Chilling Thrillers

When the summer heats up here in the Midwest these Scandinavian novels will keep you cool.  The stark beauty of the winter and the long summer days set the mood for murder. In Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,  The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, the main characters are  Mikael Blomkvist a journalist and Lisbeth Salander an elusive techno wiz.  Both these characters work together in an uneasy truce to fight corruption and expose dark secrets. (FICTION Larsson). These books were made into movies twice: The Swedish version and  the American version which won Rooney Mara an Academy Award nomination. It also stars Daniel Craig as the journalist Blomvist. (G DVD)

In Karin Alvtegen’s Missing, a Swedish woman is forced to confront her past when she awakes to find a dead body in the bed next to her.  Now she is wanted by the police and in order to prove her innocence she has to solve the crime herself or be prosecuted for murder. (MYSTERY Alvtegen)

Ake Edwardson’s Swedish Inspector Winter is philosophical, a bit of a snob and under great pressure to achieve results. Sun and Shadow is set in Gothenburg, Sweden. Christmas is coming as is the new millennium; his girlfriend is expecting his baby and a murder could have links to his police department.  The pressure to solve this double murder is heavy on the youngest policeman to achieve the rank of Chief Inspector in Gothenburg, Sweden. (MYSTERY Edwardson)

The photo of a grave is left on the body of an elderly murder victim.  Is this case related to a decade’s old crime or is this something new? In Jar City Arnaldur Indridason’s Detective Inspector Erlendur works to solve this murder set in Reykjavik Iceland. (MYSTERY Arnaldur)

Much of the action in this riveting novel Smilla’s Sense of Snow takes place on an icebreaker ship headed to a remote island off the Greenlandic coast. Smilla has developed a keen feeling for ice and snow, one she has used to her advantage in her work as a scientist in Greenland. A loner, her one friend a young boy has fallen to his death. Smilla’s curiosity and strong morals lead to her to pursue what the authority’s call an accident but she feels is murder.  (FICTION Hoeg)

 This title 1222 takes its name from the sea level at which the victims of a train crash during a blizzard are trapped. Anti-social retired police Inspector Hanne Wilhelmsen, a passenger on this train is slowly coaxed to investigate a murder. As the wind howls and the snow piles up so do the victims. (FICTION HOLT)

 Swedish detective Patrik Hedstrom and childhood friend (soon to be girlfriend) biographer Erica Falck meet while investigating the death of Erica’s childhood friend in the small Swedish town of Fjallbacka. IcePrincess begins this Swedish series. (MYSTERY Lackberg)

Sun Storm is the first book in Asa Larsson’s series starring lawyer Rebecka Martinsson working as a prosecutor and police colleague Anna-Maria Mella.  Martinsson returns to her small hometown of Kiruna in Northern Sweden at the request of an old friend to investigate a murder and soon finds it hard to leave. (MYSTERYLarsson).

Henning Mankell introduces Inspector Kurt Wallander in   Faceless Killers and 13 titles follow.  When you have read the books and still want more (which you will) there are 2 television series to keep you going. The British television series stars Kenneth Branagh as the Swedish Ystad policeman. The Swedish television series stars Krister Henriksson (MYSTERY Mankell).

Jo Nesbo’s Police Inspector Harry Hole series begins with The Redbreast: a novel.   Harry’s moody and obsessive personality and his personal life in Oslo are compelling and will draw you into this series. (MYSTERY Nesbo)

All of these authors have written several books so you will have many choices to keep you cool.

Free eBooks from the Library!?

Yes! The Lake Forest Library is beginning a new service to provide free eBooks and Audio Books to library patrons using a device called the LibraryBox!

The LibraryBox is an easy to use resource for downloading free library content. There is no login required, no checkouts, and no holds: just find what you want and download!

The LibraryBox functions just like your wireless internet at home, you just need to bring a wireless-capable device (Kindle Fire, Nook Color, iPad, iPod, Android phone, or any laptop) to the library and find our network "LibraryBox". Once you connect, just navigate to any page and it will load the LibraryBox page.

Content will change on a regular basis, so be sure to check frequently! The LibraryBox is also mobile: it will be at the library until the end of May and move to various community businesses and hang-outs. First stop will be Caribou Coffee on Western!

Check our Twitter and Facebook pages for updates.

Want to get involved? Great! The second function of the LibraryBox is to promote community artists, writers, musicians and other creative people. We would be happy to host your content for free!

If you have questions about using the LibraryBox, want to put your creations on it, want to host it, or just curious about it email Matt Neer at mneer@lfl.alibrary.com.

Adult Summer Reading 2012

This summer the Lake Forest Library will launch a new program for adults and teens – One Book/One City LF.  All Lake Forest residents are being invited to read Manhunt: the Twelve Day Hunt for Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson.  The book gives a fast-paced, hour-by-hour account of the search for John Wilkes Booth, told from multiple viewpoints.

