Fairfax County Public Library

BookCast Interview with S.J. Rozan

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:16:19 GMT

S.J. Rozan, a native New Yorker, is the author of 12 mystery novels, including her popular Lydia Chin/Bill Smith Chinatown series and many stand-alones. Her work has won the Edgar, Shamus, Anthony, Nero and Macavity awards for Best Novel and the Edgar for Best Short Story. She�s also the recipient of the Japanese Maltese Falcon Award.

BookCast Interview with Alice Hoffman

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:45:58 GMT

Alice Hoffman, is the author of more than 30 books, is considered one of this country`s most distinguished novelists.

BookCast Interview with Tom Perrotta

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 16:06:02 GMT

Writer Tom Perrotta is the author of six comic novels, including Election, Little Children, Joe College and his most recent novel, The Leftovers, as well as a collection of short stories and numerous articles.

BookCast Interview with Gordon Korman

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 17:25:07 GMT

Popular young adult author Gordon Korman, known for his contributions for the 39 Clues series, was interviewed by Fairfax County Public Library Director Sam Clay. BookCast is sponsored by the Fairfax Library Foundation.

BookCast Interview with Max Brooks

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 16:34:35 GMT

Max Brooks is the bestselling author of The Zombie Survival Guide, World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War and the graphic novel, The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks.

BookCast Interview with Anand Giridharadas

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:03:38 GMT

Anand Giridharadas, the author of India Calling, writes the "Currents" column for the New York Times and its global edition, the International Herald Tribune on ideas, culture and technology.

BookCast Interview with Conor Grennan

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 18:56:47 GMT

In his memoir, Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal, Grennan chronicles his transformation from a reluctant volunteer to the founder of Next Generation Nepal, an organization that is dedicated to returning trafficked children to their parents. His memoir has been selected for the 2011 All Fairfax Reads.

BookCast Interview with Suzi Weinert

Tue, 10 May 2011 21:17:18 GMT

Garage Sale Stalker is the first in the author's series of garage sale mysteries. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America.

BookCast Interview with Wendy Shang

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 14:29:06 GMT

Wendy Shang has worked with children and books throughout her life. The Great Wall of Lucy Wu, written for middle-grade readers is her first children's novel.

Booktalks - "Stolen"

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 18:54:14 GMT

While on a layover at Bangkok Airport, 16-year-old Gemma, the unknowing object of a long obsession, is kidnapped by Ty and stolen away to the Australian Outback.

BookCast Interview with Anita Shreve

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 16:26:13 GMT

Anita Shreve published her first novel, Eden Close, in 1989. Since then she has written 12 other novels, among them The Weight of Water, The Pilot's Wife, The Last Time They Met, A Wedding in December, Body Surfing and most recently, Rescue.

Booktalks - "Dear George Clooney, Please Marry My Mom"

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 20:16:24 GMT

When Violet's mother takes up with the unfortunately named Dudley Wiener, Violet and her friend Phoebe decide that they need to take control. If Violet's mom can't pick a decent man herself, they will help her snag George Clooney.

Booktalks - "The Vinyl Princess"

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 19:23:28 GMT

Although Allie can read music, she has mis-read some clues from her real life, clues that point to the fact that she may be in over her head on a personal level. The Vinyl Princess by Yvonne Prinz lets you into a unusual teen's world and her musical passions.

BookCast Interview with Sandra Parshall

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 16:47:33 GMT

Sandra Parshall is a former reporter for the Baltimore Evening Sun as well as papers in West Virginia and South Carolina where she was born and raised. She published her first work of fiction, The Heat of the Moon, featuring veterinarian and sleuth Rachel Goddard in 2006.

Booktalks - "You"

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 18:29:26 GMT

This wasn't the way it was supposed to go. You're just a typical fifteen-year-old sophomore, an average guy named Kyle Chase. This can't be happening to you. But then, how do you explain all the blood? Think fast, Kyle. Time's running out. How did this happen?

BookCast Interview with Kristin Levine

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 21:53:14 GMT

Based in part on her grandfather's memoir, Levine's first novel, The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had, tells the story of a friendship between a white farm boy, Dit, and an African-American city girl, Emma.

