For Adults Only...

Linn Area Reads 2011

Hi all! If you haven't yet heard, we have announced our selection for this year's Linn Area Reads. It is Irreplaceable by Stephen Lovely.

In addition to this year's selection, we have several corresponding programs that will provide insight and a personal touch:

* Book Discussion: Thursday, March 24th, 7pm at Barnes and Noble Booksellers.

* Iowa Donor Network and Friends: Saturday, April 2nd, 2pm at Marion Public Library.

* Meet the Author: Tuesday, April 19th at Ballantyne Auditorium on the Kirkwood Community College campus.

For more information on the programs being presented visit the Metro Library Network's website at: www.metrolibrarynetwork.org



From his website (http://www.stephenlovely.com/index.html), Mr. Lovely tells more about his book:
"Alex Voormann is an intense, cerebral thirty year-old whose life has been derailed by his wife's sudden death. Alex lives in Athens, Iowa, a university town. Alex's wife, Isabel, was killed in a bicycle accident a year before the novel's action begins. Isabel's heart was transplanted to a vigorous, willful woman named Janet Corcoran who teaches art at a predominantly-Mexican high school in Chicago. Guilt about Isabel's death and concern for Isabel's family have driven her to get in touch with Alex and with Isabel's mother, Bernice, who also lives in Athens. Alex regards Janet as a bizarre outgrowth of his tragedy, and doesn't want anything to do with her. Bernice, long-divorced and estranged from her son, is interested in getting to know Janet and her family. Bernice and Alex have become close companions since Isabel's death, but their divergent responses to Janet's overtures threaten to divide them. They're also disturbed by a local blues musician named Jasper who was driving the truck that killed Isabel, and who has been stalking Alex, attempting to befriend him. Like Janet, Jasper seeks absolution and assurance of Alex's well being. Also, he knows Isabel's heart was transplanted, and wants to find out who got it. He's devastated by the knowledge that he destroyed a life but attracted to the idea that he was partially responsible for saving another.

Irreplaceable is the story of what happens next — not only to Alex but within the concentric circles of family that spiral outward from him and from Janet."

We are loved...

Normally I hate Valentine's Day. It irritates me to no end. But...I may have to make an exception today. One of our lovely patrons brought us a dozen roses.





The card said "To the BEST library staff in the world." I think these roses may mean more to me than any my boyfriend could have gotten me! :)