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Head to the Brook Park branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library on Nov. 10 for a chance to meet area children's author Mary Lu Stary of Brook Park.


She'll be on hand at 11 a.m. to sign copies of her new children's book "Sage, the Little Brown Pony: A Grandma's Barnyard Tale."


According to a  new release: "Sage is a frightened pony looking for her father who has mysteriously disappeared. Join her on her search as she seeks the help of the animals in the barnyard. Meet Buzzy, Quackers, and Puddles, and learn how friends can make a difference when there's a problem in your life."


Check out the book's trailer:






 See you in the stacks!

 Tricia Ambrose l @triciaambrose

This month's LitSoup question:

What's your favorite thriller/mystery/true crime book?

Looking for recommendations for some Halloween reading?

Some responses from The News-Herald newsroom:

Nicole Franz:

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” has so many unexpected twists and turns, and you don’t really know who the villain is until the end.

Jeffrey L. Frischkorn:

“Eye of the Needle” by Ken Follett. Made into a 1981 movie that starred Donald Sutherland.

Larece Galer:

“Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders” by Vincent Bugliosi was a brutal telling of the Manson case. This is the only book I have ever read that kept me awake. The author Vincent Bugliosi was the prosecutor that put Manson away and his insights in the book were frightening.
The second choice would have to be Patricia Cornwell’s “Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper-Case Closed.” The writer gives the reader facts that support her choice of who Jack the Ripper really was.

Elizabeth Lundblad:

“The Halloween Tree” by Ray Bradbury.
First published in 1972, the novel tells the story of eight friends who discover a ninth friend, Pipkin, has been taken by a dark force and must go on an adventure to save him. The group travels through myriad cultures, including Egypt, Rome, Greece, France and Mexico, and learn about how these cultures, ancient and modern, view what we call Halloween. In 1993 a full-length animated film adaption was released. Bradbury wrote the screenplay and provided the narration. The movie differs from the novel, cutting the number of friends to four and limits the number of cultures explored. Also in the movie, Leonard Nimoy voices the spooky character of Mr. Moundshroud, who leads the children on their journey. Both versions of the story, in print and on film, are worthy of attention.

Cheryl Sadler:

Thrillers/mysteries/true crime usually aren't at the top of my reading list, but I second Nicole's choice of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." The book started out slowly, but then the mystery really grabbed me, and I ended up staying up until morning to finish it.

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This post is part of a LitSoup, a monthly feature on The Book Club compiled of contributions from the newsroom and the Twitterverse. Send an email or tweet with your suggestions for future LitSoup topics.

-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

A big thank you to all those who came to Wednesday's NH Book Club Book Sale.
It was such a hit, we're already talking about when to host another one. (It will likely be in February or March. But we'll keep you posted here.)
A special thanks to the shopper who shared her love of Terry Pratchett. I'll be headed to the library to check him out

We raised more than $400 that will put newspapers in the classroom as a teaching tool for local educators.
To learn more about our Newspapers in Education program, contact Stacey Mastascusa.

See you in the stacks!

- Tricia Ambrose   l  @triciaambrose

Cleveland Public Library and LAND studio are looking for artists to create projects for the library's Eastman Reading Garden, which is located between the downtown Main Building and Louis Stokes Wing. Some information from land-studio.org:

About the Competition

...
2013 Theme
Throughout Cleveland’s history, people have dreamed big, offering unique depictions of what a cityscape could contain. This ambitious visioning has produced a range of concepts, big and small, fantastic and far-fetched, that could redefine Cleveland’s landscape. From attaching ferris wheels to bridges to erecting a giant Superman across the Cuyahoga, Clevelanders have long conveyed fearlessness and creativity in their dreams.

For the 2013 See Also installation, we are asking artists to think BIG. In the spirit of thinking big for our city, Cleveland Public Library and LAND studio challenge artists to design thoughtful, wacky, novel or whimsical concepts for a jury of local stakeholders to consider for installation in the Eastman Reading Garden. Artists are encouraged to develop concepts that deal with the garden space specifically, or present ideas for sites throughout the city at the scale of the garden.

