Search results matching tag 'reviews'

Finding a Good Book

kiya@evpl — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 20:14:00 GMT

How do you hear about new books to read? Friends' suggestions? YouTube book trailers? Recommendations from Amazon? Best seller lists? Just browsing at the bookstore? Authors' blogs? [Here's a link to one of my favorite author blogs.] Asking your librarian? NoveList Plus from the EVPL databases and catalog?

I found a new place the other day to look for a new book: http://flamingnet.com/index.cfm.

Flamingnet is a website started by a teen reviewing Young Adult books for other teens. It now has thousands of reviews by reviewers across the US. You can browse the latest reviews, or search for specific authors or titles.

Several of my friends use Good Reads as a place to share and discuss books. Similar sites are Library Thing and Shelfari.

One of the blogs I found is Teen Fiction Café, which is written by 12 authors of Teen Fiction, all talking about the books they love to read. Below are some of the books the library has with suggestions for reading.

Let me know what you like to read, and how you find those books, or if you have one to recommend.

What do you get the person who has everything?

bookchick@evpl — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:46:00 GMT

What do you get the person who has everything?

These days of instant gratification ensure that when shopping for your loved ones you will be certain to get them something that they went out and bought for themselves on Black Friday or Cyber Monday because the sales were just too good to pass up. Then there are the post Christmas long return lines to wait in if you can even find the receipt that you carefully stored somewhere you would be sure not to forget.

No longer! I can guarantee that they won't have this! The solution is right in your own home, sleeping on your pillow, sitting on a windowsill or possibly coughing up a hairball for you to find later, in the dark, in your bare feet.

Your cat!

Crafting with Cat Hair: Cute Handicrafts to Make with Your Cat by Kaori Tsutaya is no joke and they don’t use hairball hair. These crafts are made by first brushing your feline friend and storing the hair until you have enough to felt. Then you use the felt as you would any other felted animal hair such as sheep’s wool, alpaca, and etc. It’s very clever and very eco-friendly.

The projects are small gift type things because, well, cats are small so you don’t get as much fur. There are finger puppets and scarf embellishments, pins, and a little felted cat to cover that hole in your favorite sweater because you didn’t want it to smell like moth balls. (Really, who could blame you?)

In between projects are tidbits of information such as suggestions for grooming a reluctant cat, keeping cats happy and healthy, and the origin of the author’s using cat hair in the first place. If you are a true cat lover your favorite part will undoubtedly be the bios or all the “contributors.”

If you want more check out her blog, http://nekoke.com/ (The Cat Hair Craft Room) but remember that unless you can read Japanese you’ll simply have to enjoy the pictures but there are some really cute projects in those pictures.

The Hunger Games Series!

KickinLibrarian@evpl — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 14:09:00 GMT

Last fall when I was preparing my presentations for Teen Read Week, I came across the book Catching Fire. I did not think much of it as I added it to the list of books to talk about in the schools I was visiting. Then Teen Read Week came and my visits started. In each classroom I showed the Catching Fire book trailer, and I began to notice that the teens sat up a little taller and I had their attention a little bit more. I didn't understand. What was the big deal about this book?

Then I finally started reading The Hunger Games. And I was hooked. For those of you new to the series, The Hunger Games is the first book in the trilogy. Katniss Everdeen lives in the 12th district of the country of Panem, and this district is located in what was once called the Appalachian Mountains. In this new nation of Panem, each district is separated by industry and importance, and the 12th district is the poorest of them all. Every year the districts draw two names- one boy and one girl- to participate in The Hunger Games, a fight to the death in which the victor is the last person standing.

I don't want to give too much away because this series is one that I think everyone should read. Similar to the Harry Potter series, The Hunger Games trilogy will catch the interest of young and old readers. To all those teens out at Thompkins and Plaza that loved this series long before I did: thank you from this librarian.

Hate List by Jennifer Brown

KickinLibrarian@evpl — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 00:27:00 GMT

Junior year is drawing to a close when Valerie's boyfriend, Nick, comes to school one morning and begins to shoot people in the Commons. At the end of the shooting spree, six people are dead and many are wounded, including Valerie. Within hours the police have searched Nick and Valerie's homes and discovered a "Hate List" the two created. Many of the students targeted that morning were on this list. Valerie becomes a suspect in the investigation. Was she part of Nick's plan? Was it a double suicide that went wrong? Was Valerie really shot trying to stop Nick? All of these are questions the students, teachers, parents, community, and the nation are asking.

For Valerie, the list was a way to vent her frustrations with the bullying she endured day after day at school. She never meant anything by it, but she will be haunted by the list and by what Nick did that morning for the rest of her life. After being cleared by the police, Valerie spent summer vacation isolated from the outside world. Now that a new school year has begun, Valerie is going back to school to face her demons. HIGHLY recommended.

Similar reads: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher and Undone by Brooke Taylor

"Moon" and the David Bowie connection

MediaPhile@evpl — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:48:00 GMT

Did you know that the director of the recently relased DVD "Moon" -- Duncan Jones (also known as Zowie or Joey) -- is the son of David Bowie?

