Persistance plus magic pays off for authors

A wise author, Rina Singh, once said: 'A book ‘happens' when you (the author) add perseverance to an idea and brush it with a bit of magic.” The Cedar Rapids Public Library current staff picks selections are proof positive of the payoff when persistence meets magic. Great recommendations for enchanting late-summer reads, these materials have compelling stories and diverse styles, and are immersive and illuminating.

'I liked myths. They weren't adult stories and they weren't children's stories. They were better than that. They just were.” - Narrator, 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane”

Staff member Victoria Fernandez suggests Neil Gaiman's 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane.” She cites it as 'a story of myth, terror and wonder. The book begins when a man (the narrator) returns to his childhood home for a funeral and memories of his youth come flooding back as he sits by his neighbor's pond, one he once referred to as an ‘ocean.' He recollects his lonely childhood and how he reveled in the words and world of books he read more than any real friends, until he met magical Hempstocks, and Lettie, his sole redeemer who vowed to be his protector. He also recalls a lodger unleashing terrible magic – a seductress named Ursula Monkton who takes on many forms and torments the boy by manipulating his family. A splendid read for anyone who remembers how vivid and distorted childhood memories can be, and for anyone who knows childhood imagination, and the utter powerlessness children often have in a family. ‘Ocean' is a fantastically woven tale that is part fantasy, part reality, and, of course, part myth,” Fernandez says.

Karen Thompson Walker's 'The Age of Miracles” is staffer Kristine Gift's recommendation. Gift describes the New York Times bestseller as a ''coming-of-age' tale of tumultuous change. Earth's rotation has inexplicably slowed and no one knows how to fix it. Real-world consequences of this change, as well as effects of the slowing on the narrator Julia's life, are fascinating and sometimes all too real. As a reader, you will be simultaneously imagining an impossible future of a literally slower world while recalling emotional betrayals and victories of adolescence. A great selection for readers young and old,” Gift notes.

Like so many library-goers, Cedar Rapids Public Library Shelver Barbara Bernier was in search of a new book and discovered author Anna Quindlen's 'Still Life with Breadcrumbs.”

Barbara says, 'Once begun, I picked it up any chance I got. Quindlen has a wonderful writing style, comfortable and familiar - like sitting with a friend. I raced through 'Still Life” then searched for another, choosing ‘Every Last One.' This work is comfortable but with an edge. The reader absolutely knows something is going to happen but the story goes on and on, day to day, until some hundred pages in when the ‘something' that happens is so shocking and huge that it stayed with me all day. I find it remarkable that the author could so easily lead the reader along and then wham them broadside so unexpectedly. I will definitely look for another of her books, she states.”

Reference Librarian Erin Horst's staff pick is a magazine with a wonderful blend of stories, beautiful photography, essays, recipes, activities, and tips for entertaining. 'Kinfolk Magazine” often highlights small businesses in big cities and interviews of people passionate about their craft. 'It's a great magazine to spend a weekend reading, finding new ideas and places off the beaten path.”

For more information about CRPL Staff Picks and library programs visit www.CRlibrary.org

'Melia Tatman is a librarian at the Cedar Rapids Public Library.