abcreads

The Small Delights of Handwritten Correspondence

2012-02-02T12:20:00.002-07:00

"When you open your mailbox and there is an envelope inside, there's an immediate thrill of discovery. Then during the walk back home, the curiosity begins. 'What is inside?' Then you get to open it and read it and that is its own pleasure. If the letter is handwritten, often a person's state of mind shows in the tumble of letters or the crossed-out words. You can include artefacts. For instance, I can send a fabric swatch of the dress I'm working on which communicates so much more than even a photograph."
~Mary Robinette Kowal

I don't know about you, but I head to the mailbox every day with a heart full of optimism. Usually I only get bills or circulars, unless I've ordered something, but just now & then there will be a postcard or a greeting card. I love to get postcards (I am a member of Postcrossing, so if I'm lucky I'll find a random card from somewhere around the world), but sometimes I miss getting a letter. I used to have correspondents. We used to send each other multiple-page letters in funky decorated envelopes. One friend, out of the blue, sent me a hard-carved spoon with his note. In this age of of Facebook & Twitter, that never happens. I'm tired of 140 characters & status updates. I want my snail mail back!

With that in mind, I'm delighted to see not one, not two, but three attempts to "revive the lost art of letter-writing". They are:

Letters in the Mail: The online magazine The Rumpus is offering a print subscription! "It’s called Letters in the Mail. Almost every week you’ll receive a letter, in the mail. Letter writers will include Dave Eggers, Tao Lin, Stephen Elliott, Janet Fitch, Nick Flynn, Margaret Cho, Cheryl Strayed, Marc Maron, Elissa Schappel, Wendy MacNaughton, Emily Gould, and Jonathan Ames. Think of it as the letters you used to get from your creative friends, before this whole internet/email thing. Most of the letters will include return addresses (at the author’s discretion) in case you want to write the author back.And it’s only $5 a month, cheap."

The Month of Letters Challenge: “I have a simple challenge for you. In the month of February, mail at least one item through the post every day it runs. Write a postcard, a letter, send a picture, or a cutting from a newspaper, or a fabric swatch. Write back to everyone who writes to you. This can count as one of your mailed items. All you are committing to is to mail 24 items. Why 24? There are four Sundays and one US holiday. In fact, you might send more than 24 items. You might develop a correspondence that extends beyond the month. You might enjoy going to the mail box again.”

The Handwritten Project: "Here's how it works. I will write to anyone who wants to hear from me. It may be a postcard, a short note, or even a long-winded letter, but it will most certainly be in my own fair hand. The recipient does not have to write back but is more than welcome to do so. Simple. I mentioned this on Twitter as the old year came to a close and quickly collected over 60 addresses from people who wanted to be involved. Naturally, I would like to extend this offer to the fine people who actually bother to visit my blog. If you want something in the post from me then drop me a line and I will get something out to you just as soon as I can."

Interested? Need help getting started? Consider taking a look at letter writing guides or check out collections of correspondence, all available in the ABC Libraries' catalog! I just read Four Letter Word: Invented Correspondence from the Edge of Modern Romance, which, though fictional, contained some really beautiful love letters. Other fictional inspiration might be found by revisiting Griffin & Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence, or something off our Epistolary Novels booklist.

Guy Books

2012-01-31T11:23:00.002-07:00

On Amazon's Omnivoracious blog, they recently had a post called "Help an Amazon Customer Out - Books for Men". Apparently, a customer had posted this in the Amazon Books customer discussions:

"I'm looking for books for my husband. He read, and enjoyed, the Eric Larson Books, Lost in Shangri-La, the Horatio Hornblower and Patrick Obrian Aubrey Maturin series, Unbroken,... he likes books that read close enough like fiction, but also have something he can learn. He doesn't really like mystery and is a little tired of WW2. Any ideas? Thanks!"

The blogger had some suggestions for this customer, but he opened up the discussion on Omnivoracious to see what other people recommended. Some responses he got included: Ghost Wave:The Discovery of Cortes Bank and the Biggest Wave on Earth; books by Steve Berry & Jeff Shaara; Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart; Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe books; & Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster.

What would you recommend? If you are looking for titles, you might also check Booklist's "10 Manliest Books of 2011".

Novel Resources: Library Booklists Online

2012-01-29T12:09:00.004-07:00

There are a lot of books out there - facing the shelves can be a daunting task for the browser. Librarians like booklists in this situation, whether it be book awards or readalikes. It's a handy way to find similar titles or books about the same topic.
ABC Libraries' webpage has a LibGuide of booklists compiled by staff for adults & teens. There are genre booklists, like mystery & horror, some non-fiction, New Mexico authors, & multicultural booklists. There are also Monster Mashups & Sherlock Holmes Universe LibGuides.

Other resources I have found handy on the web include: the Library Booklists site, which consists of four sections: original booklists on various topics, primarily but not entirely focused on themes, places, characters, and plots of crime novels; annotated lists of other booklists, primarily but not entirely focused on fiction, for adults, kids, and teens; a growing calendar of authors' birthdates, organised by month, with links; and some resources for reading groups (discussion questions, recommended books, how to start a group, etc.); the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is featuring entertaining-looking lists such as "Apocalist Booklypse" ; Springfield City Library includes a variety of lists, from Christian fiction to a Job-Seekers booklist; the Lucius Beebe Memorial Library in Massachusetts has an impressive selection of mystery booklists; & St Charles Public Library has a whole section of Great Outdoors lists. Library websites are generally good resources for booklists of all kinds!

Other library resources you might want to check out include Staff Picks pages (Cherry Hills Library & Erna Fergusson Library have these). Also, Cherry Hills offers a "Read-A-Likes For You" services on their Staff Picks page- just fill out a quick survey to receive a librarian recommendation for your nexy read! The Seattle Public Library offers this service as well, if you have a Seattle library card.

A People's Readalong

2012-01-27T12:06:00.022-07:00

As you go out in the world, try to keep your eye on the human bottom line. I also hope you will understand & be tough about what is needed to solve problems, change attitudes, and bring about needed changes in our society. Democracy is not a spectator sport.

~Marian Wright Edelman, in a 1983 commencement address at Milton Academy

Howard Zinn's massive A People's History of the United States, 1492-Present has been malingering on my bookshelf for a decade. I don't think (though it's been a long time since I last looked at it) that I have ever read beyond Chapter 1: "Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress" . But 2012 is the year that I plan to finish it, with the help of A People's Readalong.

A People's Readalong is a genius idea (in my humble opinion) by two bloggers to read a chapter of this 729 page book a week until it's finished-sometime in July. So far, I've read Chapter 1 (again), & hope to soon start Chapter 2: Drawing the Color Line. It's nice, because you can write about it on your blog (if you have one) or just check in on the two bloggers' sites & leave your comments on their posts. There are several other people doing the readalong & commenting, so it's like an online discussion group.

The readalong bloggers recommended watching The People Speak, a documentary originally broadcast on the History Channel. "Using dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries and speeches of everyday Americans, the documentary feature film The People Speak gives voice to those who spoke up for social change throughout U.S. history, forging a nation from the bottom up with their insistence on equality and justice," is how Howard Zinn's website describes the film. Readers include Don Cheadle, Viggo Mortensen, Matt Damon, Marisa Tomei & Sandra Oh. I watched it yesterday & found it deeply moving, not to mention eye-opening.

ABC Libraries has the book (& audiobook version) of readings from the movie, The People Speak: American Voices, Some Famous, Some Little Known: Dramatic Readings Celebrating the Enduring Spirit of Dissent, as well as the book on which it was based, Voices of a People's History of the United States. The library catalog also features many other Zinn titles. Zinn, who died in 2010, was an American historian, academic, author, playwright, and social activist. According to Wikipedia, he received the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award, the Thomas Merton Award (given annually to "national and international individuals struggling for justice') and, in 1998, the Eugene V. Debs Award ("honoring a person whose work has been in the spirit of Debs and who has contributed to the advancement of the causes of industrial unionism, social justice, or world peace").

I'm excited to continue reading my weekly chapter! Wish me luck!

Links

A People's Readalong-Join us why don't you?

A People's Readalong (Fizzy Thoughts)

The People Speak website

Howard Zinn's website

Children's Book Awards Winners!

2012-01-25T12:04:00.007-07:00

It's that time of year again! The American Library Association has announced its 2012 award winners in children's literature. Here's the scoop:

John Newbery Medal
For the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature.
Winner:
Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

Randolph Caldecott Medal
For the most distinguished American picture book for children
Winner:
A Ball for Daisy illustrated and written by Chris Raschka

Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award
Recognizes an African-American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults.
Winner:
Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans written and illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award
Winner:
Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom illustrated and written by Shane W. Evans

Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
Winner: Ashley Bryan
“Storyteller, artist, author, poet and musician, Bryan created his first children’s book in first grade. He grew up in the Bronx and in 1962, he became the first African American to both write and illustrate a children’s book. After a successful teaching career, Bryan left academia to pursue creation of his own artwork. He has since garnered numerous awards for his significant and lasting literary contribution of poetry, spirituals and story.”

Schneider Family Book Award
For books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience.

Children ages 0 – 8: “The Jury chose not to award a book in the category for because no submissions were deemed worthy of the award.”
Middle school award (ages 9 – 13): Close to Famous written by Joan Bauer and Wonderstruck: A Novel in Words and Pictures written by Brian Selznick
Teen (ages 14-18) award: The Running Dream written by Wendelin Van Draanen

Alex Awards
For the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences.

•Big Girl Small by Rachel DeWoskin
•In Zanesville by Jo Ann Beard
•The Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan
•The New Kids: Big Dreams and Brave Journeys at a High School for Immigrant Teens by Brooke Hauser
•The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
•Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
•Robopocalypse: A Novel by Daniel H. Wilson
•Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
•The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt: A Novel in Pictures by Caroline Preston
•The Talk-Funny Girl by Roland Merullo

Andrew Carnegie Medal For Excellence in Children’s Video
Winner:
Paul R. Gagne and Melissa Reilly Ellard of Weston Woods Studios, Inc., producers of Children Make Terrible Pets. The video is based on the book written by Peter Brown, and is narrated by Emily Eiden, with music by Jack Sundrud and Rusty Young, and animation by Soup2Nuts.

Margaret A. Edwards Award
For lifetime achievement in writing for young adults.
Winner:
Susan Cooper, author of The Dark Is Rising Sequence: Over Sea, Under Stone; The Dark Is Rising; Greenwitch; The Grey King; and Silver on the Tree

May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award
Recognizes an author, critic, librarian, historian or teacher of children’s literature, who then presents a lecture at a winning host site.
Winner: Michael Morpurgo
“Born in England, Morpurgo was teaching when he discovered the magic of storytelling and began writing. His books are noted for their imagination, power and grace. In 1976, he and his wife established the charity Farms for City Children. He is an officer of the Order of the British Empire and served as Britain’s third Children’s Laureate. His novel, “War Horse,” has wowed theater audiences in London and New York and movie audiences all over.”

Mildred L. Batchelder Award
For an outstanding children’s book translated from a foreign language and subsequently published in the United States.
Winner:
Soldier Bear by Bibi Dumon Tak, illustrated by Philip Hopman, translated by Laura Watkinson

Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production
For best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States.
Winner:
Rotters by Daniel Kraus and narrated by Kirby Heyborne

Pura Belpré (Illustrator) Award
Honoring a Latino writer and illustrator whose children’s books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience.
Winner:
Diego Rivera: His World and Ours illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh

Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award
For most distinguished informational book for children.
Winner:
Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade written by Melissa Sweet

Stonewall Children’s and Young Adult Literature Book Award
Presented annually to English language books that have exceptional merit relating to the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered experience.
Winner:
Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy written by Bil Wright

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award
For the most distinguished beginning reader book.
Winner:
Tales for Very Picky Eaters written and illustrated by Josh Schneider

William C. Morris Award
For a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens.
Winner:
Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

Michael L. Printz Award
The Michael L. Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.
Winner:
Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

For more information & to see past award & honor books, visit the ALA site.

Our 2012 Reading Challenges

2012-01-23T11:49:00.003-07:00

We've decided to commit to two reading challenges this year at abcreads, but we're going to do them a little differently this year. Rather than write individual posts about each book, we've created pages on the blog for each challenge & will be keeping a running tally of our titles (with a short review) there. We hope our readers will check in periodically & see how we're doing!

Both challenges will be mystery-oriented this year: the Cozy Mystery Challenge, where we'll read 10-12 cozy mysteries (Super Sleuth level) from January 1, 2012 – December 31, 2012; & the Vintage Mystery Challenge, for which we have chosen the theme Golden Age Girls (8 books by female authors OR 8 books with female detectives).

Readers can't comment on these pages, but in our Book Banter forums we've created a "Reading Challenges 2012" thread for you to comment on our challenges & tell us about your own!

Literary Links

2012-01-21T11:17:00.046-07:00

If you don't like Amazon.com, try kicking the Amazon habit with Salon writer Laura Miller in 2012!

If you like Amazon.com, Nancy Pearl is launching the Book Lust Rediscoveries series with Amazon.com!

What Occupy can learn from the Hunger Games

Warner Bros. to adapt 'Discovery of Witches'

A Tough Guy's Tough Road to the Screen - who should play Jack Reacher?

Have you checked out Pinterest yet?

Recommended books about MLK

Mystery writer Reginald Hill's obituary

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole - quiz

Love the cartoons in Kate Beaton's Hark! A Vagrant? Visit her website for more!

Could your face fit Stephen King's next novel?

YA novel readers clash with publishing establishment

Twitter - the virtual literary salon

Science fiction for children: what would you recommend?

Chatter Cabaret (formerly Club Beethoven) in February

Bookworks and ABC Libraries Present authors Preston & Child at the Main Library.

The Academy Awards at the KiMo Theatre

Get Ready Genealogists!

2012-01-19T16:49:00.003-07:00

1940 CENSUS BEING RELEASED IN APRIL!

April 2, 2012 is a date many genealogists are eagerly awaiting. This is the day that the 1940 Census will be released to the public! For many of us, including myself, this is exciting stuff.  I will now be able to further construct my great-grandfather's timeline and where he was living when the enumerators came knocking at his door.

Census records have been recorded in America from 1790 to the present.  From the years 1790-1850 not much information was given, only head of household, how many family members and what age groups they were, such as how many males under 5 or how many females over 15. Starting in 1850 more questions began to appear, such as the place of birth of each person, either a county was listed or a state, if a person married within the year, the age of each family member, the value of any property and the occupation of the residents. In 1870 and 1880 began to list the month each person was born, naturalization information, whether the parents were born in a place other than the US and most often would list the place of birth.  The 1890 census met with an unfortunate fate. Most of the records were destroyed in a fire and only a few fragments were recovered.

Beginning in 1900 even more information was obtained such as the number of years individuals had been married, how many children a woman had and how many lived, the year of immigration to the US, whether their status was "AI" for Alien, "PA" for first papers, or "NA" for naturalized, if they owned or rented their home and if that home still had a mortgage or was owned free and clear. The 1910,1920 and 1930 census had basically the same information as the 1900, with a few exceptions.  The 1910 census listed if a person was a survivor of the Civil War and was indicated by a "UA" or "UN" for Union Army or Navy, or a "CA" or "CN" for Confederate Army or Navy. By the 1930 census any Civil War participants still living were listed with "CW" Also, on the 1910 census there are several numbers that scribbled over information in columns 30-32 and is statistical data only that was used by the Census department and not related to the person listed. The 1920 census listed the year the individual was naturalized and the 1930 census listed if a man had military service in other wars such as "SP" for the Spanish-American War, "Phil" for Phillipine Insurrection", "Box" for the Boxer Rebellion, "Mex" for Mexican Expedition and "WW" for World War I. This I found quite interesting to know as I never knew what those initials meant and now can go back to see if any relatives served in any of those conflicts.