The program begins June 1 and continues through August 4, in conjunction with our Summer Reading Programs. Free copies of the book are available to the first 30 residents to register.  Limit one per family.  Additional copies are available for check-out.  A grand prize drawing for a Kindle will take place the first week of August. 

Related programs include:

-  A family presentation by Civil War re-enactors Bob  and Jeff Johnson of the Eighth Illinois Calvary Reenactment Group Saturday June 16 at 1:00pm, in the Children’s Activity Room.

-  Book discussions led by Judy Levin at the Library Monday June 11 at 12:30pm and Wednesday July 18 at 7:00pm; Wednesday June 20 at 1:00pm at the LF/LB Senior Center. 

 - A lecture by Steve Roswurm, Lake Forest College professor, entitled "Lincoln: The South's Enemy?" scheduled for Monday June 25 at 1:30pm. 

Although registration and prizes are limited to Lake Forest residents all programs are free and open to the public. 

The Adult Summer Reading Program will run as it has in the past. Come to the Reference Desk to register. It’s easy and there are great prizes. Read, or listen to, four books and you will receive a $5 library print card. Just turn in your completed reading record to the Reference Desk or post a comment for each book in BiblioCommons.

Your name will be entered into the grand prize drawing. The drawing will take place the first week in August and prizes must be claimed by September 1st. Prizes include local restaurant gift certificates, a Lake Forest Chamber of Commerce gift certificate, an Apple gift certificate, Williams and Sonoma gift certificates, and Lake Forest Bookstore gift cards. You must be a Lake Forest resident 19 years or older to participate. One entry per resident cardholder. 

Please plan to join us this summer for these exciting programs.

Books and Author Talks!

Have you ever seen a TED talk? They are videos intelligent men and women speaking on what they are passionate about in their chosen fields. Or, as TED puts it, "riveting talks by remarkable people". The best thing, these are free for anyone to watch! Unfortunately these talks on a wide range of subjects run from 5 to thirty minutes. Fortunately, many of these interesting speakers have written books, that we have! The following is a list of great TED presentations that you can watch and a link to the book in our catalog (and trust us, these speakers will make you want to learn more).


Susan Cain's talk "The Power of Introverts" is an excellent introduction to her bestselling book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking. In it, she explores the role introverts play in shaping the world. This is especially interesting as there is an increasing amount of platforms for communication and that these further the impact of extroverts. Her talk describes how our culture promotes environments specifically adapted for extroverts and calls for society to take time to recognize the importance of being unplugged.


If you are interested in the division between religion and politics, especially with their common foundations in morality, you should read Jonathon Haidt's The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion. His book can serve as a primer for the current culture wars in the United States. To hear Haidt speak about the growth of morality and why people seek religions, listen to Religion, Evolution, and the Ecstasy of Self-Transcendence. He explains the concept that humans have the capacity for both a sacred and non-spiritual mindset, that humans seek out transcendent, spiritual experience and why this is important culturally.


Alison Gopnik says, "Babies and young children are like the R&D division of the human species". Her TED Talk, "What do babies think?", explores how babies make decisions based upon their environmental observations. In her book, The Philosophical Baby, she takes her ideas further to explaining how babies learn from their actions to achieve the outcomes that they want. She applies this to thinking about how we can learn about the human condition from how babies and children learn.

Looking for a humorous,rambling story about love and aliens? John Hodgman's TED talk: Aliens, Love--Where are They? is just that. John recounts his personal history of searching for aliens and love.If you enjoy Hodgman's humor, look for his "Complete World Knowledge" trilogy. His most recent and final book the series, That is All, is an almanac of completely made up trivia with sections such as "Genetic Mutations of Robber Barons" and "See the World Before it Splits Apart".


Check out the huge range of TED talks available on their website, what is your favorite?

From College to Career

With the graduation season fast approaching, the Lake Forest Library provides current materials with suggestions and practical advice about the most effective methods for finding a job and more.

All Work, No Pay by Lauren Berger (Ten Speed Press, 2012): Berger shows college student how to land internships and gain work experience.


Cracking the New Job Market by William R. Holland (AMACOM, 2011): Holland explains how the job market has changed in the present economic times and what it takes to find a job in today's market.

Getting from College to Career by Lindsey Pollak (HarperCollins, 2012): For the college student as well as the graduate, this volume will counsel on modern job search methods.

Internet Your Way to a New Job by Alison Doyle (Happy About Bks, 2011): The author gives practical advice on all the ways job seekers can use the Internet in steps.

Job Searching with Social Media for Dummies by Joshua Waldman (Wiley, 2011): Waldman demonstrates how to use LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, video resumes, and more in a job search.

Resume 101 by Quentin J. Schultze (Ten Speed Press, 2012).

In addition to these titles, the library's Job Search Resources list offers links to free websites for job-finding and career-building.