Booktalks - "How I Nicky Flynn Finally Get a Life (and a Dog)"

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:35:23 GMT

This touching and engrossing story stars 11-year-old Nicky, whose parents have just split up, forcing him to move with his troubled mother to a tiny apartment in Boston. Despite having difficulty making ends meet, Nicky's mother brings home another mouth to feed: Reggie, a former guide dog.

Booktalks - "Scumble"

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 19:06:32 GMT

Mibs's cousin Ledge is disappointed to discover that his "savvy"--the magical power unique to each member of their family--is to make things fall apart, which endangers his uncle Autry's ranch and reveals the family secret to future reporter Sarah.

Booktalks - "Accomplice"

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 18:19:55 GMT

Finn and Chloe's school guidance counselor tells them that it's not enough to get good grades or do community service anymore to get into college. So what do they do?

BookCast Interview with Alan Orloff

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 16:23:24 GMT

Reston writer Alan Orloff is the author of Diamonds for the Dead, a stand-alone mystery set in his hometown and Killer Routine, he first in his Last Laff series, to be published in April 2011.

Changing Lives Through Literature

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 16:50:56 GMT

Fairfax County's Changing Lives Through Literature program featured on The Bob Edwards' Sirius/XM Radio Show (10/2010).

Booktalks - "The Secret to Lying"

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 15:54:43 GMT

Although James, age 15, is exceptionally bright, what he is really, really good at is pretending he's something he's not.

BookCast Interview with Kathleen Kinsolving

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 15:14:19 GMT

Kathleen Kinsolving is the author of Gadfly: The Life and Times of Les Kinsolving - White House Watchdog, a biography of her sometimes controversial father

Booktalks - "Solace of the Road"

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 20:05:14 GMT

With a wig she steals, Holly adopts the persona of Solace, a slighter older, more worldly wise version of herself, and she hits the road.

BookCast Interview with Jacqueline Woodson

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 14:40:06 GMT

A prolific writer, Woodson's books include Miracle's Boys, which won a Coretta Scott King Award, Feathers and Show Way, which were Newbery Medal Honor recipients and Locomotion, which was a National Book Award finalist and won numerous other honors.

Booktalks - "Escape Under the Forever Sky"

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 16:47:40 GMT

Fitting in at school is hard enough, but it's harder when you're a category of one: Lucy is the only American in her school in Ethiopia. And suddenly, things go strangely and terribly wrong. Lucy is kidnapped.

Booktalks - "Marcelo In The Real World"

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 20:18:08 GMT

Marcelo Sandoval, a seventeen-year-old boy on the high-functioning end of the autistic spectrum, faces new challenges, including romance and injustice, when he goes to work for his father in the mailroom of a corporate law firm.

BookCast Interview with Thomas DeWolf

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 14:15:38 GMT

At the age of 41, DeWolf discovered that he was related to slave-traders who were responsible for transporting at least 10,000 African people to the Americas. His book, Inheriting the Trade, is the result of that discovery.

Booktalks - "The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet"

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:33:05 GMT

A brilliant, boundary-leaping debut novel tracing twelve-year-old genius map maker T.S.Spivet's attempts to understand the ways of the world.

Booktalks - "Anything But Typical"

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:55:26 GMT

Escaping from a label like autism is hard, especially for Jason, a 12-year-old writer. School is especially hard for him because he's mainstreamed with kids who don't think like he does, don't act like he does, and don't respect his disability.

BookCast Interview with Robert Poole

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 18:44:11 GMT

Robert Poole was a writer and editor for National Geographic for more than two decades, retiring as executive editor in 2001. He is the author of Explorer's House, a history of National Geographic's founding family, as well as On Hallowed Ground: The Story of Arlington National Cemetery.

Booktalks - "Candyfreak"

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 19:52:08 GMT

This goes beyond candy obsession! A sweet quest to discover the origins of candy in America, including small factories and much more.

Fairfax Library Foundation Helps Struggling Library

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 17:32:51 GMT

Please see if you can help...

BookCast Interview with Gary Noesner

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 17:50:07 GMT

Gary Noesner, the author of Stalling for Time: My Life as an FBI Hostage Negotiator, retired from the FBI in 2003 following a 30-year career as an investigator, instructor and negotiator. He was involved in such well-known cases as the D.C. sniper, Waco and the Montana Freeman.