One or more artists will be selected to create an installation for the garden that showcases their big dreams for a small space.

Find more information — including eligibility, location, requirements, awards, deadlines and budget — at See Also: 2013 Call for Artists.


-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

If you like Batman, be sure to come to The News-Herald next week for a chat with Chris Lambert, local comics expert and author. Details in the image below:

Thank goodness there's a book sale at Euclid Public Library this weekend.

My shelves at home are looking a little bare since I donated some volumes to The NHBookClub's upcoming book sale to benefit The News-Herald's Newspapers in Education program.

NIE is a program that puts newspapers in the classroom, providing educators with an additional resource for teaching social studies, math, science, history and more. During the 2011-12 school year, 132 area teachers took advantage of the program - at all grade levels and including at-risk youth programs and adult basic education classes. That's according to our NIE coordinator Stacey Mastascusa.

We raise funds to cover 75 percent of the cost of classroom newspapers and all of the costs of curriculum guides, educational supplements, teacher guides and teacher workshops. Our business partners and vacationing subscribers provide the rest of the funding.

We're always trying to think of new ways to raise those needed funds. So when our Circulation Director Tom Pottorff suggested we host a book sale - a concept that had proven successful elsewhere - we said, count us in.

The timing worked out great.



We've been in the midst of reorganizing space in our newsroom to open areas for our media lab members to work and for those in the community to be able to access our archives.

The massive cleanup left us with some materials we no longer use/have space to house.

Encyclopedias or media guides anyone?

The sale will run from noon to 7 p.m. Oct. 10 at The News-Herald, 7085 Mentor Ave., Willoughby.

I'm looking forward to meeting fellow book lovers, so please say hi, and share your favorite reads while you're browsing, I'm always on the prowl for suggestions.

 - Tricia Ambrose  l  @triciaambrose  l  tambrose@news-herald.com

In case there was any doubt, let me admit upfront that I am not in the target audience for Dan Krokos' "False Memory."
But I don't believe that Young Adult fiction should be limited to the young. After all, shouldn't reading be at least partly about expanding your worldview?

Which is not to say I didn't enjoy False Memory, I did. In case anyone thought I was between the ages of 12 and 18, I wanted to set the record straight. Ha!

"False Memory" has a lot going for it right from its opening. Appealing teen characters. Thriller plot. Set in Cleveland.
What more could a Northeast Ohio reader ask for?

Meet Miranda North, she's in the food court at a mall. That's about all she knows when the story opens. Things quickly spiral out of control when she tries to unravel the mystery of her identity. She panics. People around her die.She doesn't really want to trust the teen boy who comes to her aid, but what choice does she have?

Soon she - and we - learn that both teens are part of a group specially trained to use their mental powers to destroy an entire city.
And that's only the beginning.

Krokos moves the action along at a fast pace, while raising questions about the nature of memory, identity and family.

As Miranda notes when she begins to remember snippets of her past:

"When I wake, I feel empty and full at the same time; the memories fade but remain inside me. The little glimpse of my past leaves me wanting more.
So I grab at one again, the last memory in the diner. I'm there in the booth, but I can't remember how I felt."

Memory is about much more than knowing you were someplace. It's about recalling the smells and sounds and how you felt when you were there. Take that away and are you you?



 Maybe I'll learn more in the next chronicle of Miranda's journey.

Maybe you could learn more from Krokos himself.

He'll be at the Bouchercon Mystery Convention in Cleveland Oct. 4- 7.

And he'll be at Barnes & Noble, 28801 Chagrin Blvd., Woodmere at 11:30 a.m. Oct. 6.

See you in the stacks!

-  Tricia Ambrose   l  @TriciaAmbrose  l  tambrose@news-herald.com

We're having a book sale Oct. 10 to benefit Newspapers in Education, which brings newspapers into the classroom as a learning tool, engaging students and teachers in discussions of real-life issues and events. Check out the image below for details: