The Movie was Better

Who hasn't heard the phrase "the book was better than the movie"? One of our pages told me today that books are always better than the movies that are based on them.

Frankly, I disagree. I've watched some movies that I thought were far better, or equally as good, as the books they were based on. Today, I'd like to share the movies that I love more than the books (or that I love just as much as I love the books--I'll specify when I talk about each one).

Black Hawk Down

Confession: I don't watch that many movies. I have a hard time focusing on them, because I always feel like I need to be doing something else while I watch movies, and that usually results in me not paying much attention to what I'm supposed to be watching.

Black Hawk Down* is a different story. I've seen it well over 20 times; it's my all-time favorite movie. It was the first war movie I ever really watched, and even though I don't recall when the events happened (I was too young at the time), I connected with the movie in a way I never thought I would have.

Bonus: The soundtrack for the movie is also great. I currently have it on repeat on my iPod.

*The link is for the book, not the movie.

Forrest Gump

After I finished reading Forrest Gump, I was left with the feeling that I have never read a more disappointing book. This isn't actually true--I've read far more disappointing books--but at the time, I couldn't believe how bad this book was. The storyline works great for the movie, which is definitely helped by Tom Hanks, but for the books, it didn't work for me at all. I'm not sure if it was because it felt a little too unrealistic, or if this is the type of story that needs to be told visually. Either way, the book didn't work for me, but I love the movie.

Watch the movie | Read the book

Jaws

A lot of people dislike this movie because of how it represents sharks. I partially agree with this; sharks don't act the way the shark in Jaws does, and to an extent, this movie did a disservice to sharks because of that misrepresentation. Despite that, Jaws is one of my favorite movies, simply because for me, it did the opposite of what it did for others: It made me love great whites.

The book is very different from the movie, and I was disappointed. Maybe if I had read the book before seeing the movie, I would feel differently, but as it is, I didn't enjoy the book at all.

Watch the movie | Read the book

Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park is a classic. As with Jaws, I saw the movie before I read the book, and I loved it. When I finally read the book as an adult, I was happy to see that it was just as good as the movie. I will probably always like the movie a little bit more than I like the book, partly because the book has more of the science in it than the movie does, and because it's a movie that is just plain awesome.

Watch the movie | Read the book

Strangers on a Train

I wasn't a huge fan of Alfred Hitchcock until I saw Strangers on a Train. I fell in love with the movie; the story is great, the cinematography is awesome, and the acting was brilliant. When I found out the movie was based on a book, I was really excited--until I tried to read it. I couldn't get into the book at all, and I've never been able to finish it. Strangers on a Train will always be a movie that is far better than a book for me.

Watch the movie | Read the book

Literary Links: Reading Recommendations

Here's our tail-end-of-summer wrap-up of reading recommendations!

Mockingbird and More: The Literary Class of 1960 [The Booklist Reader]

"So, Harper Lee’s having kind of a big week, right? But she only wrote two books. And, they’re probably not on the shelf right now. Why not remind readers of the other works with remarkable staying power that were published or produced that year?"

8 Raw Westerns to Read This Summer [Lit Reactor]

"There has been some talk of a Western revival of sorts, and a number of interesting titles have found their way to presses this year. With the oncoming heat of summer, it’s the perfect time to catch up on some gunslinging between the hours of waiting in beach traffic and nights spent sleepless thanks to the humidity. You can’t hunt down your enemies for a battle at high noon, but you can live vicariously through fictional characters in front of an air conditioner."

Joss Whedon to Write a New Comic Book Series [GalleyCat]

"The director behind the first two Avengers movies will write the story for a new comic book called Twist. The story, set in the Victorian era, stars a young maid who transforms into a hero. At this point in time, no release date has been set for this six-part mini-series."

'Game of Thrones' Author George R. R. Martin Would Like to Recommend Some Books [Wall Street Journal]

"In a post Tuesday on his “Not a Blog,” Martin shared his thoughts about some of the books he has read during his recent travels. It’s not all science fiction and fantasy, either. The list also includes two of the current biggest titles in popular fiction and nonfiction. Here’s a glance at Martin’s recent reads and what he thinks about them."

