Top 10 Reading Lists

Library Journal's Top 10

•American Terroir: Savoring the Flavors of our Woods, Water, and Fields by Rowan Jacobsen *
•By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham
•Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
•How to Live, Or, a Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer by Sarah Bakewell *
•Room by Emma Donoghue
•The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
•The Passage by Justin Cronin
•The Tiger by John Vaillant
•The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson

•Walker Evans: Decade by Decade by Hatje Cantz *

Publisher's Weekly Top 10

•A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
•Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
•Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
•The Surrendered by Chang-Rae Lee
•The Big Short by Michael Lewis
•The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
•Just Kids by Patti Smith
•Man in the Woods by Scott Spencer *
•The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall
•The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

*not in the ABC Libraries catalog

Geography Databases

Our Resource Center-which offers free 24/7 access to databases containing articles from encyclopedias, magazines, newspapers and more with your valid Albuquerque/Bernalillo County library card-has a couple of great new databases, particularly if you're planning on traveling anytime soon!

A to Z Maps- is one of the world’s largest online sources for world, continent, country and state maps. In A to Z Maps you’ll have access to proprietary maps, games, images and puzzles developed by World Trade Press — plus public domain maps and images culled from hundreds of resources worldwide. Available maps include earthquake maps, climate change maps, bathymetric & fishing maps, Holy Land maps & NASA maps.
Tip Sheet /Find it!

Global Road Warrior -As a “one-stop” source for country, geographic, cultural, social, business and travel information, Global Road Warrior presents robust, practical and continuously expanding content of interest to all ages. Easy-to-navigate interface and intuitive browsing features help users to find information quickly and concisely. For instance, a search of Finland will give you the title Republic of Finland /Suomen Tasavalta, & you can look up its climate, internet details, look at city views, check out a security briefing, & view travel essentials. There are also printable reports on Finland's business culture, banknotes & coinage, points of interest, & more!
Tip Sheet /Find it!

Keyword Searches, or More Books About Books

I tend to search by keyword in the library catalog. Some librarians will tell you that subject heading searches are more accurate, & they probably are, but then you have to know the subject headings, which I don't always find straightforward (for instance, when I'm looking for a biography of Elizabeth Taylor, the subject "Motion picture actors and actresses -- United States -- Biography" just doesn't come naturally to my brain). If you're interested in checking out subject headings, each book in the catalog has a list of them under the "Find Similar Items" tab. If you click on the subject headings, you will be directed to books with the same subject. However, using a keyword search of part of a subject heading for Jane's Fame-using just the word "appreciation"-brought up a couple more books I'm considering reading. I have often used pieces of subject headings to find books I'm looking for-in my chick lit phase I used combinations of "chick lit", "London" (I like English authors), "single women", & "humorous stories" to search in the catalog for more titles to read.

-The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People who Read Them by Elif Batuman
-Blue Arabesque: A Search for the Sublime by Patricia Hampl

The following two books I have read & highly recommend! Winterson's book is more about art & theory, & Thurman's essays-many of which were previously published in the New Yorker-range from performance art to literature to fashion. Both these books made me want to read more books!

-Art Objects: Essays on Ecstasy and Effrontery by Jeanette Winterson
Cleopatra's Nose: 39 Varieties of Desire by Judith Thurman

Science Corner

I confess, I'm not much for science. You've probably noticed that science & math don't much feature in this blog. Well, I'd like to remedy that. I don't exactly have the background to go in-depth, but I thought the occasional foray might be appreciated, so here goes!

A co-worker of mine has recommended The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe by Theodore Gray. He says that he often feels that in science classes, they teach you about the periodic table so fast, you don't really get a feeling for everything that the elements do & the history of the elements. He recommends this read for anyone wanting to learn more in-depth about the elements. Also consider the new Stephen Hawking book, The Grand Design; The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman; & Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA by Brenda Maddox.

For the kids, I'd like to share a couple of recipes other co-workers have recommended: Slime (made from Borax & Elmer's Glue) & Oobleck (as in Bartholomew & the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss). I guess these might have been more timely had I introduced them before Halloween, but is there really a right or a wrong time to make slime? Also, if you need to entertain a child who loves science, the system has many science experiment books for kids of all ages!

Community Calendar

On our home page, in the sidebar under Research Assistance, you'll find the link to our Resource Center. This is a grouping of websites & databases for your use-great if you need last minute help with a research paper, or copies of legal forms, even investment advice. But did you know you can also connect to many local sites of interest, from the Albuquerque Journal to New Mexico Magazine? Did you know you can find out local events from New Mexico CultureNet & other resources? New Mexico CultureNet lists events for Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Taos, & surrounding areas. You can search the calendar, check out just this weekend's happenings, & limit your search by category. Adult & children's events are included.