Which is especially intriguing because "Moon" is the ethereal tale of a lonely man finishing up a three-year stint as the sole operator of a mining operation on the far side of the moon. Sound familiar?

All Sam (Sam Rockwell) wants is to go home to his loving wife and three-year-old daughter. But instantaneous two-way communication is down (mysteriously) so all he can do is leave messages and watch videos sent by her in reply.

When a mining machine malfunctions and he has to go out to fix it, things start getting really wierd. His faithful robot companion (voiced by Kevin Spacey) is no help as far as providing answers, although he assures him that a rescue crew is on the way.

One wonders if David Bowie's classic song "Ground Control to Major Tom" was reverberating in Jones' head as he made this really classy flick that got a whopping 89% on rottentomatoes.com. For those of you unfamiliar with it (or those who need a refresher), here are the lyrics:

Ground control to Major Tom Ground control to Major Tom:
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on
Ground control to Major Tom: Commencing countdown engine's on
Check ig-nition and may God's love be with you

This is ground control to Major Tom, you've really made the grade!
And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear,
Now it's time to leave the capsule if you dare

This is Major Tom to ground con-trol, I'm stepping through the door
And I'm floating in the most peculiar way 
And the stars look very difeerent today

For here am I sitting in a tin can, far above the world
Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do

BRIDGE

Though I'm passed one hundred thousand miles, I'm feeling very still
And I think my spaceship knows which way to go, 
tell my wife I love her very much she knows

Ground control to Major Tom: 
Your circuit's dead, there's something wong.
Can you hear me Major Tom? 
Can you hear me Major Tom? 
Can you hear me Major Tom? Can you ...

Here am I floating round my tin can, far above the moon
Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Toni Collette wins Golden Globe for "United States of Tara"

MediaPhile@evpl — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:17:00 GMT

Having always been a Toni Collette fan, I was happy to hear that she was the star of a new Showtime series. I was even happier when the first season of "United States of Tara" arrived at the libraries on DVD.

Collette, who is Australian by the way (I didn't know that), played the mom in "The Sixth Sense." She also played the mom in "Little Miss Sunshine." Once again she plays a mom, but this time she is split into 4 parts.

Yes, she has dissociative identity disorder -- which (shades of "Sybil") used to be known as multiple personality disorder. As the series starts, she and her family have just agreed that the drugs she is taking are not worth the side-effects, and she is off her meds.

Collette is magnificent at morphing into the various personalities. In fact, the four-time nominee just took home the Golden Globe for leading actress in a comedy TV series.

Rounding out the cast are John Corbett (the nice guy who Carrie leaves on "Sex and the City" -- still a really really nice guy) as her husband Max, Kier Gilchrist as son Marshall, Brie Larson as daughter Kate, and Rosemarie DeWitt as sister Charmaine. Each family member is unique and a bit flawed but they all soldier on, with humor and grace.

Give this one a try. The second season just started in January.

"Catcher in the Rye" one of the most censored books of the 20th century

MediaPhile@evpl — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 18:26:00 GMT

Reclusive novelist and short story writer J. D. Salinger died on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at the age of 91.

"Catcher in the Rye" the penultimate novel of teen angst -- first published in 1951 -- has sold 65 million copies worldwide and over half a century later still sells 250,000 copies each year.

"Catcher in the Rye" has been the object of many censorship efforts through the years. Pamela Hunt Steinle in her book "In Cold Fear: The Catcher in the Rye, Censorship Controversies and Postwar American Character" (Ohio State University Press, 2002), reported that the novel "had the dubious distinction of being at once the most frequently censored book across the nation and the second-most frequently taught novel in public high schools (after John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men.")

Salinger hated celebrity and fought mightily to keep himself out of the news, even though his works continued to generate both literary and mass appeal. His last published work was "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenter and Seymour: an Introduction," two novellas that had originally appeared in the "New Yorker" and were published in book form in 1963.

Salinger refused to give interviews, and his veil of secrecy has really only been punctured twice, by a long-ago lover, Joyce Maynard in "At Home in the World: a Memoir" (Picador, 1998) and his daughter, Margaret Salinger in "Dream Catcher: a Memoir" (Washington Square Press, c2000). Both revealed intimate details about the author and man that were less than flattering. Others have disputed many of the claims in these two exposes.

Rumors are that Salinger continued to write after his "retirement" from the world. One wonders if some long-buried Salinger masterpieces will soon see the light of day.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

evillebibliophile@evpl — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:20:00 GMT

What a delicious piece of fiction! A truly precocious eleven year old girl delves into the gory details of a murder in her family's cucumber patch with the zeal and insight of Sherlock Holmes. The year is 1950 and Flavia de Luce lives in a giant manor house with her older sisters and her reclusive father. But Flavia is no ordinary little girl. She has a knack for chemistry and a penchant for poison, spending most of her time performing experiments in the manor's giant chemistry lab.
When a man breathes his dying breath into her face, exhaling a smelly "Vale!" as he expires, Flavia realizes that the man was murdered - she could smell the poison on his breath. Knowing that she is smarter than everyone around her, she throws herself into discovering the secrets surrounding the murder. She is Sherlock Holmes, in manner and intelligence, in a little girl's body.
What a truly fun read! And good news! There are to be six more in the series!

