Mockingjay Coming Soon!

The official "Blog Tour" for Mockingjay, the last book in Suzanne Collin's wildly popular Hunger Games series, begins on Monday, August 2, and there is a blog stop for each of the 13 districts represented in the book. The book will be released on August 24th--place your hold today. You can see a line-up of the blogs on the official Hunger Games Facebook page. Also on the Facebook page is a sampling of different international covers for Hunger Games--I particularly like Germany's version.

Art Display

We have a wonderful art exhibit currently on display--watercolors by Dan Carrell. Most are beautiful local settings of the ocean, boats, and lighthouses. The display will be up through August so do come by and take a look.

How To Improve Jane Austen

For those of you who believe Jane Austen would have written the perfect novels if only they had more action, more, well...violence, I have the solution. Take a look at this laugh out loud literary mash-up called Jane Austen's Fight Club. Make sure you aren't drinking any tea or you may snort it out all over your keyboard. There are moments of almost Pythonesque humor in this video.

Just remember, "No corsets, no hatpins and no crying."

Lucky Winners

On Friday we drew names for the Teen Summer Reading mid-way prize packs. I love doing the drawings, and making the phone calls--winners are so excited. Here are the lucky winners:

***6 Pool Passes to the Jenny Thompson or Indoor Pool & 2 Large Pizzas at Kendall Pond Pizza---Winners Erin Gibbons & Alex Chase

***10 Free Games of Mini Golf at Hilltop Fun Center & a $20 Gift Certificate to Strafford Farms--Winner Kristin Durham

***6 Day Passes to the Works & a $20 Gift Certificate to La Festa Pizzeria--Winners Ava Dobson & Laura Coppinger

Congratulations! If you didn't win you still have a chance for the gift certificates for iTunes and Target which will be drawn on August 11th at 9:00am--good luck.

Saving Money

I had to share this wonderful blog post with you from Serendipity's Guide to Saving: a Girl in Her Early Twenties Figuring Out Her Finances and Life In General. She had my grateful attention with her first line "As a young girl, some of the fondest memories involve me, my dad and a library". The same was true for me, only it was my wonderful mom who would pack up her three girls and drive us into the big city to replenish our stacks of books. Serendipity has a fabulous list of 9 different ways you can save money by using your library, she didn't list all the ways that libraries can save you money, but it is a good start. She points out you can save on iTunes by checking out the music collection, save on DVD rentals, magazine subscriptions, and of course, books. Her library has a branch with a museum in it which the DPL can't offer, but we do have a terrific historical room, and museum passes for discounted or free visits to 15 New England museums. Check it out!

Autobiography of a Cover

I just read an interesting article in Publishers Weekly titled "Autobiography of a Cover." The article focused on Sara Shepard's new series The Lying Game (not out until December). Sara Shepard is a wildly -popular teen author best known for her Pretty Little Liars series. I'm not sure what is up with her obsession with lying, but the kids love her. The publishers want to make sure that fans of Pretty Little Liars get on board with The Lying Game, and so they have put a lot of money and effort into the covers, which they consider the majority of the advertising for a book. The article describes the photo shoot, all the different people involved (two editors, an art director, and five staffers), and the final price tag--$26,000! Do you think that they are trying to get us to judge a book by its cover?

What's Your Best?

My son's daycare is having Book Day which is when they can each bring in there favorite book to share with the class. He refers to his favorite things as his best, and so he is puzzling over which book is his best. This has made me think about which book is my best--what would I take in to share with others? I haven't come up with an answer because I have books that I love that are in different categories--mystery, historical fiction, non-fiction, adventure.... and it doesn't seem fair to make them compete with one another. I have come up with one of my best summer reads-- Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver. It might be time to give this a reread. What's your best?

Believe It Or Not

Did you know a Dover house was featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not in 1940? Next time you drive down Silver Street look for the house that has a window in the middle of its chimney.  The house was run as a convalescent home in the mid-1930s by  a nurse called Rhoda Comiskey. It is a private home now.

I wonder why they put a window in the middle of a chimney?

Remembering Ramona

Have you seen the previews for Ramona and Beezus, which opens this Friday? I have mixed feelings about it. The actresses look way too pretty and their relationship too loving. I remember Beezus and Ramona being a bit more antagonistic to each other, but I admit it has been about 30 years since I read them. Anyway, in honor of the fondness I have for these terrific books from my childhood- every kid should read them- I will share this fun little quiz. Its only 11 questions and it is a walk down memory lane. I remembered Ramona's doll's name she thought was soooo beautiful...

How I think Ramona and Beezus should look versus how Hollywood sees them.

Do You Need Another Reason to Come to the Library?

Free access to books, magazines, newspaper, DVDs, music CDs, audio books, Summer Reading Programs, and Wi-Fi all in a kind of sorta air conditioned building--not enough? How about the "Free Teen Book Raffle" in which teens can enter to win one or all of the following book bundles: The Mod Girl, The Comics, The Vampires, or The Sci-Fi/Fantasy? The drawing will be held on July 30th. Free books--can't beat that!

Women Shoppers Take Over!

