Thursday, January 30, 2014

Literary Links: In Conversation

Do you ever catch yourself eavesdropping on someone's conversation?  Generally that's not considered socially acceptable, but we've found some links that allow you to do just that.  Whether it's Judy Blume and Lena Dunham talking about books, current chart-topper Lorde having a casual confab with the editor of Rookie, or a chance to watch the librarian with the mostest interview some great authors, we hope you'll find something you'll enjoy eavesdropping on!

Judy Blume and Lena Dunham Curate a Reading List for You
"Dunham and Blume spoke about many topics, like growing up, sexuality, feminism, writing, being frightened, and respecting childhood. But the real highlight is when they talk about reading. The two speak about how writing has influenced their coming of age in the world, and their description of books is delightful."

Super Heroine: An Interview with Lorde [Rookie interview with editor Tavi Gevinson]
"In which we talk about songwriting, Tumblr, Taylor, Beyoncé, Kanye, Raymond Carver, haircare, clothes, insecurity, crying on planes, and…pretty much everything."

Every year, the Lannan Foundation does their Readings & Conversations series, which "brings nationally and internationally recognized poets and writers to Santa Fe to read and discuss their work in a public setting".  Past events have featured Michael Ondaatje with Carolyn Forché, Lydia Davis with Ben Marcus, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie with Binyavanga Wainaina, and Don DeLillo with Mark Danner.  You can find this year's schedule on their website.

Selected Shorts: The Stories of Alice Munro
Alice Munro and Margaret Atwood in conversation via Google+ Hangout On Air.

Book Lust with Nancy Pearl
"Seattle's own 'action figure librarian' and best-selling author Nancy Pearl sits down each month with top writers from around the country for conversations about books and the process and art of writing."

'The Wall Street Journal' Launches Book Club
"The Wall Street Journal has introduced a book club that is led by authors. Every month a guest host picks a book by another author and then acts as a guide for readers on Twitter. Book club participants can ask questions through the social network using the hashtag #WSJbookclub."

Monday, January 27, 2014

Magazine Anthologies

Recently, a copy of Nick Hornby's Ten Years In the Tub, a collection of the best of his monthly column "Stuff I've Been Reading" in The Believer magazine, showed up on our desk.  We've been a fan of Hornby's columns since his first collection, The Polysyllabic Spree, was published in 2004.  In "Stuff I've Been Reading", Hornby lists the books he's bought and the books he's read (and the lists are often quite different) and ruminates over the titles he's read.  "Read what you enjoy, not what bores you" is his most cherished maxim - and "whether plunging into a biography of Dickens whilst his children are destroying something in the room next door or devouring a whole series of children’s books whilst on holiday, Hornby is the intelligent, committed but sceptical reader we’d all like to be...  These accounts of one reader’s experience of buying and reading, and sometimes not reading, books differ from all other reviews or critical appreciations – they take into account the role that books actually play in the lives of readers," his website explains.

Having thoroughly enjoyed Hornby's columns over the years, we thought we would turn our attention to other books with content taken from magazines.  Several magazines, newspapers, and literary websites have published books compiled from stories from their pages - here's a list of a few!

The New Yorker 

Blown Covers : New Yorker Covers You Were Never Meant to See by Francoise Mouly

For other books with content from The New Yorker magazine, check the library catalog.

The Paris Review

The Paris Review Book of Heartbreak, Madness, Sex, Love, Betrayal, Outsiders, Intoxication, War, Whimsy, Horrors, God, Death, Dinner, Baseball, Travels, The Art of Writing, and Everything Else in the World Since 1953 by the editors of the Paris review; with an introduction by George Plimpton

For other books with content from The Paris Review, check the library catalog.

The Onion

The Onion Book of Known Knowledge: A Definitive Encyclopaedia of Existing Information by The Onion

For other books with content from The Onion, check the library catalog.

McSweeney's

The Best of McSweeney's edited by Dave Eggers and Jordan Bass

For other books inspired by McSweeney's website, check the library catalog.

Vanity Fair

The Great Hangover: 21 Tales of the New Recession edited by Graydon Carter

For other books with content from Vanity Fair magazine, check the library catalog.

Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated: Baseball's Greatest by Bill Syken

For other books with content from Sports Illustrated magazine, check the library catalog.

The New York Times

The New York Times Magazine Photographs edited and with a foreword by Kathy Ryan

For other books with content from The New York Times, check the library catalog


And finally, here are a couple of random books with content from other printed sources:

"They Call Me Naughty Lola": Personal Ads From the London Review of Books edited and with an introduction by David Rose

Black Mask Audio Magazine - Volume 1: Classic Hard-Boiled Tales From the Original Black Mask by Paul Cain ... [et al.]. [eAudiobook]

Friday, January 24, 2014

The Olympics Are Coming! The Olympics are Coming!


The winter games are quickly approaching and we're starting to turn our minds from literary pursuits to more athletic ones.

While the modern summer games have been going since 1896, but the winter games didn't start until 1924 as "International Winter Sports Week".  They have grown from a beginning of six sports and 14 events to 15 sports and 98 events.  If you're interested in arm chair refereeing, but need to brush up on the finer points of the rules of curling, we've got The Sports Rules Book.
Other books about winter sports include:

Children's

Adults

We've also got biographies on past famous US winter Olympians

Children's

Adults

For a fun movie night, Miracle, gives a dramatic account of the 1980 US Men's Hockey team's win over Russia.

If you're interested in up to the minute info and pictures, the US Team's twitter feed is pretty fun.

Lastly, if you're inspired to try some of the sports you see on TV, local information on lessons and ski conditions for skiing can be found here and ice sports here.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Squirrel!

"He is a good and smart master and he made me this collar so that I may speak.  SQUIRREL!" - Dug from "Up."
Rock Squirrel at Bandelier National Monument.  Photo used by permission.

Tuesday, January 21, marks National Squirrel Appreciation Day.  The National Wildlife Federation brings 7 ways to celebrate this often maligned mammal.  New Mexico numerous squirrel varieties, including the Rock Squirrel (pictured above) and Abert's Squirrel.  To look at a complete list, New Mexico Game and Fish has a key.  For Squirrel Appreciation of a whole different sort, the Missouri Department of Conservation does have recipes.

Squirrels are well represented in the library's collection.

Children's Picture Books
The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin
Ol' Mama Squirrel
Scaredy Squirrel at Night
Earl the Squirrel
Never Trust a Squirrel

Children's Non Fiction Books
Baby Ground Squirrel
The Raggedy Red Squirrel
Squirrels And Chipmunks

Children's Chapter Books
Bird & Squirrel On the Run
Squirrel World
The Curse of the Squirrel
Harold's Tale
The Heir Of Mistmantle

Adult's Fiction & Non Fiction Squirrel Books
Index of the Ohio Squirrel Hunters Roster
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary
Meat Eater: Adventures From The Life Of An American Hunter
The Natural History Of Tassel-Eared Squirrels

No Squirrel Appreciation Day would be complete without mentioning Scrat from "Ice Age".

Monday, January 20, 2014

Fulfilling the Dream


  








Monday, January 20, all ABC Libraries will be closed in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  The federal holiday honoring him started in 1983, signed in by President Reagan.  Information on the history of the day can be found at the King Center.  Instead of just having a day off of work, the King foundation views the day as a day "on", a day of service.  Locally, the parade honoring his work starts at 2 p.m. at the intersection of University and Marin Luther King NE, heading to Civic Plaza.  Further information can be found here.

The library has a lot of information on him and they come in all formats.  Only a small number are included here, but search the catalog for more.  All biographies about him will be under the call number: Bio King.

DVDs
Children
Martin's Big Words 
March On!

Adults
King: A Filmed Record... From Montgomery To Memphis
Martin Luther King "I Have a Dream" .  It includes the speech as well as other documentary footage.
Black History: a retrospective
Roads to Memphis
A documentary on the 1963 March on Washington is PBS' The March.
Focusing on his assassination and the times following is A Ripple of Hope.
For a cinematic look at Mrs. King, there is Betty & Coretta

Books
Children
Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
I Am Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. and the 1963 March on Washington
I Have a Dream
MLK: Journey of A King

Adults
 The Speech: The Story Behind Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Dream
Gospel Of Freedom
Remembering Martin Luther King Jr.
The King Years
Quotable King
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Best Young Adult Books of 2013

We're two and a half weeks into the new year, but I'm still thinking about all the young adult (YA) books I read last year. 2013 was a good year for YA books, but there were three in particular that I was so emotionally invested in, I'm still thinking about them months later.




Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas

While on spring break in Aruba, a young girl is accused of her best friend's death and must stand trial for murder in a foreign country.*

Dangerous Girls is sort of a cross between the real-life cases of Amanda Knox and Natalee Holloway. The writing was superb, the story engrossing, and the ending, while not unpredictable (for me; some reviewers have said they never saw it coming), still blew my mind. I didn't pick up another book until several days after finishing Dangerous Girls, because I just couldn't stop thinking about it.

Golden by Jessi Kirby

Seventeen-year-old Parker Frost has never taken the road less traveled. Valedictorian and quintessential good girl, she's about to graduate high school without ever having kissed her crush or broken the rules. So when fate drops a clue in her lap--one that might be the key to unraveling a town mystery--she decides to take a chance.*

Jessi Kirby is one of my favorite authors, and Golden is her best novel so far. The question that Parker faces throughout the book is a quote from the Mary Oliver Poem The Summer Day: "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" If you decide to read Golden, expect to think about that question in terms of your own wild and precious life; almost a year later, I'm still dwelling on it.

Game by Barry Lyga (Note: This is the sequel to I Hunt Killers.)

After solving a deadly case in the small town of Lobo's Nod, seventeen-year-old Jazz, the son of history's most infamous serial murderer, travels to New York City to help the police track down the Hat-Dog Killer.*

Game is the second book in Lyga's I Hunt Killer series. I love a good murder mystery, and Game didn't disappoint. Read it closely enough, and you'll figure out what game the serial killer in this book is playing.

Dangerous Girls, Golden, and Game weren't the only books published in 2013 that I loved. The others I loved were (in no particular order):

The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen
Just One Day by Gayle Forman
Racing Savannah by Miranda Kenneally
If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch
Seven Minutes in Heaven by Sara Shepard
The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd
When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney

Finally, I have two honorable mentions for books I loved last year but that weren't published in 2013.


The Girls of No Return by Erin Saldin
The Lucky Ones by Anna Godbersen

In a couple of weeks, I'll be taking a look at 2014 young adult releases--stay tuned!

*Book descriptions are taken from the library catalog, unless otherwise noted.


Thursday, January 16, 2014

National Puzzle Day

In honor of National Puzzle Day (January 26), Cherry Hills Library hosted a crossword puzzle tournament on January 14!

Puzzles were taken from the New York Times Archives and the fastest correct completer from each round moved on to the finals.

Congrats to Jennifer and Jason, our stellar final round contestants.  Below you can see them locked in a dead heat for the grand prize:


Both their puzzles were correct, but Jason came in a hair before Jennifer to claim the title.

Here's a close up of the winning puzzle.

Many thanks to all who participated!

The Library has books on puzzles, as well as novels featuring puzzles and movies.
For a fun cinematic look into crossword culture, there's Wordplay.

There are several Crossword Puzzle Dictionaries available for check out, including:
Crossword Puzzle Dictionary
The New York Times Crossword Puzzle Dictionary
The Everything Large-Print Crossword Dictionary

Nero Blanc and Parnell Hall are two mystery authors who feature crosswords.
The first of Nero Blanc's Belle Graham series is The Crossword Murder.
Parnell Hall's first in the series is A Clue For The Puzzle Lady (also available electronically).

If you're looking for puzzle books, but not necessarily crosswords, we have:
Sudoku Easy To Hard
Sudoku 200 Fun and Challenging Japanese Number Puzzles
The Sudoku Book

Mystery authors who feature Sudoku include Kaye Morgan, Parnell Hall and Shelley Freydont.  Some of their series begin:
Murder By Sudoku
The Sudoku Puzzle Murder (a continuation of her crossword puzzle series)
The Sudoku Murder

The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament is in the beginning of March and information can be found on their website.

Monday, January 13, 2014

Young Writers

NPR recently featured an article about St. Nicholas Magazine, a children's monthly magazine that was published from 1873-1941 (Mary Mapes Dodge, author of Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates, was its first editor). Like the magazine Stone Soup today, it featured contributions, art and writing, from children.  But what a interesting array of children!

Many famous writers were first published in St. Nicholas League, a department of the magazine created in 1899 with the slogan "Live to learn and learn to live", which offered monthly awards and cash prizes to the best work submitted by its juvenile readers. Edna St. Vincent Millay, F. Scott Fitzgerald, E. B. White, and Stephen Vincent Benet were all St. Nicholas League winners. [WikipediaEudora Welty contributed a pen-and-ink drawing to the magazine in 1920; Mildred Benson, who wrote the earliest Nancy Drew books using the pseudonym Carolyn Keene, was sending stories to the magazine by age 13; Bennett Cerf, one of the founders of Random House, won an essay contest; William Faulkner made the honor roll for his drawings; Ring Lardner sent in poetry and puzzles.

