WOMEN’S CREATIVE WRITING GROUP
Beginning and experienced writers welcome.
Leaders: Louise Krug, MFA
Andy Anderegg, MFA Candidate
Wednesday evenings: 7-9:00PM
For more information call: 785-393-1931
or email: louiselynnkrug@gmail.com
Session fee
It seems that every six months we hear about a new book that has been dubbed the “Great American Novel.” Such occasions have become so commonplace that the bestowal is immediately filed under hyperbole. There are, however, a few novels that can actually hold the water of such an accolade. One of 
the original, and most-cited of the Great American Novels is MOBY-DICK. The Johnson County Library is conducting a MOBY-DICK book club that takes place in January, February and March. Online discussions will be held about the book.
To kick off the event, Melville expert Dr. Eliabeth Shultz, Professor emeritus of English at University of Kansas, will discuss why MOBY-DICK is such a whale of a book in the American canon. This Information about registering the event and the online discussion follow the Johnson County Library’s synopsis of the event below. Get registered now, the event takes place on Sunday!
Special Presentation: Why Moby-Dick is Still the Great American Novel
Presenter: Dr. Elizabeth Schultz
Date: Sunday, January 24, 2010
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: Central Resource Library 9875 W. 87th Street in Overland Park (913) 495-2400
Renowned Melville expert Dr. Elizabeth Schultz discusses why Moby-Dick, published in 1851, remains the great American novel. This program will kick-off the Library’s all-online Moby-Dick book discussion and will be followed by a hands-on tutorial on how to easily join and participate in the online discussion occurring Jan. 3 through March 31, 2010. Beth Schultz lives in Lawrence and is a former professor (Melville expert) at the University of Kansas. She will be doing an online discussion about MOBY-DICK through the Johnson County Library.
Register for Dr. Schultz’s discussion here
The MOBY-DICK discussion blog can be found here
Hardcover fiction is 20% off through January 1
This snow storm that has come barreling through the Midwest is trying to tell you something — it’s the perfect time to get a good novel to read. Celebrate the official beginning of Reading Season (that’s what we call winter around here) by checking out some of the acclaimed and award-winning fiction from 2009.
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LACUNA by Barbara Kingsolver ($26.99). Kingsolver’s first novel since The Poisonwood Bible follows the life of Harrison William Shepherd from Mexico to North Carolina to Washington D.C. Shepherd is the son of a failed marriage between an American man and Mexican woman. He spends his younger days working in the household of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, where he also encounters Leon Trotsky. Shepherd eventually moves to Asheville, N.C., where he has a successful career as a writer before he is investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee. Kingsolver pulls the reader into these events intimately by using letters, journal entries and newspaper clippings as narration devices.
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HALF BROKE HORSES by Jeannette Walls ($26.00). This “true-life novel” tells the story of Walls’s grandmother, Lily Casey Smith, who led an amazing, rough-and-tumble life in the southwest and midwest. Her resume included bootlegger, teacher, rodeo rider, marriage to a bigamist, and mother. Walls brings the same storytelling that made The Glass Castle so engrossing to readers in yet another amazing story from her family.
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A GATE AT THE STAIRS by Lorrie Moore ($25.95). Tassie Keltjin is a 20 year-old student attending a Midwestern college who becomes the nanny of a recently-adopted child in this coming-of-age novel set in the post-9/11 world. Publisher’s Weekly says of the book, “Moore’s graceful prose considers serious emotional and political issues with low-key clarity and poignancy.”
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WOLF HALL by Hilary Mantel ($27.00). Mantel’s novel, winner of the 2009 Man Booker prize is set in the 1520’s court of Henry VIII. The story chronicles the King’s desire for a male heir, his divorce from Catherine of Aragon and subsequent marriage to Anne Boylen, and the installation of himself as the head of a new church, the Church of England. Told through the voice of Thomas Cromwell, the Man Booker Prize committee said of the book, “It probes the mysteries of power by examining and describing the meticulous dealings in Henry VIII’s court, revealing in thrilling prose how politics and history is made by men and women.”
This is one of the most satisfying, involving books I’ve ever read. What’s it about? Well – entertainment, addiction, the commercialization of culture, family relationships, tennis, overconsumption, undercover agents, conspiracies, and wheelchair-bound Quebec-ian separatist assassins. It is an overstuffed, hyper-analyzed, hyperbolized view of an alternate reality United States that is also alarmingly conceivable. It is about finding a way to function in modern society, whether it is from the point of view of student-athlete prodigies, recovering addicts, grieving family members, or disillusioned political idealists.
Wallace had an uncanny ability to truly empathize with any walk of life. His style is his own in both inventiveness and plot dissemination. The endnotes may seem crazy and pretentious at first, but they become important to the story’s rhythm and flow.
As soon as I finished I had the urge to pick it up and start it again. This is a great book take into hibernation with you during wintertime.