There are some websites where census indexes and records can be searched for free, but not all the years are available. A couple of decent ones are usgwarchives.org/census, which can be searched by states if you know where an ancestor may have lived and http://www.censusfinder.com/. Most of the Census Finder website is index records only, but I have found where an ancestor was listed in the index which told me that a record was done, so that was a good aid to use.

In the 1940 census which will be released at 9:00 AM on April 2, in additon to the standard questions, there are several new fields that were added. The enumerators were told to put a "circled X" after the person's name answering the questions. Some of the questions asked were if the person ever worked for the CCC, WPA or NYA during the week of March 24-30, 1940 and the income for the previous year ending December 31, 1939. With this census there is a supplemental schedule to have two names for each page, the place of birth of the person's father and mother, the person's usual occupation, about whether all the women in the household have been married or not, if they were married more than once, and the age of first marriage. It will also have the location, such as street, avenue or road, and house number. This of course is the first census where the question could be asked if the person had a Social Security number.

The census will be made available to the public for research on April 2nd, but only at a National Archives location and the closest one to Albuquerque is in Denver. However, the Genealogy section at the Main Library will most likely have the census as soon as it can be transcribed after the release date, whether throught the Ancestry or Heritage Quest database. Also, Fold3 History and Genealogy Archives may have some older census records, but it is not known at this time if they will have any of the 1940 census. There should be more information on what the Genealogy section will have at a later date. There will be no name index available at the National Archives, but Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org have both stated they will have one as soon as it can be transcribed after the release date. If you decide to use Ancestry from your home computer there is a monthly fee involved and the basic fee for searching US records is $19.95.

Book Awards

2012-01-19T12:35:00.087-07:00

Are you an awards groupie like I am? My favorite prize is the Man Booker, which I glommed on to after a teenage reading of The Bone People, but I like to check out award-winners in multiple categories. There are several literary awards that have come up on the abcreads radar lately. How about:

The Story Prize: The Story Prize is an annual book award for short story collections written in English and published in the U.S. during a calendar year. This year's three finalists are all in the library catalog! They are The Angel Esmeralda by Don DeLillo, We Others by Steven Millhauser, & Binocular Vision by Edith Pearlman.
The National Jewish Book Awards: There are 18 categories to this prize, but The Jewish Book of the Year is Jerusalem: The Biography by Simon Sebag Montefiore.
The Man Asian Literary Prize: It is an annual literary award given to the best novel by an Asian writer, either written in English or translated into English, and published in the previous calendar year. This award usually only has 5 finalists, but this year it has 7. Our library system has most of them! Check out The Wandering Falcon by Jamil Ahmad (Pakistan); The Sly Company of People Who Care by Rahul Bhattacharya (India); River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh (India); Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin (South Korea); Dream of Ding Village by Yan Lianke (China); & The Lake by Banana Yoshimoto (Japan).
The Costa Awards: The Costa Book Awards is one of the UK's most prestigious and popular literary prizes and recognises some of the most enjoyable books of the year by writers based in the UK and Ireland. It’s unique for having five categories: First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's Book. We have their 2011 winner for Best First Novel, Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away by Christie Watson, & their Children's Book Award winner, Blood Red Road by Moira Young-which, incidentally, looks like it might be a good readalike for Hunger Games fans.
The Alex Awards: The Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18. 2011 winners include: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender; Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok; The Radleys by Matt Haig; & Room by Emma Donoghue.

P. D. James Comes to Pemberley

2012-01-17T12:07:00.016-07:00

I am an avid mystery reader, & a huge fan of the writer P.D. James. She has a new book out this year-at age 92! But, rather than featuring her usual detective, Adam Dalgliesh (or even Cordelia Gray, her other detective), she has set her latest mystery in the world of Jane Austen. Wha...?

It's true, I am having kind of an issue with this. A couple of years ago, James told the Guardian that she was worried about starting a new book at her age & possibly not being able to finish it. So, I was surprised & delighted to hear she had a new book coming out in December 2011! & then I heard what it was, & a niggling disappointment surfaced in my brain, despite the fact that I tried hard to squelch it.

Like a dedicated fangirl, I put my hold on a copy of her newest, Death Comes to Pemberley, as soon as it was in the catalog. I got my copy last week. It has sat, front & center on my couch, since I brought it home, but I can't bring myself to open it.

P. D. James in a wonderful writer, & I love Jane Austen. I'm just not sure I'm ready for them at the same time. I'm not sure why it's irking me so much. P. D. James has written non-mysteries (most notably the sci-fi The Children of Men) that haven't bothered me. I have read from the copious titles written around Jane Austen & her oeuvre-Sense & Sensibility & Sea Monsters, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, Austenland & their ilk-before. I also know that Stephanie Barron & Carrie Bebris both write mysteries set in Austen's world, though I have never read those, mostly because they look silly.

I should just trust in P.D. James. The book has gotten some glowing reviews (although somebody on Amazon did say "Not for purist Austen fans or demanding readers of PD James"), & apparently writing it was a dream of hers. I have the book until January 28th - I don't know how much more time I have to waffle.

Reader, what would you do?

Useful Links

To read other P.D. James titles (or watch the TV movies), check the library catalog.

Read the prologue to Death Comes to Pemberley at the Knopf Publishers' site.

A Life in Writing: P.D. James

Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King!

2012-01-15T11:46:00.003-07:00

All Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Libraries will be closed on Monday, January 16th to honor the birth anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Libraries will reopen on Tuesday, January 17th for their normal hours.

Ways you can celebrate the holiday:

Listen to King's "I Have a Dream" speech online or watch the video on YouTube.
Place holds on items relating to King in the library catalog. Or download the eAudiobook Martin's Big Words for your kids!
Participate in the Martin Luther King, Jr Day of Service. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "Life's most persistent and urgent question is: 'What are you doing for others?'" Each year, Americans across the country answer that question by coming together on the King Holiday to serve their neighbors and communities. The MLK Day of Service is a part of United We Serve, the President's national call to service initiative. It calls for Americans from all walks of life to work together to provide solutions to our most pressing national problems.
Plan your visit to The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change (“The King Center”) in Atlanta! Established in 1968 by Coretta Scott King, The King Center is the official, living memorial dedicated to advancing the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Through various programs and partnerships, they strive to educate the world about his life and teachings, inspire new generations to further his work, and strengthen causes and changemakers continuing his efforts today.
Take part in Albuquerque's Martin Luther King Holiday Parade on Sunday! Help commemorate Martin Luther King's work, message, and inspiration at the MLK Holiday parade. The event begins 1 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15 at University and Martin Luther King Boulevard NE, heading west to Harry E. Kinney Civic Plaza. (You can also find information about the city's holiday closures on the same page.)

Free eBook Sources

2012-01-13T10:29:00.002-07:00

Perhaps you are one of the lucky ones who received an eBook reader or other gadget for Christmas. Perhaps you are an early adopter and already have one or use your computer to the same effect. Maybe you are waiting to check out an eBook Reader from the library before you make a decision (Kindles coming soon!). No matter which camp you are in, the library's eBook collection has been surging in popularity.

But wait! The library is not the only source of free eBooks. Below is a brief list of places on the web where you can find free eBooks in a variety of formats. Many of the sites offer public domain (out-of-copyright) works, so frequently you have a great deal of choice in which edition and which site to download those from. Enjoy!

Amazon.com has a large selection of free titles, both books in the public domain and new books that are special offers from publishers. For public domain books, search by title or visit the Kindle Popular Classics collection. For free new books, the best place to check is the Best Sellers in Kindle Store Top 100 Free list. These are in the .azw format, which can be read on a Kindle or through one of the various free Kindle apps.

Barnes and Noble has similar freebies on their website, with both publishers' special offers and free classics. These are in the .epub format, which can be read on a Nook, though the Nook app, or on a reader which supports epub files by using Adobe Digital Editions.

Baen Books, a publisher of science fiction and fantasy, has a selection of free eBooks in many formats. Their Free Library aims to offer the first in a series when available.

Girlebooks is a good resource for classic and contemporary ebooks by female writers. Girlebooks ebooks are hand-crafted and professionally formatted into multiple ebook formats to accommodate most ereaders, & most titles are free. All of their ebooks, even the ones in the ebook store, are DRM free (no digital rights management). This means that once you download the ebook, it is yours forever no matter what ereader you use to read it.

Digital Book Index has a large catalog of (mostly) free academic and scholarly eBooks in many formats. This is a great resource for primary sources. The catalog pulls results from many different contributors and shows format availability.

Inkmesh is an eBook search engine. It has links to free promotional books for the Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Sony and others. It also allows you to search for a title (both eBook and eAudiobook) and compare prices at different websites. Since most prices are set by the publisher, this may not be as helpful as it seems, though occasionally a special can be found.

Lastly is the biggie, Project Gutenberg. This is the site to go to for out-of-print works, with more than 36,000 available. Project Gutenberg titles can be read by almost any device available. For more information on how to transfer them to your device, see these directions.

Stewart O'Nan

2012-01-11T10:06:00.002-07:00

I was reading the Indie Next List Preview this morning, & it mentioned the new book by Stewart O'Nan, The Odds: A Love Story. In fact, the review listed, by Cathy Langer of Denver's Tattered Cover book store, was downright glowing: "This is a small novel that packs an emotional wallop... Both suspenseful and sweet, I loved this gem of a novel."

Stewart O'Nan is a name I have come across in the library over the years, but I have never read one of his books. However, recently I was looking for books with "night" in the title (sometimes I am called upon to do such random searches) & I came across his Last Night at the Lobster. I found the blurb intriguing: "Managing a failed seafood restaurant in a run-down New England mall just before Christmas, Manny DeLeon coordinates a challenging final shift of mutinous staff members, an effort that is complicated by his love for a waitress, a pregnant girlfriend, and an elusive holiday gift." Yes, that's right, it's last night at a Red Lobster! I had always assumed O'Nan was Irish, but in fact, he is an American author who has taught at the University of New Mexico.

I feel like I should know more about Stewart O'Nan! His first two books, In the Walled City & Snow Angels, won literary prizes, & in 2008 a movie came out based on the latter. In 1996, Granta named him one of America's Best Young Novelists. Another book, A Prayer for the Dying, was a New York Times Notable Book. But somehow, he has slipped under my radar all this time.

In his last novel, Emily, Alone, Stewart O'Nan writes about an 80-year-old widow (this is a sequel to an earlier book, Wish You Were Here). Everyday People is set in a black Pittsburgh neighborhood (O'Nan is from Pittsburgh) one week in 1998. The Night Country features "the haunting presence of the wisecracking undead" [BookPage reviews]. The Circus Fire is an account of the big top fire that killed 167 people in Hartford, Connecticut in 1944. An avid Red Sox fan, O'Nan has also written, with Stephen King, Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season, which our library system has in English, Spanish, & large print. Wow! Publisher's Weekly noted this book's "warmth, personality [and] depth". A lot of reviews of O'Nan's work praise his empathy, versatility & compelling writing.

ABC Libraries' catalog lists about 15 Stewart O'Nan titles. I hope you will consider reading one this year..I know he's made my list!

Looking for something to do?

2012-01-09T11:29:00.081-07:00

With the change of year, it seems like people are focused on making changes to their lifestyle, whether it be learning something new or getting more organized or just getting out of the house more! Or, maybe you have relatives in town & want to take them out to an event. With that in mind, I'd like to introduce you to a tool to help you in your quest: the library's program calendar.

There are 17 branches in the library system, & most of them have programs monthly, ranging from storytimes to music to crafts. There are a couple of ways to search for programs online: by branch (click on the links under "Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library Locations" to reach individual branches' LibGuides); in the catalog (for instance, a keyword search of "computer" should bring up some classes); or, if you just want to see what's going on in the whole system, visit our program calendar! The calendar doesn't limit you to branch, but you can choose the type of program on the right.

I hope 2012 will be the year you'll take advantage of all the programs your library system has to offer! Here's a list of some of the system's January programs throughout the system to whet your appetite:

10th- Lomas Tramway Library: AMP Concert: Sadaqah
Tuesday
6 p.m

The music of Sadaqah takes you on a journey of the Silk Road and the caravan routes of Ancient Arabia. Sadaqah blends music of Greece, Turkey and the Arabic Countries. They present music of the Armenian, Kurdish, Hebrew people including music from Andalusia. Each musician is well versed in this genre and brings his or her own background of traditional western music, flamenco or folk styles to the mix.

11th- Lomas Tramway Library: Piano Lessons with Ben Franklin
Tuesday
6:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Did you get a Keyboard for Christmas or your birthday and just never knew what to do with it? Bring your own keyboard and take a series of 5 free, hands on lessons, beginning January 11th at 6:30pm. Registration required.

14th- Juan Tabo Library: Conquering Clutter – Or Is It Hoarding?
Workshop with professional organizer Kit Anderson
Friday
1 p.m.

Is your space more cluttered than you'd like? Is it interfering with your life? Come hear tips from a professional organizer on conquering that clutter. Learn why the clutter builds up and when to consider it hoarding. Start the new year off right with a cleaner, more organized home or office! Kit's latest book, The Faster I Work the Behinder I Get, will be available for sale.

14th- Main Library: Extreme Couponing and Smart Shopping
Saturday
11:00 a.m.

Learn how to use coupons and become a smart shopper by stretching your money further. Registration required. Please call 505-768-5141.

14th- Cherry Hills Library: United Blood Services Mobile
Saturday
10 – 2 p.m.

Be a hero. Donate blood.

17th- Juan Tabo Library: Lecture and Q&A: Hidden Thyroid Problems
Tuesday
2pm-3pm

One in thirteen Americans has a thyroid disorder and over half of these people are unaware that their thyroid is the reason they don't feel well! Join Dr. Vernon Redd for a lecture and Q&A session about hidden thyroid problems and what you can do to feel better. Bring your questions!

18th- Alamosa Library: Snowflake Craft with Miss Tina
Wednesday
3 – 5 p.m.

Make a 3-D snowflake. All ages welcome. No registration required.

19th- South Valley Library: AMP Concert: Sadaqah
Thursday
4 p.m.

The music of Sadaqah takes you on a journey of the Silk Road and the caravan routes of Ancient Arabia. Sadaqah blends music of Greece, Turkey and the Arabic Countries. They present music of the Armenian, Kurdish, Hebrew people including music from Andalusia. Each musician is well versed in this genre and brings his or her own background of traditional western music, flamenco or folk styles to the mix.

20th- Westgate Library-Holiday Craft
Friday
2 – 5 p.m.

Join us to make a paper plate snow man or a snowflake. This craft is for ages 5 and up.

21st- Special Collections Library: Centennial Speaker Series
Saturday
10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

“Asking for the Inestimable Right: New Mexico's State Government of 1850” by Tim Kimball. In 1850, New Mexico began its quest for statehood. Slavery, anti-Catholicism, and racism doomed this first attempt in a complex drama that ran for another 62 years. Held in Botts Hall at Special Collections Library.

21st- Los Griegos Library: Memoir Writing Workshop with presenter Marcia Rosen
Tuesday
3 – 4:30 p.m

Participate in this memoir-life writing program, where you will create a record of your life. This workshop will cover the process of writing, developing and structuring your memoir in your voice.