Are you interested in reading books by teen authors, or the early works of famous authors? Perhaps the most famous teen authors are Anne Frank (The Diary of a Young Girl, written before she perished at the age of 15) and Mary Shelley (Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus, which she started writing at the age of 19). However, many authors' published juvenilia can be read these days - Jane Austen's spoof History of England (written when she was just 16 years old!); S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders, written when she was still in high school; Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, whose In The Forests of the Night was written she was just thirteen; Christopher Paolini's Eragon, self-published when he was only 19.

If you'd like to find out more about St. Nicholas Magazine or find more books by young authors, check the links below!

Links

"Today, Magazine's Kid Bylines Read Like 'Pulitzer Prize Roll Call'"

About St. Nicholas Magazine

St. Nicholas Magazine at Project Gutenberg 

"10 Talented Child and Teen Authors"

Goodreads: YA Books by Teen Authors

"Teen Author Bookshelf: List of Published Teen Authors"

Friday, January 10, 2014

Reading Comics

Albuquerque Comic Con starts today, and here at abcreads, we have been revisiting Scott McCloud's most excellent Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art in homage to this event. But there are a plethora of other titles which discuss comics (or graphic novels - what's the difference?  What's your preferred nomenclature?) that you might enjoy perusing, if you are a fan of the genre.  From the untold story of Marvel to the artist behind Love and Rockets to comic journalism to the graphic canon, here are some of the latest books about comics in the library catalog:


Arguing Comics: Literary Masters on a Popular Medium by Jeet Heer and Kent Worcester [eBook]

Why Does Batman Carry Shark Repellent? And Other Amazing Comic Book Trivia! by Brian Cronin

Lynda Barry: Girlhood Through the Looking Glass by Susan E. Kirtley [eBook]

Super Graphic: A Visual Guide to the Comic Book Universe by Tim Leong

The Comic Book History of Comics by Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey

Journalism by Joe Sacco

Marvel Comics: The Untold Story by Sean Howe

The Graphic Canon - Volume 1: From the Epic of Gilgamesh to Shakespeare to Dangerous Liaisons edited by Russ Kick

1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die edited by Paul Gravett ; foreword by Terry Gilliam

Mutants and Mystics: Science Fiction, Superhero Comics, and the Paranormal by Jeffrey J. Kripal 

Stan Lee's How to Draw comics: From the Legendary Co-Creator of Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Iron Man by Stan Lee

The Art of Jaime Hernandez: The Secrets of Life and Death selection and commentary by Todd Hignite

The Power of Comics: History, Form and Culture by Randy Duncan and Matthew J. Smith



You can find books for kids and teens on this topic using a subject search of "Comic books, strips, etc. -- Technique -- Juvenile literature" or "Comic books, strips, etc. juvenile".

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Humans of New York


New York is the meeting place of the peoples, the only city where you can hardly find a typical American. 
~Djuna Barnes

The true New Yorker secretly believes that people living anywhere else have to be, in some sense, kidding. 
~John Updike

New York, New York!  Love it or hate it, there's no place like it, and its five boroughs are jam-packed with denizens sporting some of the biggest personalities you'll ever see.   We recently read the excellent Humans of New York - author Brandon Stanton's "photographic census", with its portraits and captions that capture "glimpses into the lives of strangers in New York City" (you can also visit his website), and it got us thinking about all the characters you can find in "the City". Here's a smattering of our favorite representatives of the Big Apple - if we've missed your favorites, let us know in the comments!

The fashionisto

Bill Cunningham: New York [DVD]

Art collectors

Herb & Dorothy [DVD]

Foodies

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain

Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl

Literati

Goodbye To All That: Writers on Loving and Leaving New York edited by Sari Botton

Broadway

Fosse by Sam Wasson

Dog People

The New Yorkers by Cathleen Schine [fiction]

Family life

Through the Children's Gate: A Home in New York by Adam Gopnik 

Lives of the rich and famous 

Empty Mansions:  The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr.