Must-read inspy romances: 'Wonder of You', 'Love Arrives in Pieces', 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' [USA Today]

Alexi Wants to Help You Find Your Next Read [The Digital Reader]

"This iPhone app is currently in beta, but when it launches this autumn Alexi will let readers follow well-known literary authors and get their recommendations on books worth reading, and read the ebooks inside the app."

Bonus: Literary travel!

The Ultimate Holiday Reads by Destination [Fly Abu Dhabi]

"From classics like Don Quixote and A Room with a View, to contemporary page-turners such as The Wasp Factory and The Miniaturist, there’s a book for every destination. So, whether you’re looking for a book to keep you entertained on the flight, something to dip into between excursions or an easy beach read, take a look at our Ultimate Holiday Reads infographic for inspiration!"

26 Literary Landmarks in America To Visit Before You Die [Buzzfeed]

"From museums and historic homes to out-of-the-way bookstores and bars, your literary-themed summer roadtrip just got easier to plan."

New & Novel: Parenting

The kids are home for the summer, and maybe, to misquote the song, the living isn't so easy with them underfoot. Do you want your kids to learn about money management? Are you worried you're yelling too much? If you are looking for a book with parenting tips, never fear - the library catalog has got your back! Whether you want to explore nature with your child this summer, or feed your toddler superfoods, or help your teenager succeed, we've got some reading recommendations.  Here are some of the latest offerings in the library catalog:

Teenagers 101: What a Top Teacher Wishes You Knew About Helping Your Kid Succeed by Rebecca Deurlein, Ed.D

Will My Kid Grow Out of It?: A Child Psychologist's Guide to Understanding Worrisome Behavior by Bonny J. Forrest, JD, PhD 

Yell Less, L[heart]ve More: How the Orange Rhino Mom Stopped Yelling at Her Kids-And How You Can Too! - A 30-Day Guide That Includes: 100 Alternatives to Yelling, Simple, Daily, Steps to Follow, Honest Stories to Inspire by Sheila McCraith

Forever Mom: What to Expect When You're Adopting by Mary Ostyn

First Bites: Superfoods for Babies and Toddlers by Dana Angelo White 

The Spiritual Child: The New Science on Parenting for Health and Lifelong Thriving by Lisa Miller with Teresa Barker 

The Opposite of Spoiled: How to Talk to Kids About Money and Values in a Material World by Ron Lieber

How to Raise a Wild Child: The Art and Science of Falling in Love with Nature by Scott D. Sampson

The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed by Jessica Lahey

When Kids Call the Shots: How to Seize Control From Your Darling Bully - And Enjoy Being a Parent Again by Sean Grover    

For more books about parenting, you can search the catalog under the subject "parenting". 

 

Saints Preserve Us

A friend once shared with me that the point of believing in a higher power is not to be spared hardships, but to be divinely helped through them. Saints bracelets have been in style for the past couple of years. At the end of a particularly trying day, I looked at the images wrapped around my wrist. There wasn't a saint of  Absolutely No Hardships Or Suffering Ever. No one was ever sainted happily ever after. The saints I was wearing had been beheaded, died of tuberculosis, given up riches and privilege to find holiness in poverty, were overwrought mystics, or seen their first born publicly executed.

The idea of saints may seem quaint in 2015, but there are three contemporary writers who reignited my childhood interest in saints and made them relevant in the face of disappointments, doubts, and spiritual aridity.

Heather King, author of Shirt of Flame: A Year With St. Thérèse of Lisieux, understands what it means to struggle with unrequited love, alcoholism, and the turbulence of midlife. King's previous books: Parched and Redeemed: Stumbling Toward God, Sanity, and the Peace That Passes All Understanding covers her journey of recovery, conversion, and spiritual growth. King devoted a year of her life to reflecting on St Therese's autobiography. The writings of St. Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897), a cloistered French Carmelite nun taken in a personal context illuminate the bittersweet triumphs and humbling moments people face on a daily basis. 

