana Baggott

We know you are here, our brothers and sisters . . .
Pressia barely remembers the Detonations or much about life during the Before. In her sleeping cabinet behind the rubble of an old barbershop where she lives with her grandfather, she thinks about what is lost-how the world went from amusement parks, movie theaters, birthday parties, fathers and mothers . . . to ash and dust, scars, permanent burns, and fused, damaged bodies. And now, at an age when everyone is required to turn themselves over to the militia to either be trained as a soldier or, if they are too damaged and weak, to be used as live targets, Pressia can no longer pretend to be small. Pressia is on the run.

Burn a Pure and Breathe the Ash . . .
There are those who escaped the apocalypse unmarked. Pures. They are tucked safely inside the Dome that protects their healthy, superior bodies. Yet Partridge, whose father is one of the most influential men in the Dome, feels isolated and lonely. Different. He thinks about loss-maybe just because his family is broken; his father is emotionally distant; his brother killed himself; and his mother never made it inside their shelter. Or maybe it's his claustrophobia: his feeling that this Dome has become a swaddling of intensely rigid order. So when a slipped phrase suggests his mother might still be alive, Partridge risks his life to leave the Dome to find her.

When Pressia meets Partridge, their worlds shatter all over again.

Blood Red Road by Moira Young

Saba has spent her whole life in Silverlake, a dried-up wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms. The Wrecker civilization has long been destroyed, leaving only landfills for Saba and her family to scavenge from. That's fine by her, as long as her beloved twin brother Lugh is around. But when four cloaked horsemen capture Lugh, Saba's world is shattered, and she embarks on a quest to get him back. 

Suddenly thrown into the lawless, ugly reality of the outside world, Saba discovers she is a fierce fighter, an unbeatable survivor, and a cunning opponent. Teamed up with a handsome daredevil named Jack and a gang of girl revolutionaries called the Free Hawks, Saba’s unrelenting search for Lugh stages a showdown that will change the course of her own civilization. 

With all these fabulous, new books, it's a dystopian reader's dream right now!

And in the meantime, check out this funny site that re-imagines The Hunger Games poster if the movie had been directed by someone else.  My personal favorite is Woody Allen.