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Staff Picks: All

The Wind Through the Keyhole: A Dark Tower Novel
By Stephen King
Reviewed by abarritt on Monday, May 14, 2012

Can't get enough of Midworld, Roland Deschain and his ka-tet? Then you will find this a welcome addition to the Dark Tower series canon. Set between Wizard and Glass and Wolves of the Calla, Roland tells two stories to his band of gunslingers, Susannah, Eddie, Jake and Oy the billy-bumbler.

Stalker
By Andrei Tarkovsky
Reviewed by wasimescu on Monday, May 14, 2012

Surely one of the most enigmatic films ever made, Stalker depicts the journey of three men into the Zone, a quarantined area ungoverned by the ordinary laws of physics.  They are searching for the Room, a place said to fulfill the innermost desires of those who enter it.

Love in a nutshell
By Evanovich, Janet
Reviewed by kcarrier on Tuesday, May 8, 2012

It's driving me nuts.

This new romantic mystery by Janet Evanovich, co-written with Dorien Kelly takes place in a small town on the Lake Michigan coast, an hour drive *south* of Traverse City and a half hour *north* of Frankfort.

"Michigan Pioneers: 175 Years of History" in Family Chronicle, May/June 2012
By Diane Dittgen
Reviewed by abarritt on Saturday, April 21, 2012

Family Chronicle, a genealogist magazine, features an article about the Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, a forty-volume set of pioneer reminiscences, recollections and histories, in the May/June 2012 issue. The Collections were first published in 1877, the last in 1929.

"Cherry Picking" in Eating Well, June 2012
By Carolyn Malcoun
Reviewed by abarritt on Saturday, April 21, 2012

The outlook for local cherries may be grim this season, but that doesn't stop the world from talking about them! The June 2012 issue of Eating Well magazine includes an article all about Leelanau County cherries, specifically from the Bardenhagen Farms. The article also cover the many health benefits of this superfruit.

Professor Tuesday's Awesome Adventure in History (Book Three: The Underground Railroad)
By Jeffery L. Schatzer
Reviewed by vcarpenter on Thursday, April 5, 2012

If you want "learning history made fun" this is your book. Local author Jeffrey Schatzer creatively tele-ports readers back to the time slaves escaped to freedom along the Underground Railroad, via a...peeyew...skunk! It's a good read alone, or read-aloud with your child. Great opportunities for discussion and using maps.

Smiler's Bones
By Peter Lerangis
Reviewed by mrudd on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

 Minik, an Eskimo boy age 7, is brought from the Arctic to New York along with his father and 4 others of their small village, by explorer Robert Peary in the interest of science and discovery. The small group of men and Minik are displayed at the Museum of Natural History but consumption quickly kills all but Minik.

Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age
By Kevin Boyle
Reviewed by bbush on Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Although this book is a purely non-fictional account of events in an all white working class neighborhood of Detroit in 1925, it reads like a thrilling suspense novel. The focus of this saga is Dr. Ossian Sweet, an African-American physician raised in poverty in the rural south. After working his way through college and then Howard Medical School, Dr.

Wigfield: the Can-Do Town that just may Not
By Amy Sedaris, Paul Dinello, Stephen Colbert
Reviewed by abarritt on Tuesday, April 3, 2012

The town of Wigfield and  "author" Russell Hokes are two peas in a pod; they're both in it for the money. So when Hokes needs a story to be paid on his book contract, and Wigfield finds itself in crisis after the State has decided to tear down the nearby dam, flooding their town, these two unlikely bedmates come together in a riotous, satirical journey to find the heart and soul of dying, small town America. And generous federal disaster relief checks.

Thursday's Child
By Sonya Hartnett
Reviewed by jgrice on Friday, March 23, 2012

A realistic portrayal of a girl's early life growing up in Australia during the Depression.  Harper's family faces extreme financial and emotional hardships while living in a dangerous and unforgiving land.  Poor decisions made by the parents cause Harper and her siblings to experience real poverty and despair.  One by one all the children except Harper, who is the youngest, leav