Dawn Eden, author of My Peace I Give You: Healing Sexual Wounds With the Help of the Saints, and The Thrill of the Chaste: Finding Fulfillment While Keeping Your Clothes On , has eloquently shared her journey from agnostic Judaism to devout Catholicism through her blog and books. Eden shares the lives of various saints and their experiences with loss, trauma, and spiritual seeking to show how we can cope with past abuse and experience profound healing. Her chapters about saints Josephine Bakhita and Dorothy Day are especially relevant in the 21st century, as they respectively deal with human trafficking and social justice issues. My Peace I Give You acknowledges recent Catholic church abuse scandals, but helps individuals seeking solace and perspective focus on the saints as approachable role models to emulate. Eden maintains an uplifting message about personal healing. Readers will gain a sense of validation and inner peace, while eliminating undeserved shame and guilt many survivors internalize into adulthood.


Kathryn Harrison, best known for her searing memoirs The Kiss, and The Mother Knot, as well as her complex non-fiction and captivating fiction, examines the lives of St. Therese of Lisieux and Joan of Arc. Her most recent book Joan of Arc: A Life Transfigured revisits the questions generations have asked about this saint. Harrison's portrayal of Joan of Arc delivers a version of a young woman with extraordinary faith and courage in the face of battle, a degrading inquisition, and being burned at the stake. Harrison masterfully interprets art, folklore, and her predecessors' analysis into viewing Joan of Arc as a unique heroine.

Harrison's book Saint Therese of Lisieux from the Penguin Lives series, helps readers who find themselves initially exasperated with Saint Therese's seemingly sugary expressiveness to find the real fire that galvanized her to enter a Carmelite convent at the age of 15 and devote her life to poverty, chastity, and obedience. In her protective family life, she was a pampered, hypersensitive neurotic, prone to scrupulosity, who through a spiritual transformation, found a new perspective and purpose for her life.

For further encouragement and reading, check out these title from ABC Library.

Making Saints: How the Catholic Church Determines Who Becomes a Saint, Who Doesn't and Why by Kenneth L. Woodward

American Saint : The Life of Elizabeth Seton by Joan Barthel

Voices of the Saints : A Year of Readings by Bert Ghezzi

The Saints' Guide to Happiness by Robert Ellsberg

My Cousin the Saint: A Search for Faith, Family, and Miracles by Justin Catanoso

If Nuns Ruled the World: Ten Sisters On a Mission by Jo Piazza

A Man for Others: Maximilian Kolbe, Saint of Auschwitz, In the Words of Those Who Knew Him by Patricia Treece

  
Teresa of Avila: The Progress of a Soul by Cathleen Medwick

Dark Night of the Soul: Dark Night of the Soul: Saint John of the Cross, translated by Mirabai Starr    

 

Comics for Girls

Sometimes you read articles like "What Taking My Daughter to a Comic Book Store Taught Me", and it really gets to you. Granted, this might not be everyone's take on every comic store, but it's a sad fact that this can happen - you can take a girl to a comic book store, and she might ask for "the real comics", comics where all female characters are not scantily clad superheroes. If you know a girl who's interested in comics and would like to read about other girls they might more readily identify with, we have some comic suggestions for you!

We have tried to use some of Geek Dad's guidelines for finding titles, especially: titles must be female-led and titles should be more than a toy ad. All titles are from the children's section unless otherwise noted.

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

Captain Marvel Vol. 1: Higher, Further, Faster, More by Kelly Sue Deconnick
[School Library Journal rated this appropriate for grade 9 and above]

Lumberjanes: Beware The Kitten Holy by Noelle Stevenson & Grace Ellis

Cleopatra In Space: Book One, Target Practice by Mike Maihack

El Deafo by Cece Bell 

Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch  

Phoebe and Her Unicorn: A Heavenly Nostrils Chronicle by Dana Simpson 

Sisters by Raina Telgemeier 

Chiggers by Hope Larson

Oddly Normal: Volume 1 written & illustrated by Otis Frampton

Bandette: In Presto! by Paul Tobin with art by Colleen Coover [YA]