24th- Lomas Tramway Library: Library Teen Movie Night
Tuesday
5:30 p.m.

Teens can enjoy a movie with other teens at Lomas Tramway. Movies shown on Tuesday Teen Movie Nights are specially selected for teen audiences, but adults are welcome to attend.

25th- Lomas Tramway Library: Teen Wii Tournament
Wednesday
4 p.m.

Teens in are invited to participate in a Teen Wii Tournament at Lomas Tramway Library. The games to be played will be announced prior to the tournament, for more information call 505-291-6295.

25th- Taylor Ranch Library: Music and Movement Theatre
Wednesday
5:30 - 7 p.m.

Music and Movement Theatre presents "Peanuts at the Circus." No registration required.

26th- Los Griegos Library: Poetry Discussion Group
Thursday
2 – 3 p.m.

Explore poetry of New Mexico poet, Levi Romero.

28th- East Mountain Library: Japanese Taiko Drumming
Saturday
2 p.m.

Join this introductory class in the art of Japanese Taiko, a group drumming ensemble featuring drills and thrills, full of active movement to enrich and enliven your spirit. Please come dressed for a workout! All instruments provided.

28th- San Pedro Library: Centennial Storytime for Grownups
Saturday

Come to a special Centennial edition of our monthly Storytime for Grownups and listen to storyteller Mark Maravetz read The Milagro Beanfield War by John Nichols.

28th- Main Library: Celebrate the Centennial
Friday
10:30 – 12 p.m.

Join David Schneider on the 2nd Floor of the Main Library for a discussion of some of the best books ever written about New Mexico history. The Friends of the Public Library will have copies of many New Mexico favorites available for sale as part of this event.

28th- Cherry Hills Library: Chinese Flute Music
Monday
3:30 – 4:30 p.m.

Ages 6-12. Marta Dee, musician and teacher, will play the “hsao” and “ti-tze” classical flutes and talk about Chinese philosophy expressed through music. This program is designed for children but adults may enjoy listening also.

29th- Cherry Hills Library: National Puzzle Day
Sunday
1 – 5 p.m.

Challenge yourself and solve various puzzles while visiting the library. Tease your brain! We'll have word, number and jigsaw puzzles available around the library. Add to a puzzle in progress or work an entire puzzle on your own.

Please note that some programs require registration. If you have questions about a program, please contact the library branch.

...and they're off!

2012-01-07T00:26:00.001-07:00

I realize a lot of you may be spending your free time watching championship football playoffs as we get closer & closer to the Super Bowl, but for those of you whose new year's resolutions include becoming more active, here are a couple of local sporting events you might want to give a whirl:

The 39th Annual Chama Ski Classic
January 14-16

39th Annual Cross Country Ski Events including both Freestyle & Classic Style Races; Snowshoe Race; Combined Ski/Snowshoe Events; at Windy Point, just below Cumbres Pass on Hwy 17.

They are planning a full weekend of fun events!

Yurt & Ski tours
Chile/Chili Contest
Avalanche Rescue Clinic
Telemark Skiing Clinic
Afternoon Yoga
Broom Hockey & Frisbee Golf
Costume Contest
Ski Waxing Clinic
Beginner to Advanced XC Skiing Techniques Class
Live Music & Beer Tasting
Awards Ceremonies

Duke City All-Comers Indoor Track & Field Meet
January 21, 2012

6-9pm
Admission: Free

Albuquerque Convention Center
401 2nd St NW

Open to any high school, age group, masters athlete able to participate. Events include long jump, shot put, pole vault, high jump, sprint, hurdles & relay.

New Mexico Centennial

2012-01-04T16:31:00.001-07:00

On January 6, 1912, New Mexico became the 47th state in the U.S.! Celebrate our state's centennial in a myriad of ways this month (& beyond!), including:

Get the centennial stamp! It's expected to be issued to January 6th.
Pick up a copy of "ABQ Artopoly: Centennial Edition" - a visually delightful board game produced in a collaborative effort by art organizations & venues throughout the community. To be officially launched by Mayor Berry on January 26th, you can get your copy now at Framing Concepts Gallery, Weems Gallery, & other local galleries.
Visit the Pueblo Cultural Center starting February 4th for "100 Years of State & Federal Policy: Its Impact on Pueblo Nations". This new exhibition will reflect upon major events and milestones tied to federal and state policy since 1912 and their lasting impacts upon Pueblo people.
Check out the Centennial Shop for commemorative gear, including clothing, calendar, & mug.
Visit Cherry Hills Library on January 6th for centennial drop-in activities, Alamosa Library for a craft & biscochitos, or Lomas Tramway Library on the 6th for a special storytime, the Van of Enchantment, & a chile-ristra-making craft for kids! Or, starting January 19th, join Juan Tabo Library's new book club, Read Around New Mexico! Check the branch websites for event times.
Visit Congregation Albert on January 8th from 10 am - 3 pm for "New Mexico Statehood Centennial: A Celebration of Writing". A panel of New Mexico authors will discuss how the landscape & history of the state infuses their writing.
Check out something about New Mexico from the library! Don't forget, you can search by keyword or subject. There is a lot of material available! You might want to search for something more specific than "New Mexico", such as "New Mexico history".

For more, make sure to check out the centennial's official site & Facebook page! There are events scheduled all year long, so you can pace yourself & keep the centennial spirit for the entirety of 2012.

Weird, Fascinating Science Fiction & Fantasy

2012-01-02T12:38:00.001-07:00

2011 was a good year to be a reader of science fiction and fantasy, although lately every year has been a good year: Not only are the books getting more popular...they're getting more interesting, evolving and morphing in weird, fascinating ways. They're also interbreeding with other genres to produce wild new hybrid forms, like historical science fiction romances and hard-boiled fantasy detective novels. They're commenting on current events and swapping DNA with literary novels.
~from "Fired Up: The Year's Best Science Fiction, Fantasy" by Lev Grossman

The article recommends:

A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin

The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne Valente

Rule 34 by Charles Stross

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Also consider:

The Magician King by Lev Grossman

Of Blood & Honey by Stina Leicht

Robopocalyse by Daniel H. Wilson

Roil by Trent Jamieson

Regicide by Nicholas Royle

Among Others by Jo Walton

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi

Seed by Rob Ziegler

Mind Storm by K. M. Ruiz

I'd also like to put in a plug for one of my favorite science fiction writers, Joan Slonczewski, who finally has a new book, The Highest Frontier, out this year! I'm not sure it's a "new hybrid form", but Booklist says it's "a must-read for all sf fans".

Best Wishes for 2012!

2011-12-31T10:28:00.000-07:00

What are you doing New Year's Eve? The 13 regularly-scheduled Saturday branches are open on December 31st, but all Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Libraries will be closed on Sunday, January 1st & Monday, January 2nd. Libraries will reopen on Tuesday, January 3rd. Have a festive & safe holiday! See you next year!

Science Corner

2011-12-29T12:04:00.001-07:00

Was our last science post really in March? I've been remiss. Let me try to make it up to the scientifically minded with some end-of-year book recommendations & a contest for kids!

THE BOOKS

A fun blog that I've recently discovered, Handsome Science, recommends these science tomes:

The Clockwork Universe by Edward Dolnick - A rousing tale, focusing mainly on Isaac Newton and his contemporaries, friends and rivals alike, of the early science of finding the workings of the solar system. Newton, like many others of his day, believed God had set a beautifully systematic solar system in motion aeons ago, or perhaps still had His hand in the motions. That either/or was actually a huge dilemma for these thinkers, since either God was no longer necessary for the universe to function, or had created an imperfect universe requiring His constant intervention!

The 4% Universe by Richard Panek - While this book isn't bogged down in jargon, it doesn't make for the lightest reading, either. But pick it up if you're interested in the story of how the evidence and theories of dark matter and dark energy accumulated over the last century, culminating in two ground-breaking theories of the cosmos emerging in the last few decades. The book covers many personal stories of the researchers and mathematicians who had to reconcile the known effects of gravity with new, baffling observations of distant galaxies.

The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean - Pick this up for a great read on some very interesting elements, beginning from the earliest to be isolated, like hydrogen and oxygen, to those being created in modern atom-smashing labs today. Elements with interesting properties or histories are covered in more detail, such as gallium, a metal that melts somewhere between room and body temperature, used in an early practical joke chemists would play on their guests. (1. Make spoon of gallium. 2. Give spoon to guest to stir their hot tea with. 3. Laugh as guest pulls spoon handle out the tea, wondering where the other half went! 4. Make sure the guest does not drink the gallium-poisoned tea.)

Death by Black Hole by Neil DeGrasse Tyson - If you're anything like me, you've probably seen Dr. Tyson on The Daily Show or The Colbert Report about a dozen times now. He just might have the greatest stage presence and sense of humor of any astrophysicist in history. In fact, Carl Sagan of the TV show Cosmos was one of his idols and mentors. I think I first started seeing Neil DeGrasse Tyson on various Discovery Channel specials about the solar system and the rest of the universe. Death by Black Hole gave me the first clear picture of why a black hole is the way it is. And Dr. Tyson also gives one of his favorite thought experiments: what it would be like to fall into a black hole, feet first. He uses the term "spaghettification."

Death from the Skies by Phil Plait - Another dark title, from one of the most recognized names in astronomy blogging, Death from the Skies covers a myriad of different doomsday scenarios for our little blue planet, from asteroid impacts to the heat-death of the universe. (Warning: both are pretty much inevitable, but the latter is the subject of perhaps the most depressing thoughts I've ever had.) Phil Plait writes the blog Bad Astronomy, which is always worth checking out.

Sciencia: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Astronomy for All by Burkard Polster, Gerard Cheshire, Matt Tweed and Matthew Watkins - This one could very easily make my job here obsolete, but I'll recommend you pick it up anyway. This is the only book on the list I haven't read cover to cover, and I almost bought myself a copy, but based on my wife's behavior at the bookstore, I have a sneaking suspicion I'll be getting it sometime soon after all... The reason I mention this one in particular is that it jumped out at me as a layman's encyclopedia of every major scientific concept out there: cellular life, evolution, galaxies, stars, you name it. (I'd have more examples, but I only got a quick peek!) And each concept is covered in one page of clear language and a picture. Beautiful.

All comments are taken from the blog. Thanks, Robert Stewart-Rogers!

THE CONTEST

The Kids' Science Challenge
Where kids discover that science is cool!

What is the Kids’ Science Challenge?

The Kids’ Science Challenge (KSC), the premiere elementary school science competition in the US, is a free, nationwide science competition for students in grades 3 through 6. The KSC is funded primarily by the National Science Foundation but also receives support from other foundations and corporations. The KSC engages kids to use their creativity to make connections and innovate on our current conceptions of how things work. By participating in the competition, engaging in KSC activities and following the experiences of the winners, all students learn more about the process of innovation and about how those curious “what if” questions are the foundation of scientific thinking.

How do I enter and how does the competition work?

Each year the KSC selects 3 science topics and a panel of expert scientists and engineers. The entry process is 3 easy steps:
STEP 1: Kids research the three topics.

STEP 2: Kids brainstorm their ideas, experiments or problems.

STEP 3: Kids submit their ideas or experiments for scientists to solve.
Students may enter in more than one science topic (Zero Waste, Animal Smarts, Meals on Mars), but must complete and submit a new application for each entry. There is a limit of one entry per topic for an individual or team.

What are the topics this year?

ZERO WASTE
The Challenge: Can you invent a package that never ends up in a landfill?

ANIMAL SMARTS
The Challenge: Can you design a toy, game or experiment that enhances the life of a pet or zoo animal and demonstrates its particular intelligence?

MEALS ON MARS
The Challenge: Can you come up with a new way to preserve, cook, deliver or sustainably produce food in flight or on Mars?

What is the entry deadline?

The Kids’ Science Challenge is open for entries from October 1, 2011 thru February 29, 2012. You can complete the entry online or mail/fax a copy to the KSC. As of December 27th, there are still 62 days left to register for the Kids Science Challenge! You can find out more at their website.

The ABC Libraries' Best Books of 2011

2011-12-27T11:22:00.143-07:00

All books listed below are recommended by library staff. Thanks to all the staff members who suggested titles!

Fiction

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch

Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

Sister by Rosamund Lupton

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

The Free World by David Bezmozgis

There But For The by Ali Smith

Deathless by Catherynne Valente

Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland

Where the Shadows Lie by Michael Ridpath

Love You More by Lisa Gardner

Fallen by Karin Slaughter

The Bride's House by Sandra Dallas

The Lake by Banana Yoshimoto

Heartless by Gail Carriger

Breaking Silence by Linda Castillo

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

Children's & Young Adult Fiction

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

The Isle of Blood by William James Henry ; edited by Rick Yancey

Lost & Found: three by Shaun Tan

Nonfiction

It Looked Different on the Model: Epic Tales of Impending Shame and Infamy by Laurie Notaro

Life by Keith Richards, James Fox

View From Lazy Point: A Natural Year in an Unnatural World by Carl Safina

The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall of a Serial Imposter by Mark Seal

Then Everything Changed: Stunning Alternate Histories of American Politics: JFK, RFK, Carter, Ford, Reagan by Jeff Greenfield

Bird Cloud: A Memoir by Annie Proulx

Wicked Bugs: The Louse that Conquered Napoleon's Army & Other Diabolical Insects by Amy Stewart

The Churchills: In Love & War by Mary Lovell

Retromania: Pop Culture's Addiction to Its Own Past by Simon Reynolds

Just My Type: A Book about Fonts by Simon Garfield

Blood, Bones, & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton

Here are the ABC Libraries' customers' favorites - or at least the ones that had the highest circulation in November & December.

Top 20 Book Checkouts for ABC Libraries (system-wide)

Fiction

Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Confession by John Grisham
The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
Toys by James Patterson
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest by Stieg Larsson
Bel-Air Dead by Stuart Woods
The Reversal by Michael Connelly
Wicked Appetite by Janet Evanovich
Tick Tock by James Patterson
Cross Fire by James Patterson
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Live Wire by Harlan Coben
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
Sixkill by Robert B. Parker
Mystery by Jonathan Kellerman
I'll Walk Alone by Mary Higgins Clark
Now You See Her by James Patterson
Kill Me If You Can by James Patterson

Non-Fiction

Great Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
Cracking the GED
The World Book Encyclopedia
Bossypants by Tina Fey
The Guinness Book of Records
Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff
Moon Handbooks
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
The Greater Journey by David G. McCullough
Barron's Pass Key to the GED High School Equivalency Exam
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
A Stolen Life by Jaycee Lee Dugard
Troublemaker by Janet Evanovich
Kill-A-Watt energy detector
Cracking the SAT
Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff
I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron
Cracking the ACT

Just for fun: check out Stereotyping You by Your Favorite Book of 2011! If I were to pick my favorite off this list, it would be Bossypants, putting me in the "Hilarious ladies and the ladies who want to be them" category.

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-25T11:31:00.001-07:00

Happy holidays to all! All Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Libraries will be closed on Sunday, December 25th & Monday, December 26th. Libraries will reopen on Tuesday, December 27th.

What to Read Next

2011-12-23T12:25:00.035-07:00

This year, I did a personal book challenge called Take a Chance. Sadly, the site that hosts this challenge will not be doing so in 2012, but I wanted to share with you the websites & methods that they recommended to find new books to read. I had a lot of fun finding books to read using these methods!

1: Staff Member’s Choice: Go to a bookstore or library that has a “Staff Picks” section. Read one of the picks from that section.

