October 2008 RETURN TO HOME PAGE FEEDBACK

You can learn about greed on Wall Street, or about wolves in the western United States, if you pick up two selections on this month's list, brought to you by speedreader Karol Barske and librarian Carol Small, of the Noe Valley­Sally Brunn Library. To see if books are available, search for titles at www.sfpl.org, call Small or branch manager Alice McCloud at 355-5707, or drop by the library at 451 Jersey Street at Castro. While you're there, check out the CD and DVD collections. Hours are Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Wednesday, 1 to 9 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday, 1 to 6 p.m.; and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Adult Fiction

- An ex-CIA officer living in a small French town is branded as a terrorist by his enemy, the former U.S. Secretary of State, in Peter Steiner's crime thriller L'Assassin.

- A teenage math prodigy must stop the Grand Galactics from destroying life on earth, in The Last Theorem by Frederik Pohl and the late Arthur C. Clarke.

- Detective Cassie Maddox, introduced in Tana French's 2007 Edgar-winning mystery In the Woods, investigates the murder of a woman who could have been her identical twin, in The Likeness.

Adult Nonfiction

- The Art of Column Writing, subtitled, "Insider Secrets from Art Buchwald, Dave Barry, Arianna Huffington, Pete Hamill, and Other Great Columnists," covers finding topics, digging up information, and crafting a clear and concise essay.

- Paul Muolo and Mathew Padilla's Chain of Blame: How Wall Street Caused the Mortgage and Credit Crisis examines the roots of the nation's current financial crisis.

- Jeremy Lott considers good people who behave badly in In Defense of Hypocrisy: Picking Sides in the War on Virtue.

- In High Society: How Substance Abuse Ravages America and What to Do About It, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare Joseph Califano proposes ways to eliminate "public health enemy number one."

Children's Fiction

- Adam Gamble's board book, Good Night California, celebrates the seasons and state regions such as Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and Yosemite. Ages 1 to 3.

- Banjo Granny puts on her thousand-mile shoes and walks to bring "Owen's Song" to her grandson, in a modern tall tale by Sara Martin Busse and Jacqueline Briggs Martin. Ages 4 to 6.

- Sunny Seki retells the Japanese folk tale about a toymaker who helps an injured cat and is repaid with good fortune, in Tale of the Lucky Cat/Cuento del Gato de la Suerte. Ages 5 to 8.

- A boy who's an orphan and a thief lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station and meets an eccentric girl and a bitter old man, in Brian Selznick's mystery The Invention of Hugo Cabret, the most recent winner of the Caldecott Award. Ages 9 to 12.

Children's Nonfiction

- In The Wolves Are Back, author Jean Craighead George and illustrator Wendell Minor tell the story of the near extinction and comeback of North American wolves during the last century. Ages 7 to 10.

- The rhymes in You and Me Together: Moms, Dads, and Kids Around the World, by Barbara Kerley, are about families from many cultures working and playing together. Ages 3 to 7.

Tamim Ansary Reception

- Join local luminary Tamim Ansary, author of San Francisco's One City One Book pick, West of Kabul, East of New York, for a reading and reception at the Noe Valley Library, in partnership with Cover to Cover Booksellers, 2 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25.

Read About Bears

- A story time at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 2, features a reading of Don Freeman's Corduroy and other stories about bears, followed by a simple bear craft.

Tell Me a Story

- Children 3 to 5 are invited to attend preschool story time, a read-aloud program from 11 to 11:30 a.m. on Tuesdays, Oct. 7, 14, and 28.

Preschool Films

- Films for kids 3 to 5, including "Mole and the Flying Carpet" and "Picture for Harold's Room," will be shown on Tuesday, Oct. 21, at 10:15 and 11 a.m.

All events are held at the Noe Valley­Sally Brunn Branch Library at 451 Jersey Street. For information, call 355-5707.