This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki, Jillian Tamaki [YA]

Friends With Boys by Faith Erin Hicks [YA] 

Ms. Marvel, Volume 1: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson
[School Library Journal rated this appropriate for grade 9 and above]


Links


12 Comics for a 7-Year-Old Girl: A Response [Geek Dad]

10 Great Comics for Adolescent Girls: Graphic Novels and Collections [Paste]

You Go, Girls! 7 Kick-Butt Comics for 7-Year-Old Girls [Brightly]

William Shakespeare's Star Wars

It's practically impossible not to know that Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be in theaters in December 2015. Or are we just nerds? We confess to having downloaded the Star Wars app to our phone (there has been much selfie-taking - all the guys think it's funny to be Princess Leia, and hardly anybody wants to be trapped in carbonite; and the weather in Albuquerque mostly resembles Endor in the early morning and Utapau during the day, but the monsoon season is also bringing up comparisons to Kamino). Also, we were pretty excited about the behind-the-scenes reel from the San Diego Comic-Con and the pictures of Luke, Leia, and Han (um, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford) reunited.

So, you still have a few months to geek out and immerse yourself in the Star Wars universe. You could watch all the movies. You could refresh yourself with the visual dictionaries. You could amuse yourself with the clever cartoons of Jeffrey Brown. How about Star Wars Lego? Or, if you have literary inclinations, why not try William Shakespeare's Star Wars?

William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope by Ian Doescher

A retelling of Star Wars in the style of Shakespeare, in which a wise Jedi knight, an evil Sith lord, a beautiful captive princess, and a young hero coming of age reflect the valor and villainy of the Bard's greatest plays. 
 
William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back by Ian Doescher ; inspired by the work of George Lucas and William Shakespeare

A follow-up to the best-selling William Shakespeare's Star Wars:Verily, A New Hope returns readers to a galaxy far, far away, where a brooding young hero, a power-mad emperor and their jesting droids match wits, struggle for power and soliloquize in elegant iambic pentameter. 

William Shakespeare's The Jedi Doth Return by Ian Doescher 

Han Solo entombed in carbonite, the princess taken captive, the Rebel Alliance besieged, and Jabba the Hutt engorged. Now Luke Skywalker and his Rebel band must seek fresh allies in their quest to thwart construction of a new Imperial Death Star.  

William Shakespeare's The Phantom Menace: Star Wars Part the First by Ian Doescher

Join us, good gentles, for a merry reimagining of Star Wars: Episode 1 as only Shakespeare could have written it. The entire saga starts here, with a thrilling tale featuring a disguised queen, a young hero, and two fearless knights facing a hidden, vengeful enemy. ’Tis a true Shakespearean drama, filled with sword fights, soliloquies, and doomed romance . . . all in glorious iambic pentameter and coupled with twenty gorgeous Elizabethan illustrations. Hold on to your midi-chlorians: The play’s the thing, wherein you’ll catch the rise of Anakin! 

William Shakespeare's Star Wars: The Clone Army Attacketh by Ian Doescher  

In time so long ago begins our play, In clash-strewn galaxy far, far away. To Shmi or not to Shmi? Torn between duty to the Jedi, attraction to Paďm, and concern for his beloved mother, yeoman Jedi Anakin Skywalker struggles to be master of his fate. The path he chooses will determine not just his own destiny, but that of the entire Republic. And thereby hangs a tale. Alack the day! A noble lady in danger. A knight and squire in battle. And a forbidden love thats written in the stars. Once again, the quill of William Shakespeare meets the galaxy of George Lucas in an insightful reimagining that sets the Star Wars saga on the Elizabethan stage. The characters are familiar, but the masterful meter, insightful soliloquies, and period illustrations will convince you that the Bard himself penned this epic adventure.  

*all book descriptions are taken from the library catalog 

A Year of Reading

Who says reading challenges have to be limited to summer?