AND! If you are uber-nerdy, there is a Flavia de Luce fan club:
http://flaviafanclub.ning.com/

"John Dillinger : the life and death of America's first celebrity criminal" by Dary Matera

MediaPhile@evpl — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:16:00 GMT

Because of the Indiana connection, I've always been somewhat interested in John Dillinger. But it was only after watching Johnny Depp bring the notorious bankrobber to life in his latest flick, that I decided to check out the details. This book was just the ticket.

Here are some brief FAQs of his short but infamous life:

He was born in Indianapolis. His father was a grocer who believed in harsh discipline, and his mother died just before his fourth birthday. He attended school through 7th grade, then quit to work in a machine shop. He started getting into trouble and his father moved the family to rural Mooresville to avoid the urban temptations. It didn't help.
His first arrest -- and first real crime -- was at age 19, for auto theft. He enlisted in the Navy but was soon dishonorably discharged. He returned to Moorseville, got married and stayed somewhat settled until the marriage ended in divorce when he was 26.
Shortly thereafter, he robbed a grocery store clerk of $50 and was convicted of assault & battery, then sentenced to 10 to 20 years in the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. He was still a really inept criminal but he became friends with quite a few of his fellow prisoners, many of whom made a career of crime. After 8 years he got parolled, then was immediately re-arrested following a couple of bank heists -- in Ohio -- and sent back to prison. He escaped four days thereafter with the help of the first "Dillinger Gang." Two guards were killed in the process, which meant he had moved a step up the criminal justice chain.
Of course we all know what followed -- dozens of bank robberies during a legendary cross-country crime spree that captured the imagination of the nation, even though it only lasted about a year. The chase very much resembled the Keystone Kops, with much of the population rooting for Dillinger. The heist that sealed his fate was one in East Chicago, Indiana (that he may not have even been at) where a policeman was killed. Now he was a cop killer.
He was finally captured in Tuscon, Arizona, and shipped back to Indiana to be charged with murder. Media descended on the small northern Indiana town of Crown Point to interview the famous criminal. His gang within a matter of days "busted him out" -- embarrasing the state of Indiana even more than they already were -- and the gang headed to Chicago. That was basically their downfall since they crossed the state line in a stolen car, bringing down the official wrath of the DOI, the agency which soon became the FBI.
Dillinger's last few months were spent hiding and scrounging, and he was even forced into getting a real job as a clerk. The DOI eventually tracked him down to the Chicago area. Agents gunned him down at the Biograph Theatre in Chicago's Lincoln Park on July 22, 1934.

Having grown up in "da Region" (northwestern Indiana), I was happy to see the award-winning Indiana Welcome Center open there a few years ago. But I never bothered to plunk down a few dollars to visit the Dillinger Museum that is part of it. Next time I'm "home" I will.

Spenser creator Robert B. Parker dead at age 77

MediaPhile@evpl — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:24:00 GMT

Prolific and beloved mystery/suspense author Robert B. Parker died suddenly on Monday, January 18. He was at his desk working on his latest Spenser novel.

Parker actually wrote three different series, as well as a number of unrelated titles, but his most well-known character was, of course, Boston P.I. Spenser. Spenser (whose first name was never revealed) was the centerpiece of 38 mysteries, many of which were made into TV movies. The mystery series was also adapted into the TV series "Spenser for Hire" which ran on ABC from 1985-88, with Robert Ulrich playing Spenser.

Here is a list, from Robert B. Parker's website, of his series and the titles in each series:

The Spenser Series

Back Story
Bad Business
A Catskill Eagle
Ceremony
Chance
Cold Service
Crimson Joy
Double Deuce
Early Autumn
God Save the Child
The Godwulf Manuscript
Hugger Mugger
Hundred-Dollar Baby
Hush Money
The Judas Goat
Looking for Rachel Wallace
Mortal Stakes
Now and Then
Pale Kings and Princes
Paper Doll
Pastime
Playmates
Potshot
The Professional
Promised Land
Rough Weather
A Savage Place
School Days
Small Vices
Stardust
Sudden Mischief
Taming a Seahorse
Thin Air
Valediction
Walking Shadow
The Widening Gyre
Widow's Walk

The Sunny Randall Series
Blue Screen
Family Honor
Melancholy Baby
Perish Twice
Shrink Rap
Spare Change: A Sunny Randall Novel

The Jesse Stone Series
Death in Paradise
High Profile: A Jesse Stone Novel
Night and Day
Night Passage
Sea Change
Split Image
Stone Cold
Stranger in Paradise
Trouble in Paradise

Other Books
All Our Yesterdays
Appaloosa
The Boxer and the Spy
Brimstone
Chasing the Bear: A Young Spenser Novel
Double Play
Edenville Owls
Gunman's Rhapsody
Love and Glory
Perchance to Dream
Poodle Springs
Resolution
Wilderness