Where did everyone go?

It is evident today is the first day Dover schools are in session. It has been eerily quite in the Children's Room this morning. When you are used to hundreds of children on any given day during the summer, with their boisterous enthusiasm filling the room...the calm peacefulness reminded me that Autumn is upon us. An older patron stuck her head in this morning and stated, "It's too quite! I'm used to going by and hearing all of the joyous sounds." I agree. Looking forward to the renewed bustle after three o' clock!

Maine

Last week I was on vacation in Maine, and so I decided I just had to read Maine: A Novel by J. Courtney Sullivan. I loved it! The book is about three generations of the Kelleher family and their ties to the family summer house in Cape Neddick, Maine. The is book is filled with intriguing characters from Alice the ornery matriarch, to Kathleen the eldest daughter who has found happiness with a hippy worm farmer in California, and Ann Marie the oh-so-perfect yuppie daughter in law whose hobby is decorating doll houses. You will in turn love and hate these characters. It is also fun to read about familiar locations and events--watching the fire works in Portsmouth or eating dockside in Kittery. There is still enough summer left for you to fit this book in.

eReaders for Junior

We wrote a shocked post back in March about publishers marketing to children who use iPhones and iPads. Let a small child play with an iPad? Now there is no need to worry about getting baby food smeared across the screen or having your expensive piece of technology being dropped by tiny hands. There are now several eReaders available for the toddler set to age ten. eBookAnoid has a review of several of them.The reviewer states that he is sure you will see a jump in your child's reading if you buy one. What do you think?

Ready for the Wind?

Our Circulation Librarians are so creative. They made a clever hurricane book display with special effects. Come see it, and stock up with books, cds and DVDs before the big blow starts. We will be open from 9 to 1 on Saturday.

Gotta Go! Gotta Go!

September is fast approaching and that means the kids are headed back to school. Another journey back is occurring in nature: the amazing migration of the monarch butterfly. After hatching from a tiny egg, the monarch caterpillar eats the leaves of the milkweed plant and begins its miraculous transformation inside its chrysalis. Once metamorphosis is complete, the butterfly makes its way to a particular spot in Mexico and returns north in the spring.
The children's book Gotta Go! Gotta Go! by Sam Swope is one of my favorites to share at this time of year. Come check out the books about monarchs on our "mini" display here in the children's room. Better yet, head outside and look for a field of milkweed plants!

Hugo Awards Announced

The Hugo Awards for 2011 have just been released and the winning book, Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis is exceptional. In fact I recommended it back in February. You don't need to like Science Fiction to enjoy this novel in two parts. It feels more like an English historical novel as most of the action takes place in World War II London. Time travel is just a small part of the storyline. The descriptions are so evocative you will feel like you have crouched hidden from the Blitz in shelters for hours.

Out on the Town

My husband and I went down to the Portsmouth Music Hall last Wednesday evening to hear Mary Chapin Carpenter sing.It was a wonderful evening with great music and it was especially nice to see the performers enjoying themselves so much on stage. She sang songs from her latest album, "The Age of Miracles", which came out last spring and a lot of old favorites as well. All of which can be found in the music section of the Browse Room at the DPL.

Women vs Woodchuck and Other Assorted Ornery Beasts

Lately talk around the staff room table has been about the various critters which have been ravaging our gardens. Woodchucks, hornworms, slugs,steer, and deer have all been enjoying the fruits and vegetables of our labours before we can get to them.Various plans of attack have been considered and employed. Bowls of beer have been set out (for the slugs of course). Young children have been used as worm spotters because they are low to the ground, traps have been set and certain members of the family have been asked to walk the perimeter of the garden while answering a call of nature. Hey, let's face it-war is not pretty. While these are only some of the methods we have used, more can be found in The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Pest and Disease Control edited by Bradley, Ellis , and Martin and Rodale's Vegetable Garden Problem Solver also by Bradley. Personally I think Fern Bradley is a bit lax with the woodchucks but Irma Rombauer of Joy of Cooking fame has an interesting solution. Woodchuck stew anyone?

Shawn Colvin Fans, You Need to Hear This!

Even though Shawn Colvin won a Grammy in 1989, her true fans never seemed to make up a huge segment of the populace. But, I remember spending the entire summer of 1990 listening to Steady On, on my Sony Walkman, (we’re not talking Discman here, I mean the original cassette playing Walkman) while working on my tan at York Beach. Yes, I was rockin’ those big spongy headphones - and very little sunscreen. Eventually the Walkman broke, the cassettes got lost, and by the time Colvin had another big hit, When Sunny Came Home in 1997, I’d moved on musically and dermatologically. But, today I was listening to the new CD, Follow Me Down, from Sarah Jarosz, a young folk singer who was BORN a full year after the summer of Shawn. Critics have called her the “next generation Gillian Welch” but I hear, especially in the song Runaway, nothing but Shawn Colvin. Ahh, it takes me back…… anyway critics have also said that she could make folk music attractive to the “twitter generation”….uh oh, that means your kids will be embarrassed by you and for you if you are observed singing, car dancing or otherwise partying to this new young artist like it was 1990 all over again.