For those with love of language, intricately detailed characters, humorous observations and dialogue, and ambitious scope. (Paperback, $17.99) Recommended by Judd
In the field of psychology, few are held at the level of respect and awe as Carl Jung. His writings and ideas have impacted the way we as humans view our minds and our world as much as perhaps any person in the 20th Century. Recently, Jung’s most personal work, known as THE RED BOOK, was released after being sealed away in a Swiss bank vault for 25 years. The book was a personal documentation, in text andillustration, of sometimes psychedelic, sometimes ominous dreams and fantasies experienced by Jung. Though he thought it too personal to publish during his life, his family recently allowed for translation and publication of the long-mythologized project.
The Raven has a copy of THE RED BOOK, which we are offering for 20% off the cover price of $195.00. While it may seem a hefty price, this is an amazing book, full of Jung’s colorful renderings of his visions to illuminate the text. The Rubin Museum of Art in New York City is currently displaying the original book. 
The New York Times Magazine recently had a lengthy article about the book. You can listen to an NPR story about the book and its journey to publication here, and finally, watch the trailer created for the publication of this long-awaited treasure.
Local 
author John C. Ralston (and employee at The Raven) is celebrating the release of his young adult novel, THE SECRET OF INVISIBILITY. Published by the Kansas City Star, the story takes place in Lawrence and includes illustrations. You can pick up your copy at The Raven ($9.95).
John will be signing copies this Sunday, December 20, from 2-4PM. Stop in and pick up a personalized copy of this book — it’s the perfect time to get a great gift for the holiday season!
THE SECRET OF INVISIBILITY:
Having just moved to Lawrence, Kansas, ten-year-old Thomas Wax finds a mysterious scroll in his new house—a house once owned by an explorer. Decoding the scroll leads to the secret of invisibility. How is that possible? It’s ridiculously easy, if you’re a reader.
Thomas and his new friend Fred Estre have a great time sneaking around invisible. They scare his sister at a slumber party, sneak into a life drawing class, and learn magic tricks from a strange magician. But who is stealing jewels all over town in broad daylight? Why is even the underworld quaking in its boots? Are Thomas and Fred the thieves? Or is it all just a big misunderstanding?
When they realize that someone’s on their trail—someone dangerous, someone invisible—can they keep themselves hidden long enough to save the town… and themselves?
Drakkar Sauna will be performing an intimate performance at The Raven on Saturday, December 19th at 8pm (only 30 tickets will be sold). The band’s songs sound as though they come from an old, musty place, perhaps recently unrooted from the soil. See the duo perform amid the wonderful smell of unturned book pages.
Get your tickets at The Raven ($10.00) and pick up a copy of THE MOON FOR ITS CITIZENS, the debut book recently released by Drakkar Sauna’s Wallace Cochran.
CHASING VERMEER by Blue Balliet. $7.99. This is the first of three in a series. The book mixes mystery, puzzles, possibilities, and art as outsiders Petra and Calder become friends while trying to find a missing Vermeer painting. Lots of excitement and challenge — really entices the reader to think about the Big Questions. Ages 9 - 14. Female and male protagonists. Heidi recommends.
HIS DARK MATERIALS series by Philip Pullman. $7.50. Broken into three novels beginning with THE GOLDEN COMPASS, this series delves into fantasy with a twist, showing the devolution of the Roman Catholic Church into a repressive political system. These books will keep even adults up ‘til the wee hours.
THE OUTSIDERS by S.E. Hinton. $9.99. This classic story about the power and loyalties of teen street gangs has held up well with the passage of time. Kelly recommends.
ASTONISHING LIFE OF OCTAVIAN NOTHING series by M.T. Anderson. Winner of the National Book Award for Children, this first volume in a series of historical cliffhangers will appeal to the Gothic-loving child in your life. It’s full of creepy characters, ominous experiments, and intrigue. Kelly recommends.
Books by David Sedaris and Sarah Vowell. You can’t go wrong giving a teen books by America’s foremost humorists. You’ll seem so cool. Kelly recommends.
THE EAR, THE EYE, AND THE ARM by Nancy Farmer. $6.99. This Newberry Honor Book is set in Zimbabwe in the year 2194. The military ruler’s 13-year-old son and his younger brother and sister leave their technologically over-controlled home and find themselves on a series of perilous adventures.
For the teen boy, you might try the edgy mystery novels of Jim Thomspon, Dashell Hammett and even the Sherlock Holmes stories of Arthur Conan Doyle. Kelly recommends
WHERE THE LILIES BLOOM by Vera and Bill Cleaver. $5.99 Strong and wise beyond her years, fourteen-year-old Mary Call Luther must prevent her recently fatherless family from being shipped off to the country orphanage, all while going to school and keeping the family’s wild crafting operation afloat. Kelly recommends.
A MEMBER OF THE WEDDING by Carson McCullers. $7.95. A bittersweet coming-of-age tale by one of America’s best-known Southern writers. Kelly recommends.
SUMMER OF MY GERMAN SOLDIER by Bette Greene. $6.99 A sweet romance where a young Jewish girl shelters an escaped Nazi POW. Kelly recommends.