In my last post, I talked about how I'm burnt out on reading young adult books, and I touched on a reading challenge my sister suggested we do. When my sister texted me to tell me about "a GREAT idea" she had for reading, I was nervous, mostly because we have very different reading tastes, and we're different types of readers. My sister's idea was to pick a specific theme for every month, and we can only read books that fall into that theme. Her plan is to do this for a year.

I was hesitant at first, because that's not how I read. I tend to be a mood reader, and limiting myself the way my sister suggested is really hard for me. Any time I try to limit myself to something, I tend to want to read everything except what I'm limited to.

But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to try it, primarily because I'm still burnt out on young adult books (and middle grade, and anything that's not aimed at an adult audience), but also because I thought it would be a fun way to extend my summer reading challenge and challenge myself with my reading.

Our challenge starts tomorrow, but I officially started it earlier this week. For the next year, our themes are:

August: Non-fiction
September: Classics/literary fiction
October: Horror/scary stories
November: History (both fiction and non-fiction)
December: Winter-themed books
January: Self-improvement
February: Young adult fiction (I couldn't help adding it in, just in case I want to start reading it again.)
March: Novels where technology plays a role, or non-fiction about technology
April: Poetry, short stories, and plays
May: Memoir/biographies
June: Summer-themed books
July: Childhood favorites

Then, a couple weeks ago, my sister sent me a text about "another GREAT idea" she had. She suggested that each month, we recommend books to each other from the theme, and we have to read at least one chapter of whatever is recommended to us. I'm not sure how this going to play out yet, since my sister can't seem to decide how many books we're allowed to recommend to each other, but I think it'll be fun.

Want to participate in your own reading challenge? Make one up, or try one of these!

2015 Reading Challenges
Novel Challenges
The Perch Book Club Summer Reading Challenge

And if you don't like those options, you can always do a Google search to find a reading challenge that works for you. Happy reading!

Forensic Mysteries

Who's fascinated by forensics?  We armchair detectives are! And so is mystery author Val McDermid, who just published Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA and More Tell Us About Crime. Her familiarity with forensics is gleaned from research over the years for her fictional crime scenes, and allows her to "uncover the history of this science, real-world murders and the people who must solve them". For those of us interested in forensics, the use of scientific knowledge and/or methods (including DNA analysis, blood spatter, and entomology) to solve crimes, this book - employing true crime and scientific accounts - is gruesome (no pictures, though) but witty and intelligent, and tinged with a dose of both McDermid's sense of wonder and skepticism.

In honor of McDermid's book, we've compiled a list of some of the most well-known forensic mystery series from the library catalog:

Jefferson Bass
Bill Brockton, forensic anthropologist in the Body Farm series

Benjamin Black
Quirke, coroner in 1950s Ireland

Patricia Cornwell
Kay Scarpetta, chief medical examiner in Richmond, Virginia

Colin Cotterill
Siri Paiboun, national coroner in 1970s Laos

Ariana Franklin
Adelia, coroner in 12th century England

Tess Gerritsen
Maura Isles, medical examiner in Boston, Massachusetts (her partner is Jane Rizzoli)

Elly Griffiths
Ruth Galloway, forensic archaeologist

Iris Johansen
Eve Duncan, forensic sculptor

Sheila Lowe
Claudia Rose, forensic handwriting expert

James Patterson
Claire Washburn, medical examiner and founding member of The Women’s Murder Club, in San Francisco, California

Kathy Reichs
Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist in North Carolina and Quebec

Links

Forensic Mysteries [Stop You're Killing Me]

Popular Forensic Mystery Books [Goodreads]

New & Novel: Comedy Writing

Marc Maron just hosted President Obama on his WTF podcast last month (such a momentous event that Maron was still processing it during his next broadcast, which he called "The President Was Here", and he also created a special website to show pictures of the event). Every single episode of Seinfeld is streaming on Hulu, and Hulu celebrated by putting together a "Seinfeld Museum" for fans. Jon Stewart just ended his tenure on The Daily Show. Comedy and comedians - they are big news!

Comedians are not shy about putting pen to paper, either.  Here are some of the latest publishing ventures by some folks who regularly bring you the funny onscreen and on stage, with a couple of historical pieces thrown in for good measure.

