Would you like to find out what books people are talking about and whether or not they liked them?

 The new catalog enables you to follow other users, providing you with their reviews and recommendations.

Would you like to share your opinions and recommend books you’ve read with other users? 

With the new catalog, you have the option to add reviews and rate what you’ve been reading.

Would you like to have a way to save the titles that interest you so that you can read them at a later date? 

The new catalog will allow you to save titles so that you’ll always be able to go back and refresh your memory.

Along with these, and many other features, you will be able to follow the Park Ridge library and read about the movies, music, and books that we’ve been enjoying. 

To create an account & follow us:

1. Go to http://parkridgelibrary.bibliocommons.com/
2. Log in (you will need your library card number and the initial password is: patron)
3. Follow the steps to create an account (create username, enter email, accept terms)
4. Once registered, go to the “Search Catalog” box on the top of the page.
5. Find the dropdown menu that shows, “Keyword,” and change it to, “User.”
6. Type in, “ParkRidgeRS” in the search box (where you’d search catalog) and then select, ‘Search’
7. You will then see, “ParkRidgeRS’s Completed Shelf” in the middle of the screen
8. Select the green button that shows, “Follow”
9. Select the types of reviews you would like to follow, or choose to follow all selections
10. You are now following the Park Ridge Public Library!

 To review your own titles:

1. Go to the “My PRPL” tab
2. Under “My Shelves,” select, “Completed”
3. Select the green button that shows, “Add New Title”
4. Search the catalog by title, author, etc. and select, “Search”
5. Once the title is located, select the green button to, “Add”
6. Rate the title by selecting the “stars” and/or “Add Details,” which will be your review
7. Repeat these steps to add more titles
8. You can also use these steps to add books, “In Progress” or “For Later” to your Shelf.

To create your own lists:

1. Go to the “My PRPL” tab
2. Under “My Lists,” select, “My Lists”
3. Select the green button that shows, “Create a New List”
4. Add the list’s title, a description (optional), and select, “Create List”
5. Note: You also have the option of making your lists private (Check the box next to “Make this list private” if you don’t want other users to see it)
6. Select the green button on the left-hand side, “Add an item” and choose, “Add a Catalog Item”
7. Search for title, author, etc. and then select, “Search”
8. Once item is located, select, green button “Add”
9. Continue searching for titles, and selecting “Add,” until you’re list is completed
10. Close window by clicking the red button on the top right side
11. You can now add annotations, move items as you wish, or edit your list as necessary

Please note: since the library’s lists and recommendations will be posted through the new catalog, these blogs will no longer be updated.  We look forward to having you follow us through the new site!

He is best known for his 2002 Pulitzer Prize winning novel EMPIRE FALLS. It is one of my favorites, but I also love these earlier works:

RISK POOL is a tender and wry story of family, redemption and love. Ned Hall is coming of age in upstate NY and struggling to deal with his sometimes melancholy mother Jenny and his gambling, unpredictable father Sam.

NOBODY’S FOOL features Sully, a down on his luck underemployed handyman.  He is a character you will not soon forget!

STRAIGHT MAN has Russo showcasing the world of academia with his signature humor in the story of Hank Devereux, the Chair of the English Dept at a small rural college with looming budget cuts.

Russo’s work has also been made into films (Nobody’s Fool) and TV movies (Empire Falls).

~ Laura

Berg, Elizabeth – We are all Welcome Here, 2007

In  the summer of 1964, polio victim Paige Dunn delivers her baby from an iron lung, and ends up raising her daughter, Diana, alone after her husband divorces her. Able to move only her head, Paige requires round-the-clock nursing care that social services barely cover. Now 13, Diana has taken over the night shift to save them money, sharing her mother’s care with African-American day worker Peacie, who is protective of Paige and unforgiving of Diana’s adolescent yearning for freedom.

Childress, Mark – Crazy in Alabama, 1993

This is the story of two journeys — Lucille’s from Industry, Alabama, to Los Angeles, to star on The Beverly Hillbillies after murdering her husband and dropping off her six kids at her mothers and her 12-year-old nephew Peejoe’s, who is about to discover two kinds of southern justice, and what that means about the stories he’s heard and the people he knows.

Earley, Tony – Jim the Boy, 2000

Jim the Boy is the portrait of a young boy as he takes his first tentative steps toward adulthood in a tiny southern town earlier in this century. He plays baseball, attends a new school, and befriends a rival, all the while measuring himself against the high standards set by his mother and uncles and the long shadows cast by his dead father.

