Read Something: Gripping

“If it’s not gripping you, you’re reading the wrong book.”  
– Nick Hornby

This week we Read Something gripping. What makes a book gripping is in the eye of the beholder. Some readers are gripped by a fast-paced covert-ops thriller with a high body count; others would use gripping to describe a well-realized, vivid work of history or a quietly intense coming of age memoir. That said, some authors have a special knack for grabbing us right away, and not letting go. Finding it hard to get going on a book? Check out one of these gripping reads:

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The Year’s Best Crime Writing: The 2019 Edgar Awards

Pulitzers, Bookers, Nobels – bah! For crime fiction fans it’s all about the Edgars. Last night the winners in several categories of crime and thriller books were announced at the Mystery Writers of America’s annual Edgar Awards ceremony: here’s a full list of these titles in our catalog, including non-fiction, books for children and teens, and the Mary Higgins Clark Awards for less violent novels with strong heroines.

As for the felonious Best In Show, we give you the nominees for the category of Best Novel:

Spring into Suspense with these Thrilling Tales!

This Spring, Thrilling Tales – our regular lunch hour Story Time for Grown Ups – will transport you from the psychoanalyst’s couch to the funeral parlor, from suburbia to death row, from the swamp to a magical realm where dragons fly overhead. Join us, won’t you? Admission is free, and brown bag lunches are welcome! All readings begin at 12:05 in the Central Library’s Microsoft Auditorium, and are finished well before 1 p.m.

Monday, March 11: The Other Side of the Wall, by Stanley Ellin. Someone had better call the police: Dr. Schwimmer and his patient Albert are about to have a major breakthrough. Also, The Great Silence by Ted Chiang. The humans look to the stars for non-human intelligence, but we parrots are right here. Talk to us!

Monday, March 25: Homicide House, by Day Keene. He married her for her money, but

Thrilling Tales is Off to the Races!

This summer, Thrilling Tales (the Library’s Story Time for Grown Ups) takes listeners off to the races with a pair of horse racing tales,  and then out into the rose garden with Shirley Jackson to dig into dark underside suburbia, before heading to the seashore to grapple with aliens from another world, and from the briny deep! Come join us this August and September for live readings suspenseful and strange, either at noon (bring along some lunch), or at 7 p.m. with Thrilling Tales After Dark! All story times are under an hour, and are absolutely free. Here’s what’s coming up:

Le Guin, Allende, Bradbury & More, This Spring at Thrilling Tales!

This Spring Thrilling Tales, the library’s popular story time for grown ups, is branching out with new monthly evening events in addition to our regular lunch hour gatherings. Now in its 15th year, the program celebrates the joy of story with live readings of compelling, intriguing, wondrous and suspenseful stories. Here’s what’s coming up in the months ahead.