Sick in the Head by Judd Apatow

Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari

Silver Screen Fiend: Learning About Life From An Addiction to Film by Patton Oswalt

Happily Ali After: And Other Fairly True Tales by Ali Wentworth

More Fool Me: A Memoir by Stephen Fry

When The Balls Drop: How I Learned to Get Real and Embrace Life's Second Half by Brad Garrett

 

I Must Say by Martin Short

We Killed: The Rise of Women in American Comedy by Yael Kohen

Hope: Entertainer of the Century by Richard Zoglin

Big Bad Book of Bill Murray: The Man, the Movies, the Legend by Robert Schnakenberg

Ann Rule, The Queen of True Crime October 22, 1935 - July 26, 2015

Ann Rule may be best known for her masterpiece The Stranger Beside Me which detailed her friendship with infamous serial killer Ted Bundy. Rule was a crime writer who got her start with True Detective magazine under the pen name Andy Stack.

Born Ann Rae Stackhouse, Ann Rule grew up among family members involved in law enforcement and even joined the Seattle Police Department, but left after failing an eye exam. She studied creative writing, abnormal psychology, and criminal justice, an education that made her true crime books exceptionally substantial and riveting. At the height of her career, Rule produced up to two books a year.

True crime aficionados will miss her contributions, but can be consoled by re-reading her books.

Practice To Deceive
Fatal Friends, Deadly Neighbors: And Other True Cases
But I Trusted You: And Other True Cases  
Mortal Danger
Smoke, Mirrors, and Murder: And Other True Cases 

In the Still of the Night: The Strange Death of Ronda Reynolds and Her Mother's Unceasing Quest For the Truth

Green River, Running Red: The Real Story of the Green River Killer, America's Deadliest Serial Murderer
Bitter Harvest: A Woman's Fury, A Mother's Sacrifice

ABC Library also has the following true crime books to give you chills: 

Law and Disorder: The Legendary FBI Profiler's Relentless Pursuit of Justice by John Douglas 
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
While They Slept: An Inquiry Into the Murder Of a Family by Kathryn Harrison 
The Innocent Man by John Grisham
The Devil's Knot by Mara Leveritt 
Every Contact Leaves a Trace: Crime Scene Experts Talk About Their Work From Discovery Through Verdict by Connie Fletcher 
For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Chicago by Simon Baatz

The KonMari Method

Keep only those things that speak to your heart. Then take the plunge and discard all the rest. By doing this, you can reset your life and embark on a new lifestyle.
~Marie Kondo

There's a little book making the rounds (currently 173 holds on the print book!) and getting lots of buzz.  Have you heard about Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo and the KonMari method yet, as explained in her book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up?

The KonMari method begins with one central tenet: "...the best way to choose what to keep and what to throw away is to take each item in one's hand and ask: "Does this spark joy?" If it does, keep it. If not, dispose of it."

There's more to it, a lot more. Marie Kondo does not recommending tidying a little at a time - it should all happen in one go. But don't let your family get involved - don't re-gift that T-shirt that doesn't quite work on you to your sister, for instance. You should tidy in order, by category. Clothes are first on the list, and she recommends placing every item of clothing on the floor to sort it out (and if you thought she sounded strict already, when she does this exercise with her customers, if they try to hide any pieces of clothing, she tells them that if they find any clothes after the big sort is over that they go automatically into the discard pile). How you fold your clothes, even your socks, is of the utmost importance, shows respect, and "we should put our heart into it, thanking our clothes for protecting our bodies". She does not approve of downgrading clothing that you'll never wear outside again to "loungewear", either.

Other categories get a similar treatment. Do your books give you "a thrill of pleasure" when you touch them? (Not when you open a book and read it - when you touch it.) Do you have a giant TBR pile?  Discard, discard, discard.  Her rule of thumb for sorting papers is "discard everything", because they will never inspire joy - this includes credit card statements, warranties for electrical appliances, and greeting cards that are more than two years old. And don't even get her started on "komono" (miscellaneous items) - those cosmetic samples you've hoarded, spare buttons, products from the latest health craze, and bedding for the guests you never have should be out the door already.