Goldberg, Myla – Bee Season, 2000

Eliza has no reason to believe she is anything but ordinary, especially after her teachers place her in the class for slow learners. Her father dotes on her older brother Aaron’s rabbinical ambitions. Her mother seems fully absorbed by her law career. When a spelling bee threatens to reaffirm her mediocrity, Eliza amazes everyone: she wins. Her newfound gift garners an invitation not only to the national competition, but to her father’s sacred study where a new dictionary beckons and offers a spiritual awakening.

Hoffman, Alice – The Story Sisters, 2009 

Elv, Meg and Claire are the three beautiful, black-haired Story sisters, who live on Long Island with their mother, Annie. Their close bond and happy lives are altered irrevocably one day when Elv and Claire share an encounter with a stranger that will change them forever. They swear themselves to secrecy and attempt to overcome the trauma as best they can.  Annie doesn’t understand Elv’s suffering and by the time she realizes what is happening it is too late.

Knowles, John – A Separate Peace, 1959

Scholarly Gene and athletic Finny are best friends at a prep school in the 1950s. Their physical resemblance and complementary personalities make them almost like doubles of each other. A tragic fall from a tree leads to shattered dreams for one boy and self-discovery and maturity for the other.

Lamb, Wally – She’s Come Undone, 1992

As a young teenager, Dolores was raped by her neighbor. She isolates herself and eats in order to cope. By the time she graduates high school, she weighs over 250 pounds and is miserable. After a failed attempt at going to college, Dolores ends up in a mental institution, where she learns how to cope somewhat with the outside world, but it is her experiences after leaving the institution that really allow her to become a full person.

Leffland, Ella – Rumors of Peace, 1979

A young girl named Suse comes of age during World War II in Northern California. As the novel progresses, she becomes more and more obsessed with the war. With the bombing of Hiroshima, however, there are still no answers to Suse’s questions about the brutality and irrationality of war, and she is left adrift in a sea of moral confusion.

Lynch, Jim – The Highest Tide, 2005

Miles O’Malley, a boy with a fascination for the sea, copes with the trials of growing up, his infatuation with the girl next door, bickering parents, and his fear that his life and his beloved Puget Sound are slipping away.

Maynard, Joyce – Labor Day, 2009

A story of love, sexual passion, painful adolescence, and devastating betrayal as seen through the eyes of a thirteen-year-old boy; and the man he later becomes, looking back on the events of a single long, hot, and life-altering weekend.

McDermott, Alice – Child of My Heart, 2002

A teenage girl, raised on the east end of Long Island among the country estates of the rich, reflects on her understanding of human nature during a seemingly idyllic summer spent with her eight-year-old cousin Daisy.

Searles, John – Boy Still Missing, 2001

When Dominick falls in love with his father’s mistress, his affair leads to an accidental death and the realization that his mother has hidden some dark secrets from him that may change his future.

Watson, Larry – Montana 1948, 1993

The events of a small-town summer forever alter 12-year-old David Hayden’s view of his family. It is a tale of love and courage, of power abused, and of the terrible choice between family loyalty and justice.

Wroblewski, David – The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, 2008

Born mute, speaking only in sign, Edgar Sawtelle leads an idyllic life with his parents on their farm in remote northern Wisconsin. But with the unexpected return of Claude, Edgar’s uncle, turmoil consumes the Sawtelles’ once peaceful home. When Edgar’s father dies suddenly, Claude insinuates himself into the life of the farm and into Edgar’s mother’s affections.

~ Valerie

Han’s first book shug (a 2009 Rebecca Caudill nominee) tells the story of twelve year old Annemarie (Shug) who doesn’t think much of herself.  Her sister is the beautiful one, her mom is glamorous and Shug believes she is too tall and too freckled for anyone to pay attention to her.  It doesn’t stop her from falling in love with her best friend Mark and wanting him to look at her different.  At a time when all the girls are starting to couple off, Shug feels left out while dealing with problems at home and a best friend who seems to be pulling away from her.

Belly lives for the summer and in the first book in Han’s Summer Trilogy is the summer i turned pretty, she is back to spend her summer with the boys who she always thought of as her brothers until everything starts to change.  After dealing with love, heartache and loss, the characters return in the sequel it’s not summer without you to face a summer without each other.  The final book in the trilogy, we’ll always have summer, will be out next summer to follow Belly and her boys into adulthood.

If you enjoy Han’s books, check out titles from Sarah Dessen, Catherine Murdock, and Rachel Vail.  ~ Denise

If you like science fiction and you’re new to this author a good starting point would be the first book in his Nights Dawn trilogy, called The Reality Dysfunction. In the series, humans all over the galaxy are seemingly being possessed by the dead and Hamilton’s characters struggle to survive and understand what is happening. 