2: Loved One’s Choice: Ask a loved one to pick a book for you to read. (If you can convince them to buy it for you, that is even better!)

3: Blogger’s Choice: Find a “Best Books Read” post from a favorite blogger. Read a book from their list.

4: Critic’s Choice: Find a “Best of the Year” list from a magazine, newspaper or professional critic. Read a book from their Top 10 list.

5: Blurb Book: Find a book that has a blurb on it from another author. Read a book by the author that wrote the blurb.

6: Book Seer Pick: Go to The Book Seer and follow the instructions there. Read a book from the list it generates for you.

7: What Should I Read Next Pick : Go to What Should I Read Next and follow the instructions there. Read a book from the list it generates for you.

8: Which Book Pick: Go to Which Book and use the software to generate a list of books. Read a book from that list.

9: LibraryThing Pick: Go to LibraryThing’s Zeitgeist page. Look at the lists for 25 Most Reviewed Books or Top Books and pick a book you’ve never read. Read the book. (Yes … you can click on MORE if you have to.)

10: Pick A Method: Pick a method for finding a book from the choices listed below.

■Random Book Selection. Go to the library. Position yourself in a section such as Fiction, Non-Fiction, Mystery, Children (whatever section you want). Then write down random directions for yourself (for example, third row, second shelf, fifth book from right). Follow your directions and see what book you find. Check that book out of the library, read it and then write about it. (If you prefer, you can do the same at a bookstore and buy the book!)

■Public Spying. Find someone who is reading a book in public. Find out what book they are reading and then read the same book. Write about it.

■Random Bestseller. Go to Random.org and, using the True Random Number Generator, enter the number 1950 for the min. and 2010 for the max. and then hit generate. Then go to this site and find the year that Random.org generated for you and click on it. Then find the bestseller list for the week that would contain your birthday for that year. Choose one of the bestsellers from the list that comes up, read it and write about it.

What are your goals for 2012?

2011-12-21T12:24:00.003-07:00

I blame Julie and Julia:365 days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen-How One Girl Risked Her Marriage, Her Job, and Her Sanity to Master the Art of Living for starting this trend of challenging yourself to follow a year long quest, & then write a book about it. In the past, didn't people just make New Year's resolutions & then give them up after a couple of months? Suddenly, everyone's spending a year travelling with kids (& in one memorable case, a cat) or following all the advice from women's magazines or saying yes to everyone who asks for a date or spending the last months of their twenties embarking on a multitide of adventures for a "year of fear". Below you can find a list of memoirs by folks who have dedicated themselves to changing up their lives, in one form or another, for a year (or thereabouts). What do you think? Could you do it? Would you do it? What challenge would you consider taking on for a year?

365 Thank Yous: The Year a Simple Act of Daily Gratitude Changed My Life

Living Oprah: My One-Year Experiment to Walk the Walk of the Queen of Talk

The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible

The Year of Living like Jesus: My Journey of Discovering What Jesus Would Really Do

The Year of the Goat: 40,000 Miles and the Quest for the Perfect Cheese

The Year of Eating Dangerously: A Global Adventure in Search of Culinary Extremes

The Year of Yes: A Memoir

A Year of Sundays: Taking the Plunge (and Our Cat) to Explore Europe

Living a Year of Kaddish

Sweater Quest: My Year of Knitting Dangerously

Helping Me Help Myself: One Skeptic, Twelve Self-Help Programs, One Whirlwind Year of Improvement

Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally

Diary of a Real Estate Rookie: My Year of Flipping, Selling, and Rebuilding-- and What I Learned (The Hard Way)

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life

Give it Up: My Year of Learning to Live Better with Less

So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading

Long Distance: A Year of Living Strenuously

Learning to Breathe: My Yearlong Quest to Bring Calm to My Life

The Feast Nearby: How I Lost My Job, Buried a Marriage, and Found My Way by Keeping Chickens, Foraging, Preserving, Bartering, and Eating Locally (All on $40 a Week)

My Year with Eleanor: A Memoir

Chastened: The Unexpected Story of My Year Without Sex

A Year Without "Made in China": One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy

One Year Off: Leaving it All Behind for a Round-the-World Journey with Our Children

The Happiness Project, or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean my Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

Up for Renewal: What Magazines Taught Me about Love, Sex, and Starting Over

Still Life with Chickens: Starting Over in a House by the Sea

The Great Typo Hunt: Two Friends Changing the World, One Correction at a Time

Farewell, My Subaru: An Epic Adventure in Local Living

No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal who Attempts to Save the Planet, and the Discoveries He Makes about Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process

The Know-it-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World

Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping

The Necklace: Thirteen Women and the Experiment that Transformed Their Lives

52 Loaves: One Man's Relentless Pursuit of Truth, Meaning, and a Perfect Crust

The One-Week Job Project: One Man, 1 Year, 52 Jobs

Or, if you'd prefer not to take on a major quest next year, here are some self-improvement titles to help you just have a great year!

The Best Year of Your Life: Dream It, Plan It, Live It

The Gift of a Year: How to Give Yourself the Most Meaningful, Satisfying, and Pleasurable Year of Your Life

A Year to Live: How to Live This Year as if It Were Your Last

Romancing the Ordinary: A Year of Simple Splendor

Life Makeovers: 52 Practical and Inspiring Ways to Improve Your Life One Week at a Time

One way or another, here's hoping you have a happy new year!

Fads & Trends, Curiosities & Wonders

2011-12-19T12:41:00.009-07:00

I don't profess to be fashionable. I am on the cutting edge of nothing. So, when the Weekly Alibi ran a feature recently on "Planking/Flanking", I was fairly clueless. Then, yesterday, a co-worker turned me on to Tebowing, & as a corollary, I discovered Owling. How have I missed all the fun fads?

As I am wont to do when I want to learn about something, I turned to my friendly local library catalog. A keyword search of "fads" turned up titles such as Panati's Parade of Fads, Follies, and Manias: The Origins of Our Most Cherished Obsessions, Flavor of the Month: Why Smart People Fall for Fads,& Poplorica: A Popular History of the Fads, Mavericks, Inventions, and Lore that Shaped Modern America. A good background, but none of these books were going to keep me au courant. We do have the I Can Has Cheezburger?: A LOLcat Collekshun book-wasn't that all the rage not too long ago? Are people still doing PostSecret? How about Sh*t My Dad Says? I guess people are still loving The Onion, since you can now pick up a copy locally. The literary mashup genre still seems to be going strong, though I stopped reading at Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter.

However, what my search for fads did lead me to was a couple of very interesting subject headings (when looking an item record, you can find subject headings under the "Find Similar Items" tab): Popular Culture, seven glorious pages of off-the-wall books from Back to Our Future: How the 1980s Explain the World We Live in Now to Hip, The History; & Curiosities & Wonders, which brings you New Mexico Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff, The Book of Useless Information, & Charles Fort: The Man who Invented the Supernatural. I'm sure I'll be reading in these subjects for quite some time.

Some other fun things you might enjoy:

Garfield minus Garfield

Simon's Cat on YouTube

Awkward Family Photos

The Bad Fads Museum

Cake Wrecks

The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers

2011-12-17T12:28:00.003-07:00

For our next book review in the Oceans 11 reading challenge, here's a few words from library patron & friend of abcreads Susan:

The Riddle of the Sands is said to be the first espionage/thriller novel. In 1903, 11 years before WWI, Erskine Childers felt compelled to awaken Britain to Germany's growing sea power and the potential for invasion, so Britain would organize effective naval defense. The book was effective, and triggered plans for better coastal defenses. Although Childers provided a key warning to protect Britain, he later supported the Irish cause and was executed for treason.

Charles Carruthers,working at the Foreign Office, receives a letter from acquaintance Arthur Davies, inviting him to travel on his yacht to hunt ducks in the Frisian islands off Germany. Carruthers expects a luxury cruise, but upon arrival finds he and Davies are the entire crew of the far-from-luxurious Dulcibella. He soon comes to respect Davies' seamanship, and the landscape melts his condescension.

As they explore "the sands", Davies confesses his ulterior motive for having Carruthers along....Carruthers can speak German. Davies is certain they must uncover a military plot against Britain based on the tidal sands of the Frisians.

The writing is relaxed and descriptive, and the story proceeds at a slow pace, enjoyable for readers who enjoy detailed settings and gradual plot buildup. The narrative includes and frequently references maps to describe in detail how Carruthers and Davies navigate the waterways. The late season (October) is an important factor in their quest, creating many challenges and the occasional advantage due to weather.

A few suspenseful scenes qualify the book as a thriller, but this is a story to savor at leisure, not a page-turner that keeps you up late to finish. Carruthers and Davies are on a quest for evidence to back up their hypothesis and solve an intellectual puzzle (what is the signifcance of the sands?). The wealth of nautical and historical detail will delight pre-WWI naval buffs.

Georgette Heyer

2011-12-15T11:23:00.022-07:00

I profess that I have never read one book by Georgette Heyer, but yet I found myself curious as to the staying power of her novels through the years. Who was this woman who continues to charm women the world over with her light, often witty romance novels? Although, they are not just frippy romance works, they are often historical in nature, with details that took a lot of research. Georgette wanted her works to be accurate and had over 1,000 reference books to help with certain facts about clothing, hats, prices, shops, foods, and how people addressed each other. She even purchased a letter written by the Duke of Wellington to accurately portray his style of writing in the novel An Infamous Army.

Ms. Heyer was born in 1902 in Wimbeldon, London and grew up with two younger brothers, Boris and Frank. She was named Georgette after her father George, who after serving with the British Army in World War I went on to teach at King's College London. He encouraged his children to read and no restrictions were placed on the titles they chose. When she was 17, she began a serial work titled The Black Moth to amuse her brother Boris who was often sick and her father felt it had great potential. He found a publisher for the book and it was published in 1921.

In 1920 she met a young man by the name of George Ronald Rougier and after her father passed away in the spring of 1925, they became engaged and married in August of that year. Ronald was a mining engineer and soon after they were married he was sent to the Caucasus Mountains in Russia and Georgetter stayed home and wrote her next novel, These Old Shades. The book came out in the middle of the 1926 General Strike and no publicity was put out about the novel, but yet it sold 190,000 copies. She realized she could sell books without having to deal with interviewers and never once gave another interview or helped to promote her published works. Ms. Heyer also wrote thrillers and detective novels, but those books were never quite as popular as her historical fiction.

Her books did very well during the Great Depression and World War II as many readers felt her books were great escapist literature that helped them cope with the difficulties of their lives. Readers in the United States were introduced to her works via mass-market paperbacks in 1966 and many felt she had invented the historical romance and its subgenre, the Regency romance. She received no mentions from most critics, but it was not something she was concerned with. As long as her readers liked them, that was good enough for her. Yet, the many authors today who style their works in the historical romance or Regency genre owe much to Georgette Heyer, who blazed the trail for them to follow. In fact under "Regency fiction" as a keyword search in the catalog there are over 332 titles listed!

Ms. Heyer passed away in 1974 and at the time of her death, forty-eight of her novels were still in print. Her last novel, My Lord John was published posthumously. The library does not own all of them, but there are thirty-two titles in the catalog and others could be ordered through Interlibrary Loan if you wish to challenge yourself to read them all.

Here are some of the titles that the library has in the catalog:

Beauvallet

Devil's Cub

The Talisman Ring

Penhallow

Arabella

April Lady

Sylvester

Black Sheep

Sprig Muslin

The Masqueraders

While searching the web for information on Ms. Heyer I came across several websites that may be of interest.

goodreads.com-Links to the Georgette Heyer section with some quotes from some of her best novels and testimonials by her fans.

historicalnovelsociety.org-A short article on an appreciaton of her work.

amazon.com-This link has an extensive listing of her titles provided by her representative and most of her titles are available as e-books.

abebooks.com-Another article, with covers of her works

georgetteheyer.blogspot.com-This is a Perpetual Reading Challenge with no set time or date to complete

austenfans.com-At this link you can send Georgette Heyer e-cards to all your friends!

librarything.com-Another listing of a majority of her titles.

The Dead Cat Bounce by Sarah Graves

2011-12-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

For our next book review in the Oceans 11 reading challenge, here's a few words from library patron & friend of abcreads Susan:

"Dead cat bounce": stock market jargon for a small temporary rise in a stock's trading price, after a sharp drop.

The Dead Cat Bounce is the first installment of the Home Repair is Homicide series, set in Eastport Maine, the easternmost US city, in the modern day. Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree has traded her fast-track life as an investment analyst for 'fat cats' including high-level mobsters, and escaped her marriage with an egotistic, narcissistic brain surgeon, for a more peaceful life in Maine with her son Sam. Returning from a business trip, she found and impulsively purchased a 200-year-old home, which requires endless repair. She has a new and rewarding relationship with Wade, a boat pilot, and a new best friend Ellie, a calm and steady "down easter" (lifetime local). When a shady millionaire with local roots is murdered, and her best friend Ellie confesses to the murder but asks Jacobia to investigate, of course she must. What she doesn't expect are the threats followed by serious attempts on her life and her son Sam's, including burning her house. Complicating matters further is the unexpected appearance of her ex-husband the brain surgeon with his latest young girlfriend, in his latest attempt to dictate their son's life. Jacobia prevails due to her loyalty and integrity. Look forward to many more in this series.

2012 Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge

2011-12-11T12:14:00.000-07:00

The Eclectic Bookshelf blog is hosting a 2012 reading challenge very dear to our librarian hearts: Support Your Local Library!

Here are the rules:

Anyone can join.

You don't need a blog to participate. If you are a non-blogger please leave a comment with a link (if you review elsewhere) to your review or with the book(s) you read.

Audio, ebooks (some libraries allow ebooks to be checked out), bound books are ok.

No re-reads
Challenge goes from January 1, 2012 - December 31, 2012

Levels:

Level 1 - Read 12 library books

Level 2 - Read 24 library books

Level 3 - Read 36 library books

Level 4 - Read 37+ library books

We'd like to encourage all our patrons to challenge themselves to read, read, read in 2012! Sign up for this challenge at the host blog, or if you'd like to participate, but don't want to sign up at Eclectic Bookshelf, we'll have a spot in our abcreads book banter forums where you can tell us about what (& how much) you've been reading during the year.

Celebrate 15 Years of the BioPark Botanic Garden and Aquarium!

2011-12-09T12:09:00.000-07:00

The BioPark invites you to join the party as they celebrate their 15th birthday!

The 15-day celebration is from December 9 - 23, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. There will be a birthday party on December 10, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.! Enjoy amazing education stations, a giant birthday card and a birthday cake at noon.

As a thank you to BioPark guests, the Botanic Garden and Aquarium will offer specials and exciting events!

•The 15th person who visits the Botanic Garden and Aquarium each day will win a pair of tickets to River of Lights at the Botanic Garden!

•15% off select items and giveaways in the Aquarium Gift Shop.

•15% off select breakfast and lunch items at the Shark Reef Cafe.

•Anyone born on the 15th day of any month will get into the Garden and Aquarium for free! ID must be shown for admission, and does not include admission to River of Lights.

Planning a visit to the BioPark? Look up books about zoos, gardens, & aquariums in the library catalog!

Gizmo Garage

2011-12-07T12:38:00.038-07:00

eBooks are all the rage these days, & we here at ABC Libraries aim to please. Our Digital Library offers a bevy of eBooks & eAudiobooks for your literary pleasure! Since we know that some of our customers will be looking to give & receive eReaders during the holiday season, we'd like to invite you to the Gizmo Garage!