You might think that some of this seems odd or sounds exhausting (emptying your bag every day was an idea that we had difficulty imagining), and Marie Kondo is quite a character - she became interested in organizing in childhood (she started reading home and lifestyle magazines at age 5 and began surreptitiously discarding her family's "unused and unnecessary junk", until she got caught); she believes storage experts are hoarders, and indeed, has definite opinions about other tidying strategies, such as "clearly defined numerical goals...[are] one reason these methods result in rebound". But there is something about her quest for "ultimate simplicity in storage so that you can tell at a glance how much you have" that sounds so inspiring, and so...clean. Kondo promises that "[t]he lives of those who tidy throroughly and completely, in a single shot, are without exception dramatically altered". And her method does allow for a personal shrine in the top shelf of your bookcase and your closet to be decorated with "secret delights"!

What do you think?  Have you read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up?  Would you, or did you, try the KonMari Method, and how did it work for you?


Links

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

I Decluttered My Closet With The KonMari Method and Here's What Happened [HuffPost]

KonMari: How to Clean Up Your Home Once and Never Need to Do It Again [Martha Stewart]

Kissing Your Socks Goodbye: Home Organization Advice from Marie Kondo [New York Times]

Top Circulating Fiction - Adult & YA

“Knowledge is like money: To be of value it must circulate, and in circulating it can increase in quantity and, hopefully, in value.”
― Louis L'Amour, Education of a Wandering Man  

In the library, "circulation" means a lot of things.  What's sometimes called the "library card desk" is also known as "circulation".  When we look at a book's record, we count how many times it has checked out as its "circs". The library's collection floats (items checked out at one branch and returned at another stay at the branch at which they are returned), but its items circulate.

Are you ever curious about which titles get checked out the most in the library system? We've generated a couple of lists of the top recently circulating titles and authors for adults and young adults. Lots of mystery and thriller readers in our system! We like that Agatha Christie is still in the top ten.

Top Circulating Titles for Adults	Top Circulating Authors for Adults
1.  Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins	James Patterson
2. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr	David Baldacci
3. Gray  Mountain by John Grisham	Nora Roberts
4. Personal by Lee Child	John Sandford
5. Memory Man by David Baldacci	Stuart Woods
6. The Stranger by Harlan Coben	Agatha Christie
7. Burning Room by Michael Connelly	Janet Evanovich
8. Gathering Prey by John Sandford	Danielle Steel
9. Miracle at Augusta by James Patterson	Debbie Macomber
10. Insatiable Appetites by Stuart Woods	John Grisham
11. Cold Betrayal by J.A. Jance	Michael Connelly
12. Motive by Jonathan Kellerman	M.C. Beaton
13. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd	J.A. Jance
14. Private Vegas by James Patterson	Clive Cussler
15. A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler	Alexander McCall Smith

It's also unsurprising to see the oeuvre of Suzanne Collins, Veronica Roth, and James Dashner so strongly represented!  You can find the movies in the library catalog too - The Hunger Games, Divergent, and The Maze Runner. Not to mention The Fault in Our Stars, The Book Thief, and If I Stay!

Top Circulating Young Adult Titles	Top Circulating Young Adult Authors
1. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green	Veronica Roth
2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins	James Patterson
3. Divergent by Veronica Roth	Suzanne Collins
4. The Maze Runner by James Dashner	James Dashner
5. If I Stay by Gayle Forman	John Green
6. Allegiant by Veronica Roth	Cassandra Clare
7. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins	Gayle Forman
8. Theodore Boone by John Grisham	Richelle Mead
9. Insurgent by Veronica Roth	Sara Shepard
10. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins	Darren Shan
11. The Death Cure by James Dashner	Amanda Hocking
12. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak	P.C. Cast
13. 99 Days by Katie Cotugno	John Flanagan
14. The Scorch Trials by James Dashner	Chris Lynch
15. Conspiracy 365 by Gabrielle Lord	Meg Cabot