Did you ever wonder why Best Buy flourished while Circuit City folded? Why make-up buyers prefer Sephora to department store counters? Why some malls fail while others thrive? Why hotel chains decorated with earth tones and curvy furnishings have higher occupancy rates? Why the traditional chain drug store, which sold primarily pharmaceutical or health items, has evolved into today’s modern version of a “General Store”, selling such a plethora of items? The answer, according to “the Sherlock Homes of retailers” Paco Underhill, is WOMEN!

Underhill is a consultant to major retailers looking to gain more customers and his firm, Envirosell, concentrates on improving physical arrangements, displays, lighting, packaging and overall design of stores. His first two books, “Why We Buy” and “The Call of the Mall”, were wildly successful and I made a point to hear him speak a couple years ago at a library conference I attended in Seattle. (He had many interesting ideas about public library layouts too.)

Paco’s new book is “What Women Want: the Global Market Turns Female Friendly” and contains a wealth of anecdotal and scientific information about the buying power of females in today’s economy and what attracts women to certain retail establishments. It’s really fun reading! Any shop owner would be wise to consult this book for its shrewd observations and practical applications relating to getting female traffic into a store. “What Women Want” is not only useful, it’s entertaining and thought-provoking for anyone who shops! Highly recommended!

FREE MOVIES!!!

The library's Movie Mondays continue, and here is the line-up:

**Mon., July 19: Garfield's Pet Force, rated G.
**Mon., July 26: Space Buddies, rated G.
**Mon., Aug. 2: The Spongebob Squarepants Movie, rated PG.
**Mon., Aug. 9: Diary of a Wimpy Kid, rated PG.

All movies are shown in the library lecture hall, and yes they are free.

St. Swithin's Day

David Nicholl's has been getting a lot of press for his new novel One Day. The premise is that two former lovers, Emma and Dexter, revisit their relationship once a year on St. Swithin's Day, July 15. The book is already being made into a movie starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. Take a look at the New York Times Book Review for a more complete story of the book. Hmmm.... I wonder what they will be doing today.

Altered Book Art

One of the librarians is fond of expressing her opinion on current events by temporarily altering a book jacket. If you have been following this blog for a while you will recall her work in defense of Michelle Obama's fashion choice. Mel Gibson's recent behavior has inspired her artistic impulses again. He would do well to take the hint.

Get Creative

Chocolate zucchini cake showed up on our staff room table the other day--you know what that means--zucchini overload. I personally love zucchini, but you can definitely have too much of a good thing. We have plenty of cookbooks that will give you a multitude of creative ways to cook zucchini such as:

**Zucchini with mushroom stuffing and wine sauce in Oven-Baked Vegetarian Dishes by Gabriele Redden
**Zucchini pan fried sage-scented pancakes (yum!) in Vegetables: The Most Authoritative Guide to Buying, Preparing and Cooking with More than 300 Recipes by James Peterson
**Zucchini oven ratatouille in The Vegetable Dishes I Can't Live Without by Mollie Katzen
**And of course the Zucchini Chocolate Cake (double yum) in Farmer's Market Cook Book by Better Homes and Gardens

Enjoy!

Charming Billy

I don't know what it is about William Shatner. Every time I set out the audiobook of his biography, Up Till Now, someone checks it out. This time it was on display for less than an hour before someone checked it out. We have had the audiobook for over two years so this is not a new phenomenon. William Shatner narrates which absolutely makes the book. The story of his life is so much more enjoyable with the authentic staccato  speech pattern that he is famous for, and mocks himself for in the book. I got a kick out of Shatner's irreverent style, his wise-cracking good humor, and love of practical jokes. If you are looking for an amusing audiobook, give this one a listen.

Make Waves at Your Library

It is not too late to join the Teen Summer Reading Program so if you are in 6th through 12th grade come on in! Here a few of the amazing prizes that you could win:

***6 Pool Passes to the Jenny Thompson Pool or the Indoor Pool & 2 Large Pizzas at Kendall Pond Pizza
***10 Free Games of Mini Gold at Hilltop Fun Center & a $20 Gift Certificate to Strafford Farms
***6 Day Passes to The Works (includes the pool) & a $20 Gift Certificate to La Festa Pizzeria
***$25 iTunes Gift Card
***$25 Target Gift Card

Someone is going to win these prizes, it might as well be you.

A Cover to Get Lost In

It was a hot and busy morning at the Circulation Desk today. When I saw the jacket on this book it stopped me in my tracks. I just wanted to fall into the still and icy image. Someone else must have thought so too since Lost was checked out again right away . I am nominating it for best cover of the day.

Medium Raw

I have a love/hate relationship with Anthony Bourdain--he doesn't know so please don't tell him. I find his books entertaining, but I also think that he is a brash, obnoxious individual. He has a new book out called Medium Raw: a bloody valentine to the world of food and the people who cook--see what I mean isn't that an obnoxious title? Anyhow, my husband loves him and is trying to sway my attitude towards the love end. He has suggested I listen to a recent interview with him on Talk of the Nation because he thinks he has "mellowed out". Still not convinced but I do find him highly entertaining and strange.