The Gizmo Garage is your chance to take a look at some of the devices that are out there, such as the Kindle, Nook, Sony eReader, and iPod Touch. You'll be able to ask our friendly & knowledgeable staff questions about the different eReaders available. A visit to the Gizmo Garage is also a great way to test potential holiday gifts! There are several Gizmo Garages scheduled this month at different branches!

Main Library

Wednesday, December 7

4 p.m. - 6 p.m.

Taylor Ranch Library

Thursday, December 8

4 p.m. - 6 p.m.

Cherry Hills Library

Saturday, December 10

10 am - 11 am

Tony Hillerman Library

Saturday, December 10

1 p.m. - 3 p.m.

Cherry Hills Library

Tuesday, December 13

6 p.m. - 7 p.m.

Main Library

Wednesday, December 14

4 p.m. - 6 p.m.

Lomas Tramway Library

Friday, December 16

3 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Los Griegos Library

Saturday, December 17

1 p.m. - 3 p.m.

Taylor Ranch Library

Wednesday, December 21

3 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Tony Hillerman Library

Wednesday, December 28

1 p.m. - 3 p.m.

Once you have committed to the gizmo of your choice, make sure to check out our free instructor-led computer classes, which include Downloading Digital Media sessions! Check out this list of the most downloaded books this season according to Overdrive, our provider for all things downloadable, for an idea of how many popular titles are available digitally these days!

Literary Links: This Day in History in the Library Catalog

2011-12-05T12:12:00.001-07:00

December 5 is the 339th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 26 days remaining until the end of the year.

On December 5th...

In 1830, 1837, and 1890, works by Hector Berlioz premiered.

In 1901, Walt Disney, the pioneer of animated cartoon films and founder of the Disney theme parks, was born.

In 1933, national Prohibition came to an end as Utah became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, repealing the 18th Amendment.

In 1974, Monty Python's Flying Circus is last shown on the BBC.

In 1978, Sam Shepard's Pulitzer-winning play Buried Child premiered in New York City.

In 1994, Republicans chose Newt Gingrich to be the first GOP speaker of the House in four decades.

December 5th birthdays

Little Richard

Joan Didion

Calvin Trillin

J. J. Cale

Margaret Cho

Historical Birthdays

Martin Van Buren

Christina Rossetti

George Armstrong Custer

Fritz Lang

Otto Preminger

Which are the best books of 2011?

2011-12-03T12:24:00.002-07:00

It's that time of year...as The Reader's Advisor Online calls it, "Best Books of the Year season". So far, the Reader's Advisor has compiled over 20 "best of" lists, ranging from "Best Children's Books" to the "Top Ten Food Books", from sources as varied as magazines, bookstores, & the Vampire Book Club. Here are some lists you may enjoy:

What were your favorite books of 2011? I haven't read a lot of books that made any lists this year, but I did enjoy Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton, Donna Leon's Drawing Conclusions, & Bossypants by Tina Fey.

My Inner Music Nerd

2011-12-01T12:56:00.002-07:00

I know a lot of guys who are into music. I know a lot of guys who are in bands. Not so many girls, in my limited experience. That's why I am so glad we have books in the system such as: Record Collecting for Girls: Unleashing Your Inner Music Nerd, One Album at a Time by Courtney E. Smith; Cinderella's Big Score: Women of the Punk and Indie Underground by Maria Raha; Girls Rock!: Fifty Years of Women Making Music by Mina Carson et al.; & The Girls' Guide to Rocking: How to Start a Band, Book Gigs, and Get Rolling to Rock Stardom by Jessica Hopper.

I have been thinking about women in music a lot lately, since I saw the inspiring movie Girls Rock! a few years ago, about Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls. (The camp that started it all is in Portland, OR, but there are now camps all over the U.S., in Canada, & in the U.K.) So, when I read the Library Journal article Music for the Masses: Q & A with Courtney E. Smith, the author of the latest of the books listed above, Record Collecting for Girls, I knew I had to check it out.

I have not been disappointed! Courtney Smith's book starts out with a reference to one of my favorite books/movies, High Fidelity, & "the art of the Top Five List"-because, as Nick Hornby's book declares, for lots of music snobs, "what you like is what you're like". Smith offers hints to creating your own Top Five lists-her example is her Top Five artists. Always a fun time-waster.

Smith then moves on to covering topics such as "Where Have All the Girl Bands Gone?", a little slice of musical history; music blogs & sites like last.fm; movie soundtracks; "Guilty Pleasures" (every music snob has them); break-up songs mirroring the stages of grief; from Madonna to Lady Gaga & M.I.A.; rock 'n' roll consorts; and possibly my favorite chapter in the whole book, "The Smiths Syndrome", with its classic advice, "Never date a guy who likes the Smiths too much...men who are afflicted by the Smiths Syndrome tend to embody [Morrissey's] angst in an unfortunate way".

There is also a short chapter on actual record collecting, which features a discussion on "it isn't just the format of available music that have changed-everything about the way we listen to and consume music has changed as well." Do you need to own a physical copy of an album? Does that make you a traditionalist? What makes listening to music on vinyl special? The only thing I thought this section lacked was a discussion of alternate audio file formats-I know there's more than MP3s out there, but that's what I hear about most.

Record Collecting for Girls is an informal & anecdotal look into the world of music by women (although it's "for girls", I think those born in the '80s or later might miss some of the references). I hope it will join the ranks of Songbook, Love is a Mix Tape, But Enough about Me, Fargo Rock City, Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life & other books that, aimed at music geeks like myself, seem to make music a character in their story.

The Shatnerverse

2011-11-29T12:15:00.001-07:00

William Shatner. Love him or hate him, he's ubiquitous & larger than life. This 80-year old sci-fi icon is always juggling his many hats: actor, author, spokesperson, equestrian, self-promoter. A keyword search of his name brings up 34 items in the library catalog that he's been involved in on some level, from The Encyclopedia Shatnerica to Over the Hedge to Star Trek: I'm Working on That - A Trek from Science Fiction to Science Fact.

Like the Energizer Bunny, Shatner just keeps going...and going...and going. ABC Libraries features 3 brand-spanking-new items by William Shatner in the catalog in 3 different mediums! They are:

Shatner Rules: Your Guide to Understanding the Shatnerverse and the World at Large
Nobody works his personal mythology better than Shatner. A tongue-in-cheek guide for living which features rules for common & uncommon situations, including turning 80, & "Fun Factners".

The Captains, a film by William Shatner
A vanity project, but one that diehard Trekkers won't want to miss! Shatner "travels around the globe to interview the elite group of actors who have portrayed the role of Enterprise Captain, giving fans an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the pop culture phenomenon".

Seeking Major Tom
As Amazon.com puts it, "William Shatner returns to the final frontier of music recording with this space-themed concept album that boldly goes where no man has gone before!" This 2-disc music CD includes Shatneriffic covers of "Space Oddity", "Rocket Man", "She Blinded Me with Science", even Duran Duran's "Planet Earth". The supporting cast includes Lyle Lovett, Bootsy Collins, Sheryl Crow, & Peter Frampton.

It's time to accept it. We are living in the Shatnerverse. Might as well live as large as Shatner.

Part of the library world

2011-11-26T15:06:00.004-07:00

On Wednesday, November 23, a small statue disappeared from the front of the Juan Tabo library. It depicted a boy reading, and its name was Shaun, after the grandson of the artist, Rebecca Stover, who made and donated it. The news covered the theft--you can see the reports via the Juan Tabo facebook here--but it's hard to convey what the loss meant to the people who use the library. The statue stood out of the sightline of workers, and it was patrons who first noticed the disappearance. "Where is the boy outside?" a child asked, looking deeply concerned. "What happened to the boy?" an adult asked, angry.

For nearly eight years, the statue sat quietly under under its tree near the library door. He was a familiar face as people came in and out, and a reading companion for countless children. He was special to his creator, who made him in honor of her grandson, and he was special to all of the library visitors whose day he brightened.

Will his disappearance alter library service? Make it more difficult to obtain the materials you need? Of course not--but his absence is a change nevertheless.

Libraries aren't just the sum of their functions. They're also places that people develop emotional attachments to, places that are part of the community. Juan Tabo had Shaun; we still have our blue and gold dinosaur and our puppet show and our ever-growing rogue's gallery of stuffed animals. Cherry Hills has Clifford, reigning from atop the children's shelves, and the puzzle piece floor mats. These gifts from our friends have found homes, and brought happiness both to children and to adults.

Every library has some special place, some special sight, that its patrons look forward to when they come in. It may not be anything you think of as special. I remember the fine polished dark wood tables in my childhood library, and the smell of the cleaner they used on them. On the other hand, they may be fabulous--Boston has a three dimensional mural by John Singer Sargent. But humble or out-of-this-world, the physical world of the library becomes part of the world of its community.

And the community feels it when those small things are lost.

One of Those Malibu Nights by Elizabeth Adler

2011-11-25T12:19:00.001-07:00

For our next book review in the Oceans 11 reading challenge, here's a few words from library patron & friend of abcreads Susan:

One of Those Malibu Nights, first book in the Mac Reilly series, is set in modern-day Malibu, Baja California, Palm Springs, Rome, Cannes, and the French countryside. The story's characters belong to the "jet set": Hollywood stars and moguls, millionaires with mansions, and the people who work for them. Protagonist Mac Reilly is a television actor private eye. His girlfriend Sunny (Sonora Sky Coto de Alvarez) wishes Mac would propose.

Mac lives in a Malibu Colony bungalow with his dog Pirate, rescued from a highway. While strolling on the beach late at night, Mac hears a woman scream and goes to help. She shoots at him and he flees. Next day millionaire Ron Perrin, in whose house the woman screamed, denies the event but wants to hire Mac to discover who has been following him. Allie Ray, the movie star wife Ron is divorcing, also wants to hire Mac to discover who has been following her, and sending threatening notes.

While he is vacationing in Rome with Sunny, Mac encounters the woman who had screamed and shot at him in Malibu. Marisa tells him she is Ron's fiancee, flaunts a huge diamond ring, and asks Mac to find Ron, who has disappeared.

When Mac returns from Rome, Ron's right-hand man Sam Demarco also asks Mac to find Ron, and to find out what the FBI wants from Ron.

Famous movie star Allie Ray had humble beginnings, and she is lonely surrounded by luxury. She plans to return to being Mary Allison Raycheck one day. But first she must do her job: appear in Cannes at her film release party.

Mac meets another PI who thinks Ron killed his girlfriend. Sunny and Mac travel to Palm Springs looking for clues and find a body. They investigate all the people in Ron's and Allie's lives, wondering who might carry a grudge.

Allie Ray escapes fame & fortune to the French countryside, where she works in a restaurant. She becomes interested in a local landowner, but still misses and loves her husband.

Sunny goes on trip by herself to Baja CA and finds Ron, but then loses him.

Sunny and Mac go back to Rome, where they find another body. One of Allie's friends tells Sunny where Allie is, just before a newspaper reporter tells the world. Mac finally learns who the killer is, and races to save Allie and Sunny in France.

I found the book shallow and many descriptions melodramatic. It likely appeals to readers who follow movie stars and celebrities. The author uses dogs and their relationships with their owners to illustrate shallow lives as well as true-blue characters. Mac and Sunny will continue investigating together and jet-setting around the world, but I don't plan to read any more of the series.

Doctor Who TV premiere anniversary!

2011-11-23T11:06:00.077-07:00

On November 23, 1963, sci-fi cult classic Doctor Who premiered on British TV with William Hartnell taking the helm as the first Doctor. Since then, there have been ten more incarnations of the famous Doctor, including actors of note such as Peter Davison [All Creatures Great and Small], Paul McGann [Withnail & I], & Christopher Eccleston [Lennon Naked], as well as the preferred Doctor for my generation, Tom Baker. Currently, the Doctor is played by Matt Smith.

Wikipedia describes Doctor Who thusly: "The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior appears as a blue police box. Along with a succession of companions, he faces a variety of foes while working to save civilisations, help people, and right wrongs. The programme is listed in Guinness World Records as the longest-running science fiction television show in the world."

If you have never experienced Doctor Who, don't know what a Time Lord is, & have never dreamed of owning your own TARDIS, now is a great time to get acquainted. Season 7 (current seasons are counted back to 2005, when Doctor Who became possibly the first sci fi adventure to get a "reboot") has just begun this fall, & the show's 50th anniversary will be feted in 2013.

ABC Libraries' catalog has some materials to welcome you to the Whoniverse:

The Doctor Who Encyclopedia
Apollo 23 [Dr. Who 40] by Justin Richards
Doctor Who: The Evil of the Daleks (book on CD)
Doctor Who: The Reign of Terror (book on CD)
Heart of Stone: Death Riders [Dr. Who 1] by Trevor Baxendale (eBook)
Doctor Who: Tales from the Tardis. v. 1 (eAudioBook)
Doctor Who: Adventures in History (eAudioBook)

Some links to get you started:

Dr. Who - The Official Site

Dr. Who Fun & Games

Dr. Who: The Original Scarf

Dr. Who on YouTube

Patricia McKillip

2011-11-21T12:57:00.002-07:00

One of my favorite fantasy authors is Patricia McKillip. I first saw The Riddle-Master of Hed in a bookstore in the late 1970s, but I did not start reading her books until The Book of Atrix Wolfe. It is the story of a powerful mage and how his magical creation destroyed both the invading army threatening Pelucir and the soldiers defending the land. It also cost the Queen of the Wood her daughter Saro when the fairyworld was torn asunder by Atrix's magic. He disappears and is not seen for twenty years, but circumstances will soon evolve that will bring him back to solve the mystery of what happened all these years ago. It is not a very long book, but the prose is quite beautiful and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It went on to be nominated for the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Literature in 1996.

Since then every book she has written has either been nominated, a finalist or a winner for the Mythopoeic Awards, a Nebula Award nominee, a World Fantasy Award winner and a Locus Award nominee. While many fantasy authors write long, epic novels, Patricia's books are small, compact and powerful. Highly recommended!

While a majority of her titles are adult, she has also written some young adult and children's novels and the library catalog has the following books:

The Riddle-Master trilogy (published in the late 1970s)

The Cygnet Duology (published in the early 1990's)

Some individual works include:

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld

Winter Rose

Song for the Basilisk

The Tower at Stony Wood

Ombria in Shadow

In the Forests of Serre

Alphabet of Thorn

Old Magic

Harrowing the Dragon

Solstice Wood

The Bell at Sealey Head

The Bards of Bone Plain

Also, the cover art for a lot of her recent works is by renowed fantasy artist Kinuko Y. Craft and you can find more information about her here.

'Tis the Season for...New Holiday Music!

2011-11-19T17:33:00.000-07:00

The ABC Libraries' music selectors have been ordering plenty of seasonal music for your holiday enjoyment! Here are some new offerings:

Yeshiva Boys Choir Chanukah

Song of Solstice, Jennifer Cutting's Ocean Orchestra

Joy to the World, Pink Martini

The Singing Saw at Christmastime, Julian Koster (of Neutral Milk Hotel)

Baroque Christmas

Welcome Yule: An English Christmas Revels

Savoy Christmas Blues

Audite, Silete!, Divina Musica

As It Fell on Holie Eve: Music for an Elizabethan Christmas, Julianne Baird & Parthenia

For more new music, holiday or otherwise, visit the New Music LibGuide.

Also, if you are a fan of holiday music, make sure you check out these library system events in November & December:

Stylings of the Season at Taylor Ranch
Lyndon B. Johnson Middle School Advanced Chamber Ensemble performs seasonal music!