BookCast Interview with Todd Kashdan

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 21:18:09 GMT

Todd Kashdan, the author of Curiosity? has been active in the positive psychology movement since 2000, when he taught one of the first college courses on the science of happiness. He currently teaches courses on abnormal psychology, mood and anxiety disorders, and the science of well-being. He is the associate editor of the Journal of Positive Psychology as well as the Journal of Personality.

BookCast Interview with Pete Earley

Fri, 21 May 2010 19:14:18 GMT

Former Washington Post reporter Pete Earley is the author of nine non-fiction books and three novels including the New York Times bestsellers Family of Spies: Inside the John Walker Spy Ring and COMRADE J: The Untold Secrets of Russia's Master Spy In America After the End of the Cold War as well as Edgar winner for true crime Circumstantial Evidence: Death, Life, and Justice in a Southern Town.

BookCast Interview with Richard Gazala

Fri, 07 May 2010 17:31:10 GMT

Local author Richard Gazala is an attorney who has practiced both trial and corporate law in Tennessee, Washington and Virginia. He is a member of the bar of the United States Supreme Court.

BookCast Interview with Jamie MacVicar

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:16:15 GMT

The Advance Man is the story of the author's life as a regional marketing director (or advance man) with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus back in the 1970s.

Booktalks - "Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls"

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:56:01 GMT

Rule # 7: "The worst thing that can happen is for your secret crush to know your secret, and for it not be a secret anymore."

BookCast Interview with Warren Brown

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:51:23 GMT

The owner of CakeLove and Love Cafe and former host of Sugar Rush on the Food Network, Brown is the author of CakeLove: How to Bake Cakes from Scratch and the soon-to-be published United Cakes of America: Recipes Celebrating Every State.

Booktalks - "My So-Called Family"

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:37:28 GMT

As Leah explains when people ask her, she doesn't have a father - she has a donor and after a little bit of work, she discovers that "her" donor was also the donor for another girl her same age.

BookCast Interview with David Morine

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:18:55 GMT

In Two Coots in a Canoe, David Morine chronicles a month-long journey down the entire length of the Connecticut River.

Booktalks - "Pish Posh"

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:01:23 GMT

Clara Frankofile is the most feared eleven-year-old in New York City, and for good reason. Clara is the one who decides who is no longer a "somebody," and has moved from their important position in New York society to "nobody" status.

BookCast Interview with Charles Jensen

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:21:40 GMT

Charles Jensen is the author of four collections of poetry, including Living Things, which won the 2006 Frank O'Hara Chapbook Award, and The First Risk.

BookCast Interview with Jan Elvin

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:25:03 GMT

A D.C. native, Jan Elvin is the author of The Box From Braunau: In Search of My Father's War. It recounts her efforts to understand her father through his war experiences.

Booktalks - "Left for Dead"

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:51:37 GMT

In 1945, as World War II was drawing to an end, the USS Indianapolis was assigned a top secret mission: to deliver the atom bomb to the U.S. military base at Tinian Island. The delivery went smoothly, but on the return voyage to Guam, the ship was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine, and in just eleven minutes, it sank.

BookCast Interview with Patricia Reilly Giff

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:22:02 GMT

The author of more than 60 children's books, including the Kids of the Polk Street School series, Patricia Reilly Giff has received the Newbery Honor for two of them -- "Pictures of Hollis Woods" and "Lily's Crossing". Her latest book is "Wild Girl", about a young horse-loving girl from Brazil and the horse she encounters when she moves to the U.S.

Booktalks - "Re-Gifters"

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:21:17 GMT

Jen Dik Seong, aka "Dixie," is dirt poor and living on the ragged edge of LA's Koreatown. Her only outlet is the ancient martial art of hapkido, and shes on the verge of winning a championship--until she falls for surfer boy Adam.

Booktalks - "Harmless"

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:03:57 GMT

Told in the voices of the three girls who must learn to live with the lies they tell, "Harmless" is a gripping and provocative book full of startling turns and surprises.

BookCast Interview with Scott Turow

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:26:44 GMT

Writer and attorney Scott Turow is the author of nine best-selling novels: "Presumed Innocent", "The Burden of Proof", "Pleading Guilty", "The Laws of Our Fathers", "Personal Injuries", "Reversible Errors", and "Ordinary Heroes".

