The Lottery

Title: The Lottery

Author: Patricia Wood

Summary: If you are looking for a sure winner, don’t buy a lottery ticket, but check out Patricia Wood’s debut novel. She draws on her own personal experiences with a dad who won the Washington State lottery and a family member who had Down’s syndrome.

Perry L. Crandall, the narrator, has an IQ of 76 but as he says, he is not retarded, just slow.  His wise-cracking grandmother taught him everything he needs to know to survive. When she dies, leaving him an “orphan” at 31 year-old, that family that had abandoned proceed to swindle him out of his house. Imagine what happens they learn he has won 12 million dollars…You will be charmed by Perry’s sweet and often funny personality, and root for him to outwit his thieving ‘new-found’ family.

Who will like this book? All readers from high school to 100 who love light, feel-good novels.

Recommended by: Sandy, Technical Services

Sunday Money

Title: Sunday Money: Speed, Lust, Madness, Death: A Hot Lap Around America with NASCAR

Author: Jeff MacGregor

Summary: If you are a sports fan, especially if you are a sports-business fan, you will enjoy this book. Author MacGregor and his wife follow the NASCAR circuit during a time of transistion – the year after Dale Earnhardt’s death at the Daytona 500 – and while they spend some time reporting the on-track action, most of the book is spent describing the culture and business of NASCAR, currently the second-most popular sport in the country (and for you doubters, MacGregor will explain why drivers are indeed athletes.)

If there was such a thing as Gonzo Sports Journalism, this would be it – the tone is irreverent and the author’s outlook is definately not sentimental. This book provides a unique insight into NASCAR – even if you don’t get it, you’ll walk away from this book understanding why some people – particularly CEOs and marketers – do.

Who will like this book? NASCAR fans, marketing people

If you like this, try: Moneyball by Michael Lewis, National Pastime by Steven Szymanski, Amped by David Browne

Recommended by: Nicole, Teen Librarian

Feed

Title: Feed

Author: M.T. Anderson

Summary: Imagine having the Internet in your head. In Feed, a dystopian novel set in a not-too-distant future, Titus has grown up with the feed: a computer chip installed at birth that connects him, and everyone else, to the Feednet. Instant messaging, television, telephone, even shopping (complete with pop-up ads) all hard-wired to his brain.  Life revolves around the feed until Titus meets Violet, a girl who prefers to think for herself. When Violet begins to  question this new society and fight the feed – no matter what the cost, Titus must make a decision: Stand by Violet, or give in to the feed.

This book presents an America taken over by consumerism and technology about to implode on itself. That it is entirely plausible makes this novel even more timely and frightening. However, it retains a sense of humor, and like the best satire, will leave the reader thinking about the book long after the last page is turned.

Who will like this book: Sci-Fi fans, technophobes and IM-addicts

If you like this, try: Be More Chill by Ned Vizzini, Jennifer Government by Max Barry

Recommended by: Nicole, Teen Librarian