Library Staff Recommendations

From Vicki Lenz, Circulation Supervisor

Mysteries are always fun to read, and they’re even more fun when their settings are familiar. Kathleen Anne Barrett, a Milwaukee native, has a mystery series with titles like Milwaukee Winters Can Be Murder, and Milwaukee Summers Can Be Deadly. Kathryn Buchen is a librarian at the Menasha Public Library who is writing the Rhiannon Nolan mystery series. The first one in the series is Death in Chintz, which takes place in New Belgium, a fictional small town on the shores of Lake Michigan. Michael Craft lives in Kenosha. One of his mystery series features Mark Manning and takes place in southeastern Wisconsin. Victoria Houston lives in northern Wisconsin and writes the Loon Lake Fishing mystery series. The first in the series is Dead Creek. Mary Logue of Stockholm recently received an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Wisconsin Library Association’s Literary Awards Committee for her mystery Bone Harvest. Blood Country is the first in her Claire Watkins series, which takes place in the western part of the state. P. J. Tracy is a best-selling mother/daughter writing team. Their mystery novel Monkeewrench begins with a murder in the fictional Calumetville, Wisconsin.

From Meg Shriver, Reference and Information Services Supervisor

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven Levitt. This book is really a fun read in spite of the weird title. Mr. Levitt is a professor at the University of Chicago, and a winner of the John Bates Clark Medal, awarded by the American Economic Association every two years to the best economist under 40. Freakonomics has no incomprehensive facts, figures or graphs --- just many interesting questions. Questions such as, “can a child’s name predict future success?” or “what do school teachers and sumo wrestlers have in common”, or “what makes a perfect parent? Mr. Levitt’s uses the analytical tools of economics to supply surprising answers that often defy the conventional wisdom. Miss Manners Guide To Excruciatingly Correct Behavior by Judith Martin. This guide to manners is “freshly updated” rather then revised. At 858 pages, it is best to randomly dip into this title and enjoy Judith Martins’ gentle instruction and pithy comments. The book contains etiquette basics for such modern dilemmas as dealing with intrusive cell phones, handling guests who can't commit, and determining when email is socially acceptable. Judith Martin’s trademark wit make this lively and entertaining reading while you are being educated and sometimes reprimanded.