Booktalks - "Hot Lunch"

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:37:01 GMT

To teach the girls a lesson, the school principal has Molly and Cassie spend the first half of their school day preparing lunch for the entire school. But the girls loathe each other, and in spite of themselves, they can't stop sabotaging one another at every turn.

Booktalks - "Son of the Mob"

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:15:18 GMT

Vince Luca is mainly feeling annoyed. He knows he's never going to score another date with the lovely Angela after THIS disaster. But he isn'st surprised; when you grow up in a mafia family, as Vince has, the random appearance of unconscious bodies is far from unusual.

Booktalks - Hypochondriac's Pocket Guide to Horrible Diseases You Probably Already Have

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 19:19:05 GMT

Hypochondriacs can now fret appropriately and factually with this pocket guide to forty-five disgusting, horrible diseases. All entries include symptoms, a diagnosis guide, treatment suggestions, a prognosis, and-if you are not yet infected-prevention tips.

BookCast Interview with John M. Taylor

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:57:30 GMT

John M. Taylor is the author of eight books in history and biography. The most recent is a reassessment of Robert E. Lee titled "Duty Faithfully Performed: Robert E. Lee and His Critics."

BookCast Interview with Kathyrn Erskine

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:32:05 GMT

Kathyrn Erskine's first young adult novel "Quaking" is a Virginia Reader Choice Master List selection. It is the story of Goth teen Matilda (Matt), who has experienced a traumatic childhood. Things change after she is taken in by a peaceful Quaker family during the divisive days of war in the Middle East.

Booktalks - The Legend of Spud Murphy

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:13:08 GMT

It's summertime and Will and Marty have been ordered to spend educational time at the library. "Don't make us join the library, Dad! It's dangerous!" whines Marty. "Dangerous?" replies Dad. "It's not the library," Marty whispered, "it's the librarian!"

BookCast Interview with Laura Elliott

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 16:57:48 GMT

Laura Malone Elliott, who also writes as L.M. Elliott, is the author of a number of books for preschoolers, middle grade students and young adults.

Booktalks - Red Kayak

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:56:51 GMT

Living near the water on Maryland's Eastern Shore, thirteen-year-old Brady and his best friends J.T. and Digger become entangled in a tragedy which tests their friendship and their ideas about right and wrong.

The Serpent Came to Gloucester

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:17:03 GMT

In 1817 on a normal August day the entire town of Gloucester saw a slithering, swimming sea serpent They all said it they saw it. But is it true. Do you believe?

Booktalks - Drums, Girls, & Dangerous Pie

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 17:10:09 GMT

Steven Appler was a pretty typical eighth grader, until his little brother is diagnosed with lukemia. With his family's attention focused on his little brother Steven turn to drumming, spending hours and hours practicing in his basement. What sounds like a sad book about a family in crisis, is also a very funny book that shows how life goes on even when you have big problems.

Booktalks - Project Mulberry

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:11:44 GMT

Julia Song is the daughter of Korean immigrants and she wants desperately to fit in with her 7th grade friends. She and her best friend Patrick decide to raise silkworms as a science project. In time they become like pets to her, and she is horrified when she discovers she has to kill them to get the silk. Read Project Mulberry to find out if Julia is able to sacrifice her pets for her science project.

Booktalks - Mr. Maxwell's Mouse

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:02:05 GMT

Mr. Howard Maxwell is what one would call a FAT Cat but it seems that all that money and good living has made Howard more than a little soft. Today he's feeling a little frisky. Today he decides to break his routine. Today this sophistacat who is used to things going exactly as he planned is in for a rude surprise.

Booktalks - Montmorency

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:41:17 GMT

Until he was caught, he'd been a petty thief living on the bottom rung of London's ladder of lowlifes. By the time he was released, Prisoner 493 had figured out how to live two lives, both supported by crime. As Montmorency, he would be a gentleman, wealthy, cultured, privileged. As Scarper, he would be a sewer rat and a burglar, and Montmorency's servant, who crept out at night to steal and vanish, only to steal again.

