Megan recommends: Lost in Place

This is an oldie but a goodie. Mark Salzman has written quite a few novels, but I like his memoir of growing up in suburban Connecticut in the 1970s. Lost in Place: Growing Up Absurd in Suburbia chronicles his childhood as an unconventional kid in a conventional family with humor and grace. His attempts to adopt the lifestyle of a Zen monk are particularly funny.

In Memory - Bill Evans, Jazz Pianist

Bill Evans, who died 30 years ago this week at the age of 51, was a master of harmonies, chords, pedaling, phrasing and dynamics. Evans' collaboration with Miles Davis on the timeless album "Kind of Blue" is an example of his techniques. A mentor to countless musicians who came after him including Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett, Evans too early death was an unimaginable loss to the world of music. His last recorded piece on September 9, 1980, was "My Romance" by Rodgers and Hart. Browse our collection of Evans' music on CD in our Media Room on the first floor.

Looking for action? Rob says to try Andy McNab

Enter Nick Stone. He's not quite on the same level as Jack Ryan, Gabriel Allon or Jason Bourne, but after you've wrung all the action out of Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum and Daniel Silva, you might want to give Nick a look. He's ex- SAS and he's smart, crude, wry and more than a little unhappy with his higher-ups. Nick Stone is the creation of Andy McNab, an author who knows the subject well, having been in the SAS himself and participated in missions all over the world. In the 13 Nick Stone novels, McNab has his alter-ego fighting Al Quaeda, the IRA, the Russian mafia, Saddam Hussein and other assorted terrorists. Start at the beginning with Remote Control, when Stone was still under SAS orders. In the later books, he goes independent, accepting assignments from a variety of intelligence services. What McNab's novels have going for them is first-person knowledge of special ops detail, the disgruntled grunt's eye view of the world, an imperfect hero and lots of action.

Sue Recommends The Postcard Killers by Patterson and Marklund

James Patterson is one of the most prolific authors today. Last year he earned $70 million to become the world's highest paid author (according to Forbes) surpassing both J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter) and Stephanie Meyer (Twilight). This is all made possible by his teaming up with other authors, and his newest release, The Postcard Killers, falls in this category.

Liza Marklund, a bestselling author in Sweden, was a good choice for turning out an action-packed, will-they-ever-solve-the-mystery thriller. The story takes place in multiple locations in Europe where young couples are being killed in their hotel rooms while on vacation. The killers send a calling card, a postcard, to alert authorities that they will kill in their town. The authorities are puzzled by the staged placement of the victims that resemble well known art. Why take the time to do this?

It takes an unknown journalist and the father of one of the victims (who just happens to be a New York detective) to keep the investigation going and try to find an end to the killings and the father's obsessive grief. The plot and action keep you reading to find out who wins--the killers or their pursuers. One of Patterson's better thrillers.

Warning: not for those who do not want graphic descriptions of the murder scene. SH

Mike Suggests: Drood

Drood by Dan Simmons, read by Simon Prebble

I ended up listening to the audio presentation of this stunning historical literary mystery because I read Deb's post on our other blog about the reader, Simon Prebble, who won the "Voice of Choice" from the publication Booklist. I can't say enough good things about Drood--its pacing, plot, and characters were all masterfully written that I'll be sure to check out other Dan Simmons books. Drood is a tale full of mystery and madness, where Dickens and his fellow author (and collaborator) Wilkie Collins are drawn into the search for a shadowy and violent master of mesmerism known only as Drood. The reading by Simon Prebble was flat-out fantastic--he made my hair stand on end at the end as Wilkie Collins is finishing his confession, and made Collins' madness so palpable that I was absolutely thrilled.

Keeping the Feast

I enjoyed Paula Butturini's first-person account of living with a loved one who has severe depression as her portrayal of an excruciatingly painful disease is written with humor, grace and a remarkably keen sense of empathy and understanding. After sustaining a near-fatal gunshot wound while covering the collapse of Romania's communist regime in the 80's, her husband, New York Times correspondent John Tagliabue slides into a severe depression reminiscent of the author's mother's descent years before which resulted in her suicide. This inspiring memoir of love, family, food, friends and healing set against the background of their adopted home in and around Rome, Italy is recommended for all. -DB

Megan recommends: How I Became a Famous Novelist

How I Became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely

Why should you read this book? Because it is just really, really funny. Post-college angst and poverty, literary pretensions, evil ex-girlfriends -- this book has it all. Pete Tarslaw, our hero, is a millennial slacker who wants to make a lot of money without working too hard. He decides to write the "best-sellingest best seller of all time." Follow him from Boston to New York to a writer's workshop in Montana to Hollywood and laugh all along the way.

maf