Mrs. Astor Regrets: The Hidden Betrayals of a Family Beyond Reproach by Meryl Gordon

Them: A Memoir of Parents by Francine du Plessix Gray

Shocked: My Mother, Schiaparelli, and Me by Patricia Volk

Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping

What Should I Do If Reverend Billy Is In My Store? by Bill Talen

What Would Jesus Buy? [DVD]

The Korean deli

My Korean Deli: Risking It All For a Convenience Store by Ben Ryder Howe

The iconic hotel

Inside the Dream Palace: The Life and Times of New York's Legendary Chelsea Hotel by Sherill Tippins

A look into 20th-century New York high society

A Voice From Old New York: A Memoir of My Youth by Louis Auchincloss   

Party of the Century: The Fabulous Story of Truman Capote and His Black and White Ball by Deborah Davis

In the '70s

Lucking Out: My Life Getting Down and Semi-Dirty in Seventies New York by James Wolcott

Just Kids by Patti Smith


Saturday, January 4, 2014

College Planning: From Getting There to Graduating

Know a high school student thinking about college?  A college student who's feeling swamped?  Is someone you know about to graduate and feeling uneasy about what comes next?  ABC Library has a book for that!  Here is a sampling of some of the latest offerings from the library catalog:

Getting to college

College-Prep Homeschooling: Your Complete Guide to Homeschooling Through High School by David P. Byers

College Admission: From Application to Acceptance, Step by Step by Robin Mamlet, Christine VanDeVelde

What High Schools Don't Tell You: 300+ Secrets to Make Your Kid Irresistible to Colleges by Senior Year by Elizabeth Wissner-Gross

A Year Up: How a Pioneering Program Teaches Young Adults Real Skills for Real Jobs With Real Success by Gerald Chertavian [eBook]

501 Ways for Adult Students to Pay for College by Gen and Kelly Tanabe [eBook]

Debt-Free U: How I Paid For An Outstanding College Education Without Loans, Scholarships, or Mooching Off My Parents by Zac Bissonnette [eBook]


The college years

The Smart Student's Guide to Healthy Living: How to Survive Stress, Late Nights, & the College Cafeteria by M.J. Smith and Fred Smith

How to Succeed in College (While Really Trying): A Professor's Inside Advice by Jon B. Gould

College Rules!: How to Study, Survive, and Succeed in College by Sherrie Nist-Olenjnik and Jodi Patrick Holschuh [eBook]


Preparing for the post-college world

All Work, No Pay: Finding an Internship, Building Your Resume, Making Connections, and Gaining Job Experience by Lauren Berger [eBook]

Getting from College to Career: Your Essential Guide to Succeeding in the Real World by Lindsey Pollak [eBook]

Stepping Up to Stepping Out: Helping Students Prepare for Life After College by George S. McClellan and Jill Parker, editors [eBook]

Goodbye College - Hello Life!: Go-To Answers from a Got-There Grown-Up by Lisa Brock [eBook]

Ramen Noodles, Rent and Resumes: An After-College Guide to Life by Kristen Fischer [eBook]

Adulting: How to Become a Grown-Up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps by Kelly Williams Brown


Also, check out the library's Test Preparation and Financial Aid/Preparing for College LibGuides!


Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Woodworking

Woodworking can range from someone as specialized as a luthier (someone who makes and/or repairs stringed instruments) or a techniques as specific as "lath art" (folk art that makes rustic pictures out of strips of old lath) to challenging skill sets such as Japanese carpentry (noted for its joinery) and boat building. For the purpose of this post, we've stuck to books for the amateur hobbyist - how to create a home workshop and some basic projects to get you started.  Here are some of the latest books in the library catalog for those with an interest in working with wood:


Building Cabinets, Bookcases & Shelves from the editors of Popular Woodworking [eBook]

The Handbuilt Home: 34 Simple Stylish and Budget-Friendly Woodworking Projects for Every Room by Ana White

Woodworking FAQ: The Workshop Companion - Build Your Skills and Know-How For Making Great Projects by Spike Carlsen

The Woodworker's Studio Handbook: Traditional and Contemporary Techniques For the Home Woodworking Shop by Jim Whitman

Best Birdhouses for Your Backyard by Michael Berger

Rough Cut: Woodworking with Tommy Mac - 12 Step-By-Step Projects by Tommy MacDonald with Laurie Donnelly

Taunton's Complete Illustrated Guide to Tablesaws by Paul Anthony

Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills edited by Abigail R. Gehring

Wood Magazine: How to Build a Great Home Workshop by editors of Wood Magazine


For more about woodworking, try a subject search in the library catalog of Woodwork,  Woodworking tools, and more! Additionally, if you sign up for our Zinio eResource, you can check out issues of Woodworker's Journal and Family Handyman.

Did you know that Albuquerque has a Woodworkers' Association?