Booktalks - Double Identity

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 19:03:12 GMT

Left by her parents, Bethany tries to adjust to her life with Aunt Myrlie. When she uncovers some dark secrets about her family she gets the shock of her life.

Booktalks - Clemency Pogue: Fairy Killer

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:41:23 GMT

Join Clemency Pogue in an adventure to help bring fairies back to life!

BookCast Interview with Stefan Fatsis

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:23:39 GMT

Stefan Fatsis has been a reporter and sportswriter for the Associated Press and The Wall Street Journal. He is a regular sports commentator on NPR's "All Things Considered" and has also appeared on CNBC, ESPN and other networks.

Booktalks - Soul Surfer

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:43:37 GMT

Bethany Hamilton, a teenage surfer, lost her arm in a shark attack off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii. Not even the loss of her arm keeps her from returning to surfing, the sport she loves.

Booktalks - Curse of the Blue Tattoo

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:36:43 GMT

We first meet young Jacky disguised as a sailor and working aboard a ship. It isn't proper for a girl to be working on a ship in the 1800s and when she is found out she is put off. Jacky soon finds herself at a prestigious boarding school in Beacon Hill. The best of the best girls go there and Jacky just doesn't fit in. She tries, she really does, but she just can't help herself

Booktalks - The Journey That Saved Curious George

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:39:43 GMT

The true wartime escape of Margaret and H.A.Rey.

BookCast Interview with Ellen Posner

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:32:23 GMT

Ellen Posner recently published her first book of poetry, What's in a Feather.

Cox Local Edition "Public Art Statues"

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:21:22 GMT

Kathryn Falk of Cox Local Edition interviews Joan Kane, Chairman, Fairfax Library Foundation, about the Foundations's "Public Art Statues" project.

Comcast Art In The Pages

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:31:38 GMT

Bobbie Longworth, Executive Director of the Fairfax Library Foundation, is interviewed by Tony Hill of Comcast Newsmakers about the Foundation's Art In The Pages statues.

CNN and Cox "Public Art Statues" clip

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:29:31 GMT

Joan Kane, Fairfax Library Foundation Chair, talks with Kathryn Falk about public art statues.

Celebrate Fairfax

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:26:17 GMT

Celebrate Fairfax includes the Fairfax Library Foundation.

Ch 9 'Art in the Pages' Clip

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:05:48 GMT

Joan Kane, Fairfax Library Foundation Board Chair and Bobbi Longworth, Fairfax Library Foundation Executive Director are interviewed on WUSA, Channel 9 about 'Art in the Pages'.

CNN and Cox 'Art In The Pages' Clip

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:10:34 GMT

Joan Kane, Fairfax Library Foundation Board Chair is interviewed by Kathryn Falk on CNN Cox Local Edition.

The Curse of the Blue Tattoo

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:56:39 GMT

A synopsis of The Curse of the Blue Tattoo by L.A. Meyer

BookCast Interview on Fairfax County Stories:1607-2007

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 15:30:19 GMT

Fairfax County Stories: 1607 - 2007 is the legacy book project produced by the Fairfax County 2007 Community Citizen Planning Committee to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, Va.

Woodrow Wilson Opening Ceremony

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 21:58:06 GMT

Remarks from the 1967 Opening Ceremony of the Woodrow Wilson Library.

BookCast Interview with Bob Gallagher

Fri, 16 Feb 2007 17:18:24 GMT

Bob Gallagher is a former freelance sports writer, who now works for the Fairfax County Public Library. His articles have appeared in The Washington Post, Baseball Digest, the Redskins Report and the old Washington Star. He is the author of "Ernie Davis: The Elmira Express."

BookCast Interview with Sharon Bulova, Mary Lipsey and John Browne

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 18:43:17 GMT

Braddock's True Gold: 20th-Century Life in the Heart of Fairfax County by Marion Meany and Mary Lipsey began in October, 2004 as a series of three programs entitled "A Look Back at Braddock: The Miniseries," sponsored by Sharon Bulova, the Braddock District representative on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

BookCast Interview with Sam Clay

Tue, 05 Sep 2006 21:33:33 GMT

This interview introduces the host of the Fairfax County Public Library's BookCast series, Sam Clay. Mr. Clay is the Director of the Fairfax County Public Library in Virginia.