Rocky Mountain Cowboy Christmas with "Buffalo Bill" Boycott
Join "Buffalo Bill" Boycott as he offers Holiday songs, poems, and entertaining skits in the festive spirit of the cowboys and pioneers of the Old West. Buffalo Bill performs on the fiddle, banjo, mandolin, and guitar!

Nutcracker Ballet Demonstration
Young dancers from the New Mexico ballet company will be demonstrating selections from the holiday favorite, The Nutcracker. Their presentation will also include some information about ballet dancing as well.

Children's Books

2011-11-17T10:35:00.001-07:00

There are many great things about children's books, even for adults. The rhythms are soothing, the pictures are beautiful, and the stories have a light and easy quality to them that can be hard to find in adult books. However, when getting recommendations for children's books, the same titles tend to be repeated again and again. The classically great will always be in style, but here are some wonderful children's books that may have fallen below your radar.

For some fun books to read aloud try children's poetry as a way to introduce children to new words. It also makes a nice change of pace from picture books. Edward Lear's Complete Book of Nonsense features poems like "Calico Pie" and "The Jumblies." When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne, author of Winnie The Pooh, feature some of the best poetry written for children. Some of these great poems are "King John's Christmas", "Disobedience" "Busy" and "Us Two". Jack Prelutsky also writes some wonderful books of poetry for children. His poems are good short pieces for kids who are just learning how to read.

Good picture books to try are A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams, which has bold, bright colors, and When the Sun Rose by Barbara Helen Berger with softer, glowing paintings. The Church Mouse by Graham Oakley features pictures that are lively and detailed, with much of the story being discernible only through the pictures. Under the Greenwood Tree: Shakespeare for Young People by Pat and Robin DeWitt has short excerpts from Shakespeare, accompanied by gorgeous illustrations. To Everything There Is a Season by Leo and Diane Dillon is a book featuring the verse from Ecclesiastes, with different styles of art on each page. The Girl in the Castle Inside The Museum by Kate Bernheimer is a great fairy tale story with unusual pictures.

For children's books to touch your heart try Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak, or Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney, a book that inspires me to this day with it's seemingly simple task: do something to make the world more beautiful. The Mountains of Tibet by Mordicai Gerstein about a little boy who loves to fly kites gives a soul a second chance to do just that.

Other great books feature a Southwestern theme. Susan Lowell's The Three Little Javelinas, and The Bootmaker and the Elves give an imaginative and colorful twist on classic children's bedtime stories. Another wonderful and inspiring author is Byrd Baylor who lived in Arizona for years and wrote stories that were inspired by the Southwestern desert. Most feature beautiful drawings by Peter Parnall. Two Baylor/Parnall favorites are The Way to Start a Day, and The Desert is Theirs, a book to make you proud to live in the desert.

Children's books are fun to browse through and find your personal favorites. Let yourself get distracted by the pictures, by the words used again and again, by the end that comes too soon. And then, pick it up and read it again!

Looking for a reading challenge for 2012?

2011-11-15T12:56:00.001-07:00

A reading challenge is a fun way to spur yourself into reading. There are a lot of challenges out there on the web, and you don't have to be a blogger to join many of them. There are challenges by genre, challenges to read your own books, challenges to read library books, challenges to read e-books and listen to audiobooks. Most challenges have levels, so you don't have to sign up to read an overwhelming amount of books.

As 2011 is quickly fading away, I found myself gearing up for reading titles for 2012. We are researching book titles for next year's book discussion groups and it got me to thinking of other reading challenges that may be out there that may pique my interest, and possibly yours!

From the A Novel Challenge blog-here are a few 2012 Reading Challenges from their list:

The League of Extraordinary Gentleman Book Challenge
This challenge is to read the original book of each of the main characters from this movie.

The Middle East Reading Challenge

The author of the book may be from the countries listed below or the book can be set in one of the countries included in this challenge. The book could be about Islam. Fiction, non-fiction, YA and Adult lit, graphic novels, audio books, books for other challenge... they all count.

Cruisin' thru the Cozies Challenge

Read at least six cozy mysteries in 2012.

Reading Round Rome Challenge

Books about Rome, set in Rome, or by Roman authors – come join in the fun! Read six books in 2012 (or seven if you begin before Jan 1st 2012).

Reading Romances Challenge

The Reading Romances Challenge is not about the amount of books you read, but the variety of titles you’ll have read when the challenge is over! Our goal is to read a bit of everything related to romance and open our minds to new genres we wouldn’t usually read.

Bookie Friends Favorites Challenge

You need to have a blog to join this challenge.

Gender in Fantasy and Sci-Fi Challenge
Read 6-12 classic sci-fi titles. There's a list for this challenge.

They have several challenges going on for 2012, plus they have links for several past challenges from 2011 and 2010 with titles that you kept saying you wanted to read, but then couldn't remember what it was, which I often find myself doing.

From the website Exurbanis.com, you might consider:

Back to the Classics Reading Challenge
There are 9 classics categories to choose from and a prize will be given!

If you are into romance, check out Book of Secrets for their 2012 Romance Reading List for all year not just in February.

For the mystery lovers out there I found this blog Tipping My Fedora which is having a Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge, with suggested titles such as Why Shoot a Butler by Georgette Heyer, Strangers of a Train by Patricia Highsmith and Murder on the Blackboard by Stuart Palmer.

One of the great reading blogs out there is called An Adventure in Reading and will have several challenges during the year, but as of this post, her first 2012 challenge is not there yet, but she does have her Christmas Spririt Reading Challenge from now until Twelfth Night (January 6th, 2012).

Look under the ABC Libraries' Regularly Scheduled Programs listings for a list of book groups at various branches and a link to what they'll be reading.

The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths

2011-11-13T12:15:00.012-07:00

For our next book review in the Oceans 11 reading challenge, here's a few words from library patron & friend of abcreads Susan:

First of a new series starring forensic archaeologist Doctor Ruth Galloway, The Crossing Places is infused with the haunting atmosphere of the Saltmarsh, a landscape at the edge of the sea that is half land, half water, and continually shifts with the tides, where Iron Age prehistoric inhabitants constructed a sacred henge circle.

Ruth makes her home in a cottage at the edge of the lonely and elemental Saltmarsh, and teaches at nearby University of North Norfolk. She enjoys her solitude and the companionship of her cats. Ten years ago she participated in the archaeological dig that discovered the Saltmarsh henge circle. That magical summer of discovery remains a favorite memory, and the friends from that time are still part of her life.

Detective Harry Nelson is haunted by a missing-child case ten years ago. When a child's body is discovered in the Saltmarsh, he wonders if it could be from his old case. He enlists Dr. Galloway's professional assistance as a bone specialist. She dates the bones as Iron Age, 2 thousand years old, and suspects the body has a significant connection with the Henge Circle across the tidal marshlands.

When a second child goes missing, Nelson asks for Ruth's help interpreting clues from the original case. Ruth sees archeaological ties to key people from her special Henge Circle discovery summer. Then Ruth herself is endangered; to survive she must help Nelson identify the killer.

Ruth is a spunky independent protagonist with a common-sense approach. Her kind heart does not prevent her intellect from unraveling the clues, even when they reveal betrayal by her trusted and loved friends. I look forward to continuing the series.

Winter Fun: Upcoming City Events

2011-11-09T12:32:00.002-07:00

Return of the Sandhill Crane Celebration
Nov 12, 2011 09:00 AM - Nov 13, 2011 05:00 PM

Open Space Visitor Center
6500 Coors NW
505-897-8831

The signal that marks the end of summer sounds a little like the blow of many trumpets high in the sky above us. It is the sound of Sandhill Cranes migrating to their wintering grounds in the Middle Rio Grande Valley and beyond. Come to the Open Space Visitor Center and take part in programs that honor the winter migratory season during the Return of the Sandhill Crane Celebration.

Free Thursday Evening at the Museum
Albuquerque Museum
2000 Mountain Road NW

Gallery Talk: Miniatures and More
Thursday, November 17, 6:30 p.m.
Andrew Connors, Curator of Art, will give a short talk on the "More" - large scale works by artists in this year's Miniatures and More exhibition. After the talk, enjoy a special sneak peak of the exhibition.

Admission is free from 5 to 8:30 p.m. thanks to the generous support of American Home Furniture. For more Free Thursday events, visit the Albuquerque Museum website.

Western Music Association 2011 Awards Show

Saturday, November 19th 7 p.m.
KiMo Theatre

Celebrating the 100th birthday of Roy Rogers. Put on your best Western clothes and join us for this evening of entertainment and surprises.
Featuring Performances by:

* Bar D Wranglers (with 2010 WMA Pioneer Trail Award Recipient Cy Scarborough & 2010 WMA Crescendo Award Winner Richard Lee Cody

* R.W. Hampton, 2011 WMA Hall of Fame Inductee

* 2011 WMA Song of the Year Nominees
For more information on this entire event go to the WMA website. Buy tickets at HoldMyTicket.

Los Guadalupanos

Fundraiser brought to you by: Los Guadalupanos of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church.
Nov 19, 2011
07:00 PM - 10:00 PM

South Broadway Cultural Center John Lewis Theatre
1025 Broadway SE
505-848-1320

Featuring: Mariachi Nuevo Mexico, Antonio Reyna, Ivon Ulibarri, Eva Torrez, Baila! Baila! and More!

$20.00 General Admission for all Ages.

Tickets available for purchase at South Broadway Cultural Center. Tickets purchased by credit card can be made by calling 848-1320. Tickets also available by calling Carlos Gonzales 505-459-4213

Luminaria Tour - Tickets Available Nov. 25

Take a magical ride with on ABQ Ride's Luminaria Tour. Enjoy an annual New Mexican tradition without worrying about parking, driving through snow, annoying traffic delays or wasting gas. Let ABQ Ride take you through a twinkling wonderland in Old Town, a festively-adorned Albuquerque Country Club and other hot spots decked out for the holiday like the Los Altos neighborhood.

2011 Tour Schedule

•Six tours originating from the Downtown Convention Center will be held Saturday, Dec. 24, 2011 at 5:20 p.m.; 5:45 p.m.; 6:10 p.m.; 7:15 p.m. and 7:40 p.m.

•Starting at Midnight on Friday morning, Nov. 25, tickets will go on sale. You can buy them online as well as at a designated ticket office in Downtown Albuquerque.

Bring the entire family to enjoy this ever-growing family tradition. Come and join the fun!

River of Lights
Nov 26, 2011 06:00 PM - Dec 30, 2011 09:00 PM

ABQ BioPark Botanic Garden
2601 Central Ave. NW

Experience millions of glowing, sparkling lights and over 150 dazzling light displays, animated sculptures & synchronized music light show at New Mexico’s largest, original, walk-through holiday production. Many evenings feature live entertainment and the G-scale model railroad. The Shark Reef Cafe will be open for "Supper with Santa" and holiday dining on some evenings. On select evenings, a FREE park-and-ride from Tingley Beach and the Zoo will be available.

December Garden Holidays
Dec 03, 2011 09:00 AM - Dec 31, 2011 05:00 PM

ABQ BioPark Aquarium/Garden
2601 Central Ave. NW

Embrace the holiday spirit at the Botanic Garden, Aquarium and Zoo during the daylight hours through the month of December. The BioPark blooms in holiday cheer with a variety of themed exhibits full of decorations, evergreens and seasonal color.

Displays include hundreds of poinsettias in the Mediterranean Conservatory; an old-fashioned Christmas atmosphere at the Heritage Farm; a miniature holiday scene at the Railroad Garden and a sizzling Southwest-themed display with plenty of chile ristras in the Desert Conservatory.

Holidays Take Flight

Balloon Museum
9201 Balloon Museum Dr. NE
505-768-6020

5th Annual Holidays Take Flight
Sunday, December 4, 2011
11 a.m. - 4 p.m. - FREE Admission

Visit Balloon Pilot Santa; Decorate holiday balloon cookies; make balloon ornaments & cards; see remote controlled hot air balloons (weather permitting); enjoy delicious hot drinks and treats for sale; and consider donating a new, unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots!

Featuring:

12 p.m. Sing-a-long Holiday Concert with Susie Tallman & Friends

Live World Music to Celebrate the Season
-Enchantment Handbell Ensemble
-Nahalat Shalom Community Klezmer & Dances
-Afro-Cuban Holiday Cumbia with Mala Mana
-NM Holiday Music with Las Flores de Valle
-Roving Carolers - Manzano HS Choir & HarmoniKats

NEW this year! NEW MEXICO HOLIDAY SHOPPING VILLAGE
•ABQ Playroom
•Balloon Museum Gift Shoppe
•bloks
•Bookworks
•Essiem Jewelry
•Kei & Moly
•Out of the Blue Toys
•Rock Me Baby Records
•A Thousand Words Photography
•Zap Oh!

For more events, check out the City's Winter Fun Guide! Or, if you're feeling adventurous, consider a Public Art Walking or Bicycle Tour!

Caribbean Cultures: Haiti

2011-11-07T12:18:00.092-07:00

Continuing our look at Caribbean nations with a trip (via the library catalog) to Haiti! For country information, visit our Maps & other Geographic Data LibGuide, the CIA's World Factbook, or the website of the Embassy of Haiti in Washington, D.C.

It's been almost two years since the 7.0 earthquake devastated Haiti, but Haiti is slowly rebuilding, according to reports. To read about the earthquake, pick up a copy of Time Earthquake Haiti: Tragedy and Hope or, if you want something you can share with children, try Eight Days: A Story of Haiti.

Here are some other materials about Haiti that you can find in the ABC Libraries' catalog:

A Promise in Haiti: A Reporter's Notes on Families and Daily Lives by Mark Curnutte

The Rainy Season: Haiti--Then and Now by Amy Wilentz

After the Dance: A Walk through Carnival in Jacmel, Haiti by Edwidge Danticat

Brother, I'm Dying by Edwidge Danticat

Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work by Edwidge Danticat

Breath, Eyes, Memory by EdwidgeDanticat

Anacaona, Golden Flower by Edwidge Danticat (J)

Vodou: Visions and Voices of Haiti

Night of Fire: The Black Napoleon and the Battle for Haiti by Martin Ros

Silencing the Guns in Haiti: The Promise of Deliberative Democracy by Irwin P. Stotzky

The Spice Necklace: My Adventures in Caribbean Cooking, Eating, and Island Life by Ann Vanderhoof

Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende

Bouki Dances the Kokioko: A Comical Tale from Haiti by Diane Wolkstein (J)

Children of Yayoute: Folk Tales of Haiti by François Turenne des Prés (J)

Selavi, That is Life: A Haitian story of Hope by Youme Landowne (J)

Running the Road to ABC by Denizé Lauture (J)

Popo and Fifina by Arna Bontemps and Langston Hughes (J)

Music

Zouk Attack

National Native American Heritage Month

2011-11-05T12:24:00.025-06:00

The month of November has been designated National Native American Heritage Month since 1990, a designation that was a long time coming! Since the beginning of the 20th century, there had been a movement "that there be permanently designated by the nation a special place on the calendar to honor the contributions, achievements, sacrifices, and cultural and historical legacy of the original inhabitants of what is now the United States and their descendants: the American Indian and Alaska Native people." You can read more about the history of this movement on the U.S. Department of the Interior: Indian Affairs site.

