MnPALS Library Blogs

Books of the day

MSU Moorhead Library News - June 16, 2013 - 9:50pm

The magicians : a novel by Lev Grossman
As a senior in high school Quentin Coldwater became preoccupied with a series of fantasy novels he read as a child, set in a magical land called Fillory. After graduating from college and being admitted into a highly exclusive, secret society of magic in upstate New York, he makes a stunning discovery: Fillory is real. But the land of Quentin’s fantasies turns out to be much darker and more dangerous than he could have imagined for his childhood dream becomes a nightmare with a shocking truth at its heart.

The blind side : evolution of a game by Michael Lewis
Follows one young man from his impoverished childhood with a crack-addicted mother, through his discovery of the sport of football, to his rise to become one of the most successful, highly-paid players in the NFL

I.O.U. : why everyone owes everyone and no one can pay by John Lanchester
For most people, the reasons for the sudden collapse of our economy still remain obscure. I.O.U. is the story of how we came to experience such a complete financial disaster, starting with the magical proliferation of credit that led to an explosion of lending on the global and local landscapes of banking and finance. Viewing the crisis through the lens of politics, culture, and contemporary history – from the invention and widespread misuse of financial instruments to the culpability of subprime mortgages – Lanchester deftly draws conclusions on the limitations of financial and governmental regulation, capitalism’s deepest flaw, and most important, on the plain and simple facts of human nature where cash is concerned. With newly updated, superbly written reportage, Lanchester delivers a shrewd perspective and a digestible, comprehensive analysis that connects the dots for expert and casual reader alike. Part economic primer, part fiscal and historical analysis, I.O.U. is an eye-opener of a book.

The worst hard time : the untold story of those who survived the great American dust bowl by Timothy Egan
“The dust storms that terrorized America’s High Plains in the darkest years of the Depression were like nothing ever seen before or since, and the stories of the people that held on have never been fully told. Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist and author Timothy Egan follows a half-dozen families and their communities through the rise and fall of the region, going from sod homes to new framed houses to huddling in basements with the windows sealed by damp sheets in a futile effort to keep the dust out. He follows their desperate attempts to carry on through blinding black blizzards, crop failure, and the deaths of loved ones. Drawing on the voices of those who stayed and survived – those who, now in their eighties and nineties, will soon carry their memories to the grave – Egan tells a story of endurance and heroism against the backdrop of the Great Depression.”

Open secrets : stories by Alice Munro
“Quietly brilliant, effortless in their span of time and generations, these stories often encompass moments of total emotional devastation.” “She is our Chekhov,” said Cynthia Ozick of Munro.