Other science fiction writers I enjoy are Robert Charles Wilson, Alastair Reynolds, Dan Simmons, Vernor Vinge, and Stephen Baxter. 

~ Rachel

Some books of hers to try first:

Second Thyme Around (2004)  Thirty-year-old divorceé Perdita is happy in her solo life as an organic famer until her ex-husband Lucas resurfaces as chef at the nearby inn. Juggling an elderly friend’s health problems, her kitchen being commandeered for a cooking show, and possible flirtation with her ex, will everything come up roses for Perdita?

Restoring Grace (2006) Grace Soudley’s life is coming apart at the seams. Recently divorced, she is still living in the beautiful yet crumbling old house her godmother left her, but unless she can find a fortune, the house will disintegrate around her. Add in an artist-friend Ellie whose life is also unraveling and a disconcertingly handsome man, and you have a fresh, funny romance.

~ Maggie

Jimmy’s story is told through journal entries he’s required to write for English class, some of which his teacher will read and others that he asks her to skip based on their content.  Jimmy is a freshman in high school with few friends and is just trying to survive each day without getting picked on.  The teachers in his school are clueless to the bullying that occurs and Jimmy feels he can’t always share his problems with his parents.  He comes to terms with the fact that he does not want to be overweight for the rest of his life and begins to take steps to lose the weight and keep it off.   This doesn’t magically solve all of Jimmy’s problems but through his story we see a side of an overweight student that is often easily ignored. 

Additional YA books dealing with this issue:

Food, Girls and Other Things I Can’t Have by Allen Zadoff

Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L Going

Artichoke’s Heart by Suzanne Supplee

The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler

~ Denise

My favorite Sheri S. Tepper novel Beauty, twists the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty into one where Beauty manages to escape sleep and ends up time traveling through the ages from the 14 century to a future dystopia.  Another favorite, Plague of Angels (The Waters Rising is the sequel) talks about a young girl named Orphan who has grown up in an “archetypal village” unaware that a witch is seeking her out to make her into a guidance system for a space shuttle. Another excellent Tepper book is The Gate to Women’s Country, about a post-nuclear apocalypse community where the men and women live separately.  If you find that you enjoy Tepper you might give Octavia Butler or Margaret Atwood’s science fiction a try.  ~ Rachel

Kate Brian has written other books, mostly for the teen set.  I haven’t read these yet (but I really want to!)—Lucky T, Sweet 16 and Fake Boyfriend are some of her non-series books.  She also spun-off the Private series with the character Ariana Osgood into its own series called Privilege (those are also really good!).  If you can’t tell by now, I really like series.  They offer familiar characters, and are really fun and enjoyable.  Some series I highly recommend are Gossip Girl and its spinoff, It Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar; Au Pairs by Melissa de la Cruz; The Insiders and Inside Girl series (allegedly by a male author) J. Minter; and my new favorite series, The Luxe, by Ana Godbersen.  FYI: one way to keep up with all these series is by registering on www.fictfact.com.  It will tell you what order the books are in, and if any new titles are due out. ~ Lori

Burgess introduces us to a funny, smart, introspective and compelling young man.  The opening scene is set in Jackson Height’s Travers Park, as 19 year old Alfredo and his alopecia suffering best friend conduct a business meeting—of sorts.  As they discuss the possibility of robbing a drug dealer, Alfredo absorbs and savors the scenery; two old men playing checkers, a little boy standing strangely calm with his head stuck in the fence, and two little Indian girls walking with their bounty from the ice cream truck.  It disturbs him when he calls out to make casual conversation with the girls that they, rightly so, view him as a menace.  But Alfredo’s brother is about to be released from prison, and Alfredo needs to make him an offering, an appeasement. 

His brother Jose, aka Tariq, likely wouldn’t have gone to jail, except that Alfredo hyperventilated two years ago, the night of another robbery…Alfredo hates stealing.  And while Tariq has been locked up, Alfredo has hooked up with Tariq’s former girlfriend.  She’s now seven months pregnant with Alfredo’s baby.  I’m afraid Alfredo has a messy weekend ahead of him!

Matt Burgess will take you to the heart of Queens with full bodied, but never burdensome descriptions.  You’ll find yourself caring for Alfredo, even while you cringe at his actions.  Our recommendation of NPR’s interview with Matt Burgess comes with a spoiler alert, so you may want to read it after you read the book. 

Read Matt Burgess’ NPR interview here:  ‘Dogfight’ Author Captures Grit, Soul Of Queens, N.Y. : NPR

~ Mary Lou