How will you be celebrating National Native American Heritage Month? Online, you might consider checking out the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian; NativeAmericanHeritageMonth.gov provides links about National Park Service travel itineraries, webcasts, an online rock art exhibition, & information about Native American veterans; read President Obama's 2010 presidential proclamation of both Heritage Month & Native American Heritage Day on November 26th; check out American Indian Heritage in the National Parks & American Indian properties featured in Teaching with Historic Places Lesson Plans via the National Park Service; or look at the tribal listing from the Indian Health Service.

Locally, of course, you can pay a visit the to Indian Pueblo Cultural Center! In the month of November, they will be featuring dancers from Laguna, Zuni, & Acoma Pueblos; & an ornament making workshop on November 19th. Check out their events calendar for the full schedule!

In the ABC Libraries' catalog, there's a lot that you could browse about Native Americans (a subject search of "Indians of North America" brings up 29 pages of sub-topics). If you are interested in petroglyphs & antiquities, there are 69 titles in the catalog. Want to try some Native American fiction? You have 181 choices under that subject! Perhaps you'd like to listen to Native American music? We've got some tunes for your auditory pleasure! There are films available, too.

If you want to celebrate Native American Heritage Month with children, try getting them interested with some fun crafts! There are also many choices in juvenile fiction, from picture books like Songs of Shiprock Fair to The Island of the Blue Dolphins for middle to school readers to Codetalker for young adult readers. You might also interest younger readers in some Native American folklore.

The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein

2011-11-03T12:52:00.003-06:00

"I am a pretty good housekeeper and a pretty good gardener and a pretty good needlewoman and a pretty good secretary and a pretty good editor and a pretty good vet for dogs and I have to do them all at once and I found it difficult to add being a pretty good author. About six weeks ago Gertrude Stein said, it does not look to me as if you were ever going to write that autobiography. You know what I am going to do. I am going to write it for you. I am going to write it as simply as Defoe did the autobiography of Robinson Crusoe. And she has and this is it."
~Gertrude Stein

It takes a certain kind of person to write someone's autobiography for them, & to have the autobiography subject make statements about the author such as "I may say that only three times in my life have I met a genius...Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, & Alfred Whitehead."

For those of you who don't know, Alice Babette Toklas was the longtime companion of Gertrude Stein, in whose salon germinated the talents of Hemingway, Picasso, & most of the Lost Generation (when they were on speaking terms). Alice was "a background figure" at 27 Rue de Fleurus; Gertrude talked to the artists, & Alice entertained the wives. After the death of Stein, whom Toklas outlived by twenty years, Toklas actually published her own memoirs, The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook & What Is Remembered, which I hope have a little more Alice & a little less Gertrude in them. Stein & Toklas are buried side by side at Père Lachaise Cemetery, with Toklas' name engraved on the back of Stein's headstone.

The autobiography Stein created for Toklas, while a bit Stein heavy ("so Gertrude Stein says", "Gertrude Stein was at that time writing", "Gertrude Stein liked country-house visiting less than I did"), is a wonderful history of the era. The chapters range from "Before I Came to Paris" & "1907-1914" to "The War" & "After the War - 1919-1932". The book seems a faithful description of the famous salon, even to a record of quarrels & falling-outs; everyone who was anyone in those years gets a mention, from artists to writers & then some. During the war, Stein & Toklas did their part for the war effort, & after, they traveled to Mallorca & other locales, though always returning to France.

The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas is a deceptively simple book. Gertrude Stein employs a simple & direct sentence structure for the most part, almost flat, the written equivalent of a monotone. Still, having adopted this voice for Alice, Gertrude can't resist throwing in the occasional wordplay: "...The wives of geniuses I have sat with. I have sat with so many. I have sat with wives who were not wives, of geniuses who were real geniuses. I have sat with real wives of geniuses who were not really geniuses. I have sat with wives of geniuses, of near geniuses, of would be geniuses, in short I have sat very often & very long with many wives and wives of many geniuses." & a rose is a rose is a rose.

You may learn more about Gertrude Stein than about Alice B. Toklas in this autobiography, but it will not fail to entertain anyone interested in the period of Paris' Luminous Years.

Caribbean Cultures: Jamaica

2011-11-01T12:15:00.000-06:00

Continuing our look at Caribbean nations with a trip (via the library catalog) to Jamaica! For country information, visit our Maps & other Geographic Data LibGuide, the CIA's World Factbook, or the Jamaica Information Service. Also: read Jamaica's newspaper, The Gleaner, online!

From Harvey River: A Memoir of my Mother and Her Island by Lorna Goodison

The Other Side of Paradise: A Memoir by Staceyann Chin

John Crow's Devil by Marlon James

Fruit of the Lemon by Andrea Levy

Pirate's Daughter by Margaret Cezair-Thompson

Reggae: The Rough Guide written by Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton

Rastafari: Roots and Ideology by Barry Chevannes

Reggae Bloodlines: In Search of the Music and Culture of Jamaica text by Stephen Davis

The Natural Mystics: Marley, Tosh, and Wailer by Colin Grant

The Kebra Negast: The Lost Bible of Rastafarian Wisdom and Faith from Ethiopia and Jamaica edited by Gerald Hausman

Traveling Jamaica with Knife, Fork & Spoon: A Righteous Guide to Jamaican Cookery by Robb Walsh & Jay McCarthy

Jerk from Jamaica: Barbecue Caribbean Style by Helen Willinsky

This is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music by Lloyd Bradley

Duppy Talk : West Indian Tales of Mystery and Magic retold by Gerald Hausman (J)

Doctor Bird: Three Lookin' Up Tales from Jamaica by Gerald Hausman

Tiger Soup: An Anansi Story from Jamaica retold and illustrated by Frances Temple (J)

The Tangerine Tree by Regina Hanson (J Easy)

CDs

Drums of Defiance: Maroon Music from the Earliest Free Black Communities of Jamaica

In Search of the Lost Riddim by Ernest Ranglin

Retrospective: Classic Tracks from a Legendary Artist, Bunny Wailer

Arise Black Man, Peter Tosh and friends

Intensified!: Original Ska, 1962-1966

DVDs

Wide Sargasso Sea

The Harder They Come

Looking to eat some traditional Jamaican cuisine? JamaicaTravelandCulture.com has recipes for two of my favorite dishes, Pepperpot Soup & Patties. Try drinking Sorrel along with your meal!

Expect a Masterpiece!

2011-10-30T12:47:00.054-06:00

I don't know about you, but I have been very much enjoying the adaptations of Kate Atkinson's novels on PBS' Masterpiece. Case Histories is not the first Masterpiece show I have enjoyed! There have been any number of wonderful productions in the past to fill up my Sunday night viewing. Visit the PBS site to read more about Masterpiece Classic, Mystery!, & Contemporary (including exclusive video of Downton Abbey II!). Or, if you are already a fan, there are many Masterpiece DVDs in the library catalog. Here are some my favorites:

Downton Abbey
Set in an Edwardian country house in 1912, Downton Abbey portrays the lives of the Crawley family and the servants who work for them. In the drawing rooms, library, and beautiful bedrooms, with their tall windows looking across the park, lives the family, but below stairs are other residents, the servants, as fiercely possessive of their ranks as anyone above.

The Forsyte Saga
It is late in the Victorian era, and two branches of an upper-crust family--the "good" Forsytes, headed by well-meaning Old Jolyon, and the "bad" Forsytes, headed by crusty barrister James--are at odds, eternally squabbling. The 'saga' focuses on the younger generations - Young Jolyon, Soames, Winifred, June - and their struggles with emotional repression, the rejection of Victorian mores, and the sea changes taking place as a less repressive society emerged. Every family may indeed have its vicissitudes, but few have as many as John Galsworthy's Forsytes.

The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders
Moll is a headstrong woman whose lowly station in 18th century London leaves her in the most dire of circumstances forcing her into a lifestyle that could easily break her spirit. Her story involves husbands and numerous lovers, shocking family secrets, and travels to bustling London and the New World's Virginia. Moll's dangerous misdeeds stretch from sexual adventures to criminal acts, leaving her with a price on her head as she strives to triumph against overwhelming odds.

My Family and Other Animals
When the dreary English weather of 1935 gets to be too much for the eccentric Durrell family, they set off for the rustic, sun-drenched Greek island of Corfu, and the unknown.

Persuasion
Based on the novel by Jane Austen.

Bleak House
The icily beautiful Lady Dedlock faces the revelation of her dark past once Mr. Tulkinghorn catches wind of it. Esther's background also comes to light after the murder of a strange man. An all-star cast comes together for this Dickens classics.

Sally Lockhart Mysteries: Ruby in the Smoke
Set in Victorian London, fearless young Sally Lockhart has a mind for numbers and for sleuthing. Recently orphaned Sally is armed with a pearl-handled pistol and her keen mind, uncovers the secrets of her father's death aboard the sunken schooner Lavinia, discovers hidden cursed jewels, and faces England's deadliest villains with bold courage.

Cranford
Cranford, in 1842, is a market town in northwest England. It is a place governed by etiquette, custom and above all, an intricate network of ladies. It seems that life has always been conducted according to their social rules. For spinsters Deborah Jenkyns, the arbiter of correctness, and Matty, her dumurring sister, the town is a hub of intrigue. Handsome new doctor Frank Harrison has arrived from London; a retired Captain and his daughters move in across the street and preparations for Lady Ludlows garden party are underway. The town has some secrets which are about to be revealed. But news comes that shakes the town, a railway line from Manchester is coming to Cranford.

Inspector Lewis
Following the death in 2000 of his eponymous mentor in Inspector Morse, Sergeant Lewis was promoted to Inspector and took a two-year sabbatical in the British Virgin Isles. Newly widowed, he now returns to Oxford and soon finds himself in charge of his own murder case. But it is notes that Morse made on an earlier case which help Lewis solve his case.

Prime Suspect 2
This case involves a death in the Afro-Caribbean community that puts Detective Chief Inspector Tennison and the rest of the police force in the middle of racial controversy. Emmy Award Winner - Outstanding Miniseries.

Masterpiece Contemporary begins November 6th with Page Eight & continues on November 13th with A Song of Lunch. Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson star in The Song of Lunch, about a book editor and his former lover who reconnect over lunch. Bill Nighy, Rachel Weisz, Michael Gambon and Ralph Fiennes star in the spy thriller Page Eight about an MI-5 officer caught in a conspiracy.

Also, from 1996 but still an entertaining read: Masterpiece Theatre: A Celebration of 25 Years of Outstanding Television by Terrence O'Flaherty.

Book Banter

2011-10-26T10:27:00.002-06:00

Those of you familiar with our blog may have noticed a teeny change in one part of it! Our forums, the abcreads Book Banter, have changed format. We have become a Google Group!

The Book Banter is place for online book discussion. You can find the icon (& link) on your right. In the past we have used this forum to start discussions on book recommendations & for online book group "meetings". These forums are open to all abcreads readers to join & post. To join the group & post, simply click on "Sign in to post". You can sign in straight away if you already have a Google account; if not, it is still easy-peasy to sign up, & you can use your already established account with AOL, Yahoo, Hotmail, or a different email provider to join.

When we lost our former forum provider, we decided to replace them with Google Group forums because it seemed like a safe, secure & fun way for our readers to share their thoughts on books & media (CDs, audiobooks, & movies can also be stimulating discussion topics!). We hope you will take a moment to join the Book Banter & let us know what you think.

Caribbean Cultures: Dominican Republic

2011-10-24T12:14:00.000-06:00

Continuing our look at Caribbean nations with a trip (via the library catalog) to the Dominican Republic! For country information, visit our Maps & other Geographic Data LibGuide, the CIA's World Factbook, or the official internet portal of the Dominican Republic.

Black in Latin America by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

The Eastern Stars: How Baseball Changed the Dominican Town of San Pedro de Macorís by Mark Kurlansky

The Spice Necklace: My Adventures in Caribbean Cooking, Eating, and Island Life by Ann Vanderhoof

Big Papi: My Story of Big Dreams and Big Hits by David Ortiz with Tony Massarotti

The Last Playboy: The High Life of Porfirio Rubirosa by Shawn Levy

The Latin Beat: The Rhythms and Roots of Latin Music from Bossa Nova to Salsa and Beyond by Ed Morales

Why the Cocks Fight: Dominicans, Haitians, and the Struggle for Hispaniola by Michele Wucker

Song of the Water Saints by Nelly Rosario

The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa

Drown by Junot Díaz

My Two Worlds by Ginger Gordon

A Gift of Gracias: The Legend of Altagracia by Julia Alvarez (J Easy)

Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez (YA Fiction)

In the Name of Salomé by Julia Alvarez

DVDs

Trópico de Sangre: la pelea por la libertad les costo la vida

Tropico

CDs

La llave de mi corazon, Juan Luis Guerra

Caribbean Revels: Haitian Rara and Dominican Gagá

Steamy Reads

2011-10-22T12:44:00.020-06:00

Steampunk is a term not a lot of people understand, but for those that do, it is an exciting new genre that brings together modern technology, steam-powered engines and Victorian literature in one seamless package. The actual word was coined by K.W. Jeter in a letter to Locus Magazine when trying to describe Victorian fantasy as a one-word term that would interest more people in these types of novels.

There are several recent authors that have become part of the steampunk scene: Gail Carriger, Neal Stephenson, Cherie Priest, China Miéville, Jay Lake, and Alan Moore, who find themselves in great company of the early authors who blazed the way. Who would have thought that Jules Verne or H.G. Wells would have been considered leaders in this movement all those years ago when we were starry-eyed kids reveling in the adventures of Captain Nemo or going along on a wild time-travel ride to the land of the Morluks, Eloi and Weena? ABC Libraries has added a few new titles to the system for your perusing pleasure.

Brand new to the catalog are:

Steampunk Emporium: Creating Fantastical Jewelry, Devices and Oddments from Assorted Cogs, Gears and other Curios by Jema Hewitt

The Steampunk Bible: An Illustrated Guide to the World of Imaginary Airships, Corsets and Goggles, Mad Scientists and Strange Literature by Jeff Vandermeer

Steampunk-Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy and Mechanical Designs, Necklaces, Bracelets and Earrings by Jean Campbell

Metalwork Jewelry: 35 Step-by-Step Projects Inspired by Steampunk by Linda Peterson

Steampunk!: An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories edited by Kelly Link and Gavin Grant.

1,000 Steampunk Creations: Neo-Victorian, Fashion, Gear & Art by Dr. Grymm with Barbe Saint John

All Men of Genius by Lev AC Rosen

Steampunk Gear, Gadgets and Gizmos: A Maker's Guide to Creating Modern Artifacts, by Tab Books

Also, these are some other titles that you may be interested in checking out:

Infernal Devices: A Mad Victorian Fantasy by K.W. Jeter

The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson

The Iron Council by China Mieville

Dreadnought by Cherie Priest

Mainspring by Jay Lake

Worldshaker by Richard Harland

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Anno Dracula by Kim Newman

The Peshawar Lancers by S.M. Stirling

Corsets & Clockwork: 13 Steampunk Romances edited by Trisha Telep

The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross

The Half-Made World by Felix Gilman

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Here are a few other links that may pique your interest from the Steampunk world:

-There is going to be a Steampunk ball on Friday, November 11, 2011 at the Launchpad, starting time is 9:00 PM. It's called Captain Lionel Gearpunk's Steam-Powered Ball and will feature local bands, steampunk crafts, and a costume contest!

-The Steampunk Tribune A great site related to all things Steampunk since 2007

-Steampunk Tales An online website of Steampunk stories and you can even read them on your iPhone!