Here are some events highlighted by CultureNet for this weekend:

• 19th Annual National Pastel Painting Exhibition AND Small Works Exhibition, Saturday, Nov 06 2010 to Sunday, Nov 28 2010, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, at EXPO NM-Hispanic Arts Center
• Words Afire Festival of New Plays Directed Readings: Words Afire Fall Reading Series, an exciting “first look” at new plays in development for the 2011 Words Afire Festival by Georgina Escobar, Nic Wehrwein, Riti Sachdeva, and Law Chavez, with guest directors and special guest adjudicator Megan Monaghan.
  UNM Department of Theatre and Dance Experimental Theatre, November 5-7
• Scandinavian Festival: The festival features Norwegian and Swedish folk art, books, Christmas ornaments, cards, jewelry, t-shirts & cookbooks. The women will be dressed in ethnic costumes and the Scandinavian Club will serve Old World cookies and coffee. Live fiddle music and Scandinavian dancing at 11 am, 12 noon and 1 pm. There will also be a kids' craft corner. Saturday November 6th, 10 am - 4 pm, at Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 114 Carlisle SE
• Festival de Cine: El Bola (2000) at National Hispanic Cultural Center, Wells Fargo Auditorium, Saturday, November 6th at 6:30 pm. El Bola is a Spanish film (shown with subtitles), directed by Achero Mañas. It won the Mejor Película (Best Film) Goya Award in 2001.
  

&, just out of interest, here's a literaryevent a bit further down the road:

• Sylvia Browne at Route 66 Casino: Friday, May 15th at 8:00PM
  

Shhhhhh . . . Libraries at Work

The Bob Edwards Show on Sirius Satellite Radio recently ran a series called "Libraries at Work".

From the site: "In recent years, public libraries have worked hard to shed their reputation for dusty stacks and tight lipped librarians; look no further than the youtube video of librarians dancing to Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” to see that the public library is cutting loose. And as many people are turning to their public library for support during the current recession, using the library internet to apply for jobs, and to check out books, movies, and music, the new laid-back image is well-timed. But just as the recession hit many citizens’ pocket books, libraries are also struggling to keep their doors open for patrons and provide the services people need. To celebrate National Book Month, we will look at the successes and problems of our national library system." Interviewees included current American Library Association president Roberta Stevens, library historian Matthew Battles, & Glennor Shirley, Library Coordinator for the Maryland Correctional Education Libraries.

The Bob Edwards Show airs Monday through Friday 8-9 AM (eastern time) on XM Channel 133 and Sirius Channel 196. Anyone catch any of the series? I'm curious to find out if it was good.

10 in '10-Reading New Mexico

The Lumiere Affair: A Novel of Cannes by Sara Voorhees Despite the fact that this novel is primarily set in Cannes, its author, a film critic, lives in Corrales, & its heroine Natalie Conway (also a film critic), though currently based in L.A., grew up in France & Crownpoint, New Mexico. In brief asides, New Mexican landscape & culture are singularly evoked. However, most of the action is set during an imaginary Cannes Film Festival. For anyone who has attended any kind of festival, the madness is clearly defined-total immersion, lack of sleep, bonding with people you've only just met. For a film festival, add celebrities into the mix. Sara Voorhees has brought her experience as a critic to bear here! There are some completely fictitious celebrities such as Jacques Vidanne, a producer who plays a large part in Natalie Conway's story, but many of the celebrities at Voorhees' brilliantly imagined festival are quite real-Johnny Depp has directed his first movie, scored by Iggy Pop; Charlize Theron & Bruce Willis make appearances. This madcap romp at Cannes, which feels very real & also very funny, is a magnificent send-up of the famous festival & takes up a good deal of the action. But there's more! Natalie Conway is at Cannes to review films, but she was also born in Paris & hasn't been back to France for 25 years, since the death of her mother in a freak lightning strike. Nattie's reunion with her mother's ex-boyfriend Claudel & her research into the mysterious nature of her mother's death round out the rest of the narrative. This might make for 2 plot lines awkwardly pieced together, but Sara Voorhees manages to carry it off & keep the reader interested until the end. It's the sum of both its divergent parts-the fluffy film festival is nicely balanced by the poignancy of Nattie's story. A light, zippy read.