-Steampunk Week and Beyond from Tor Books

There are also several Facebook pages relating to Steampunk which you can find from a link on The Steampunk Tribune website.

Graphic Novels for Reluctant Readers

2011-10-20T12:19:00.075-06:00

"I hate reading" may be every librarian's worst nightmare come true. However, even the most reluctant of readers can usually be drawn in when handed a graphic novel.

Graphic novels grab students' attention. The combination of text and illustrations can often draw in even the most hesitant of readers. Like anything, reading is a learned skill; it needs to be practiced. If I can get a student to read a graphic novel, they are practicing their reading skills and they may then be intrigued enough to pick up a book that is al or mostly all text.

Reading is a crucial life skill. There is almost no job or opportunity available to people who have not learned the skill of reading. I want my students to not only be able to read, but to excel at reading. It all starts with the first book that really hooks a student - and often that can be a graphic novel.

~Ms. Dame, a teacher from the Shoreline School District, Washington

Personally, I have always been a graphic novel reader. I started out in elementary school on a steady diet of Archie comics, Asterix, & Tintin. I never was a huge fan of superhero comics (though I love the movies) & I have never gotten into manga, but I do love a good graphic novel. It's amazing right now, the variety of graphic novels out there-biographies such as Feynman; graphic versions of popular titles such as Twilight; even graphic histories such as The Creation of the U.S. Constitution. When kids come up asking for the latest Garfield, I am inclined to tell them how many great graphic novels await them out there. Here are a few fun titles! Some are children's fiction & some are Young Adult fiction-you decide whatat what level you want your kid reading.

Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute by Jarrett J. Krosoczka (J)

The Dragon Players by Frank Cammuso (J)

Binky the Space Cat by Ashley Spires (J)

To Dance: A Ballerina's Graphic Novel by Siena Cherson Siegel (J)

Bone: The Quest for the Spark by Tom Sniegoski (YA)

Stormbreaker (Alex Rider) by Anthony Horowitz (YA)

Amulet: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi (J)

Daniel X: Alien Hunter by James Patterson & Leopoldo Gout (YA)

Avatar: The Last Airbender (J)

Smile by Raina Telgemeier (J)

Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel adapted by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin (J)

The Unsinkable Walker Bean by Aaron Renier (J)

Stickman Odyssey: An Epic Doodle by Christopher Ford (YA)

Adventures in Oz by Eric Shanower (J)

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch (J)

Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess by George O'Connor (J)

Patrick in A Teddy Bear's Picnic and Other Stories: A Toon Book by Geoffrey Hayes (J Easy)

Sita's Ramayana text by Samhita Arni (J)

Meanwhile by Jason Shiga (J)

Trickster: Native American Tales compiled and edited by Matt Dembicki

Marvel Fairy Tales by C.B. Cebulski

Salem Brownstone : all along the watchtowers / John Harris Dunning and Nikhil Singh (J)

Zita the Spacegirl: Book 1, Far from Home by Ben Hatke (J)

The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel by Rick Riordan (J)

Babymouse: Queen of the World! by Jennifer Holm and Matthew Holm (J)

The Little Prince by Joann Sfar ; adapted from the book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (J)

The Lost Warrior by Erin Hunter (J)

No Girls Allowed: Tales of Daring Women Dressed as Men for Love, Freedom and Adventure written by Susan Hughes (J)

Houdini: The Handcuff King by Jason Lutes & Nick Bertozzi (YA)

The Castaways by Rob Vollmar & Pablo Callego (YA)

Kampung Boy by Lat (YA)

The Legend of Hong Kil Dong, the Robin Hood of Korea by Anne Sibley O'Brien (J)

The Arrival by Shaun Tan (YA)

Owly: The Way Home & the Bittersweet Summer by Andy Runton (J)

The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg (YA)

Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol (YA)

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang (YA)

Gabby & Gator by James Burks (J Easy)

Did you know you can also encourage your kids to read Graphic Classics such as the works of Edgar Allan Poe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, & Jack London? Look also for graphic versions of Anna Sewell's Black Beauty, William Shakespeare's Macbeth, & The Best of Ray Bradbury.

Caribbean Cultures: Puerto Rico

2011-10-18T12:25:00.002-06:00

Last week I watched the movie Piñero, which is a 2001 biopic celebrating the Latino poet-playwright-actor Miguel Piñero, whose urban poetry is recognized as a precursor to rap and hip-hop. Piñero used to call himself "Nuyorican" in homage to his Puerto Rican heritage-he was one of the founders of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. The same day, I watched the movie based on Julia Alvarez's wonderful book In the Time of the Butterflies, set in the Dominican Republic, which got me thinking that it might be interesting to showcase different cultures of the Caribbean with a short list of selected items for all ages from our library catalog. So, here goes-Puerto Rico! Some related fiction, poetry, a play, & music for you to enjoy.

Latino Visions: Contemporary Chicano, Puerto Rican, and Cuban American Artists by James D. Cockcroft

Growing Up Puerto Rican: An Anthology edited by Joy L. De Jesus

Puerto Rican Cookery by Carmen Aboy Valldejuli

Juan Bobo and the Pig: A Puerto Rican Folktale retold by Felix Pitre

Emily Goldberg Learns to Salsa by Micol Ostow

Cinnamon Girl: Letters Found Inside a Cereal Box by Juan Felipe Herrera

When the Spirits Dance Mambo: Growing up Nuyorican in El Barrio by Marta Moreno Vega
Short Eyes : A Play by Miguel Piñero

Remedios: Stories of Earth and Iron from the History of Puertorriquenas by Aurora Levins Morales

Song of the Simple Truth = Obras Completa Poética = The Complete Poems by Julia de Burgos

The House on the Lagoon by Rosario Ferré

Las Christmas: Favorite Latino Authors Share Their Holiday Memories edited by Esmeralda Santiago and Joie Davidow

Conquistadora by Esmeralda Santiago

Puerto Rico Mio: Four Decades of Change = Cuatro Decadas de Cambio photographs by Jack Delano

Captain of the Sleepers by Mayra Montero

Los Puertorriqueños (DVD)

Música + Alma + Sexo, Ricky Martin (CD)

Visit the Welcome to Puerto Rico! website or the CIA World Factbook to learn more about its history, culture, & people.

Fall in Love with Nature

2011-10-16T11:51:00.003-06:00

Autumn is one of my favorite times of the year. Cooler temperatures, autumn foliage, hot air balloons in the mornings (at least here in the Albuquerque) - these are what I start to look forward to as soon as the autumnal equinox rolls around (this year, September 23rd). Now is the perfect time of year to build appreciation and understanding of nature for kids 2-8 with a craft or walking/observing adventure! Here's some titles we recommend:

Lois Ehlert's Growing Vegetable Soup- work your way through the alphabet when you visit the farmer's market or grocery store vegetable counter each week.

Lois Ehlert's Leaf Man- collect leaves and press them, then create a picture with the leaves on wax paper and hang it in the window.

Jim Arnosky's Drawing From Nature explains how to observe and sketch nature, and his Crinkleroot series suggests ways to observe nature.

Also check out this subject search of nature crafts.

Here are some poetry books about nature for kids:

Jane Yolen's Shape Me a Rhyme: Nature's Forms in Poetry combines poetry and photographs to illustrate shapes in nature.

The book Stone Bench in an Empty Park, selected by Paul Janeczko with photographs by Henri Silberman, is an anthology of haiku accompanied by photographs reflecting nature in the city.

Ralph Fletcher's Ordinary Things: Poems from a Walk in Early Spring recalls the sights and feelings experienced on a springtime walk--from home, through the woods, and back again. (Wrong season, but a pretty book.)

Betsy Lewin's Walk a Green Path has lush watercolor paintings to accompany poems whose green subjects range from the author's houseplants to lily pads in the Amazon.

Barbara Brenner's The Earth is Painted Green: A Garden of Poems about Our Planet is an illustrated collection of poems from around the world about various aspects of life on earth.

In our system, we also have the following authors who write books about nature which you might also enjoy:

Gail Gibbons - whether it's cats, kites, or farming, Gail Gibbons has written a book about it.

Bobbie Kalman - for books about colonial life, endangered animals, desert habitats, & everything in between.

Jerry Pinkney - writer & illustrator of books like A Starlit Somersault Downhill.

Nancy Tafuri - uses large pictures of animals which encourages description of details and unique body parts (ex: webbed feet on ducks for swimming).

Also look for juvenile literature about the seasons.

For kids interested in nature, there are also DVDs such as:

Wild Animal Baby Explorers
Young minds are introduced to nature and all its beauty, and a foundation is laid for a lifelong love of wild life, and places.

What nature crafts do you enjoy? What are your favorite books about nature?

Finding Fiction

2011-10-14T17:00:00.010-06:00

If you're like me, finding a great novel to pass the time with is like discovering a treasure. Unfortunately, the map for fiction sometimes seems a lot less easy to read than the map for nonfiction. With nonfiction, you can say, "Where are your books about vampires?", get a number (398.45, in this case), and see what's on the shelf.

With fiction? Well, it's not shelved that way. It's shelved by author--and if you don't know the next book you'd like to read, then how are you supposed to guess which author to look under? It can seem a bit daunting!

Luckily, the catalog can help you. If you do a subject search for "Vampires Fiction," you'll find 918 hits!

That's great--if what you want is a vampire book, then you've got it.

Unfortunately, you're looking for Stephen King type vampires, and you know a good half of the books on the list are Stephenie Meyer vampires. How do you know which one is which? It takes a lot of time to go through all 918.

Luckily, the library has other tools. You might check out our booklists, to see if someone has made a list of the kind of books you want to read. You could also go to a librarian--part of the job at the reference desk is called reader's advisory, and the whole point of that is helping you find the books you want to read.

But even if you're not at the library, you can use many of the same tools at home. Just making use of the catalog, if you enter a book of the sort you want--for instance, Dracula--you can click on the tab labeld "Find Similar Items," which will list all the subjects the book is listed under. It will list "Vampires Fiction," which we've already tried, but maybe what really interests you is "Transylvania (Romania) Fiction" or just "Horror Tales." These subjects are clickable, and will bring you to full lists.

Still, it's pretty broad stroke. You want to limit it a little more. This is where there are several helpful tricks on LibGuides, under Books and Literature. Here, you'll find bestseller lists, series lists, a newsletter called NextReads which you can subscribe to for recommendations, and a database called NoveList Plus, which you have access to with your library card. NoveList allows you to narrow down what sorts of books you want to read, look for author read-alikes, and even choose what sort of tone you want (light, humorous, dramatic, etc).

For instance, if you loved 'Salem's Lot, and want to find books that read like it, you would enter in 'Salem's Lot as a title. When you reached the page, along with a descripion of that book and several reviews, you would find a menu at the side that looks like this:

You can see there that you can choose "Vampires" as a subject, "Horror stories" as a genre, and "menacing" as a tone--that ought to help keep it to the sort of books you want. Sure enough, it gives you a list of books including The Passage, Dracula, and I Am Legend.

You can go back and choose other combinations as well to get different recommendations. The question now is, does the library have them? NoveList Plus has a link for each book to "Check Library Catalog." Because we are subscribed as the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Library System, this will link directly to a title search at ABC Libraries, and let you know if it's there. If it is, you can place a hold on it right then. If not, you can almost always obtain a book through Interlibrary Loan.

And that's how to find fiction.

Questions?

The Science of Shopping

2011-10-12T11:26:00.002-06:00

Does this apple suggest health, freshness, & cleanliness to you? Manufacturers & retailers hope it does.

I was just reading Martin Lindstrom's Wall Street Journal article, "Selling Illusions of Cleanliness", which got me thinking about the dark side of marketing, "the full range of psychological tricks and schemes that some companies use to prey on our most deeply rooted fears, dreams and desires in order to persuade us to buy their brands and products". Mr. Lindstrom is a marketing and branding consultant whose new book, Brandwashed: Tricks Companies Use to Manipulate Our Minds and Persuade Us to Buy is already in the library catalog. I have been meaning to read retail anthropologist Paco Underhill's manifesto, Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping for some time now, so the discovery of this new book is just impetus to read more about this topic, especially as I gear up for seasonal gift shopping!

A search of related subjects (or similar items) brings up titles such as:

A Consumer's Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America by Lizabeth Cohen

Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping by Judith Levine

Buy ology: Truth and Lies about Why We Buy byMartin Lindstrom (his previous book)

Hundred Dollar Holiday: The Case for a More Joyful Christmas by Bill McKibben

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

Another article about Lindstrom you may enjoy:
Repentant marketer Martin Lindstrom confesses his sins

Fontastic!

2011-10-10T12:14:00.006-06:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I like things just so, from my co-workers who know what side of the reference desk I like to sit on to my ex-boyfriend-I'm not saying we broke up because he wouldn't do things the way I wanted him to, but close. I have many enthusiasms-from British television to the art of Edward Gorey to Japanese street fashion-but none, perhaps, so pervasive & long-lasting as my font obsession.

I can date my interest in fonts back to high school-I remember I bought a book of fonts in 8th grade or so. Not because I was going to hand-letter anything in the near future (although I did have a brief flirtation with calligraphy a couple of years before), but because I just liked how they looked. I also remember that I had quite a penchant for reading Sweet Dreams teen romances in those days, but more than any particular story from those books I remember the fat, rounded font that those Bantam paperbacks were written in.

Currently, I make some of the signage at our branch, which has returned me to the world of fonts. A few years ago we remade our shelf signs to be more consistent. All the adult area signs are now in Britannic Bold; all the children's area signs are now in Maiandra GD. I try to use a lot of different fonts, although I find script fonts like Edwardian Script ITC & Gigi don't lend themselves to signs, more's the pity. I have tried to rid my branch of any vestiges of Comic Sans MS, a font which I really dislike. As do many folks, apparently-there's a website called Ban Comic Sans.

So, having read all this, you can se why Just My Type: A Book about Fonts has huge appeal for me. But before you think it's just a book for crazy obsessive Comic Sans haters, it's not! It's fun & informative & a very quick read, split as it is into short, easily digested chapters. I love books like this, that show you what's behind something you may have taken for granted. For those of you who are diehard Mac users (&, indeed, even owners early-model iPods), did you know that among his other credits, Steve Jobs created many of the first Mac fonts? Ever thought about the font Woody Allen uses for his credits (Windsor)?

Where do the terms upper case & lower case come from? Want to know a bit more background about Johannes Gutenberg & the world's first font? What is the difference between serif & sans serif fonts? How does a type designer work? These questions & more are all addressed just in the first few chapters of the book. However, this is not a dense, scholarly read-it's informative without being difficult. Who knew that the Beach Boys' album Pet Sounds is one of the most famous uses of the font Cooper Black? I also learned that Trebuchet MS, one of my favorite fonts, is actually related to Comic Sans-they share a designer.

If you are really interested in font use, consider checking out designer Mark Simonson's website. Under "Typecasting", you can check out font errors he's found on TV & in movies-for instance, check out this discussion of fonts on the maps of the Indiana Jones films, where the typefaces used in this movie set in the 1930s were not actually invented until decades later.

Typography! It's everywhere, but most of the time we don't consciously focus on it. This book will bring fonts & their use firmly front & center for you. Don’t Panic-you'll enjoy the ride.

In closing, please enjoy the video made by this Baskerville fan who calls herself "Mrs. Eaves"-she might love fonts too much!

Full disclosure: this blog is written in Blogger's Default Font, purely for ease & continuity.

Also consider:

Cheese or Font? (an online game)

What type are you? (an online quiz)