By Barbara

Bedlam Farm

Check out the many antics at Bedlam Farm - home of author and photographer Jon Katz. He and his wife Maria Wulf live there with four dogs, three donkeys, two chickens, one rooster, several barn cats and assorted sheep. His new book will be out in September- Going Home: Finding Peace When Pets Die… I realize this may be a subject that most of us do not want to think about even though we have all struggled with those difficult good-byes. So while you are waiting for the fall release date… you can check out one of his other nineteen titles at the Dover Public Library.

Written by Sue

NoveList

As the summer winds down (sorry!), I have had a lot of teachers in looking to update their reading lists for those hard to reach kids, known in librarian and teacher speak as "reluctant readers". I love helping those that come in with personal recommendations, and offering our bookmarks of suggested reading, but I also know there are many that don't ask for our help. For those struggling at home to create a book list I have one word for you--NoveList. It is a database that Dover Public Library cardholders have access to and one that you can easily fall in love with. It is a readers advisory database that gives you access to suggested genre reading lists, read-a-likes, reviews of books, book discussion guides, etc. You can limit searches to adult, teens, ages 9-12, or ages 0-8. Wondering if the reading level is appropriate for your student? Many of the titles for kids provide you with the lexile rating. To access the database visit our Online Resources page, and choose Ebschohost. You will need to enter the barcode from the back of your card to access their databases. It really is a wonderful database that can help you match your students with the perfect book! What more can you ask for?

Help

The buzz surrounding the movie adaptation of The Help has me actually thinking about going to the movie theater. It's been about 5 years since I have gone so it might be time (I even hear they're a bit fancier now). I really enjoyed the book, and typically I am leery of adaptations, but this one has promise. I heard an interesting interview with Octavia Spenser, the actress who plays Minny, on All Things Considered, and the marketing is starting to work. Have you seen it yet?

A Round of Applause Please!

As we put the Summer Reading Programs to rest for another year the Library would like to give a HUGE thank you to all of the local businesses and organizations that generously donated to the cause--we couldn't have done it without your help!

Thank you to:
The Friends of the Dover Library who give us a generous donation to pay for supplies, decorations, prizes, and entertainers.
China Yan Restaurant
City of Dover Recreation Department
Domino's Pizza
Dos Amigos
Hilltop Fun Center
Kendall Pond Pizza
La Festa Brick & Brew Pizzeria
Margaritas Mexican Restaurant
Papa Jay's
Portsmouth Harbor Cruises
River Bend Variety
Roger's Pizza House
Shaw's Supermarket
Smiley's Beverage Center
Strafford Farms
The Works

Let's Run the Numbers

We have some impressive statistics to show that many Dover area kids were busy reading this summer. The library sponsored two Summer Reading Programs: You Are Here for teens and One World, Many Stories for the younger kids. As they say--let's run the numbers:

***Total participation 612
***Kids in grades K-1 read over 2,000 books (no there is not an extra zero!)
***Kids in grades 2-6 read for over 3,000 hours (yes, you read it right)
***Teens read for 2,592 hours (no, I'm not kidding)
***We had 367 attendees to our drop-in story times
***There were 1,216 crafts made

I don't know about you but these stats make me smile. :)

Listen Up

These are the latest downloadable books added to NH Downloadable Books.

New eBooks
Abyss     Troy Denning
Against All Enemies     Tom Clancy, Peter Telep
Among the Wonderful     Stacy Carlson
Books Can Be Deceiving     Jenn McKinlay
City of the Sun     David Levien
Conquistadora     Esmeralda Santiago
Dead Is So Last Year     Marlene Perez
Delirious     Daniel Palmer
Demonic     Ann Coulter
The Devil in Disguise     Stefanie Sloane
Don't Look Back     Karin Fossum
Ecstasy Unveiled     Larissa Ione
First 60 Seconds     Daniel Burns
A Game of Thrones     George R.R. Martin
Ghost Town     Rachel Caine
The Girl in the Steel Corset     Kady Cross
Grave Sight     Charlaine Harris
The Help     Kathryn Stockett
Hourglass     Myra McEntire
Incognito     David Eagleman
An Indecent Proposition     Emma Wildes
Keeping the House     Ellen Baker
Let's Play Dead     Sheila Connolly
Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen     Susan Gregg Gilmore
Lye in Wait     Cricket McRae
The Magician     Michael Scott
Maine     J. Courtney Sullivan
A Matter of Class     Mary Balogh
May Day     Jess Lourey
One Bad Apple     Sheila Connolly
Passion Unleashed     Larissa Ione
A Perfect Evil     Alex Kava
Pleasure Unbound     Larissa Ione
Real Murders     Charlaine Harris
Runaway Hit     Lara Bergen
The School of Essential Ingredients     Erica Bauermeister
The Secret Between Us     Barbara Delinsky
The Secret to Seduction     Julie Anne Long
Seducing the Highlander     Emma Wildes
Sex on the Moon     Ben Mezrich
Shakespeare's Landlord     Charlaine Harris
Shattered     Karen Robards
The Shelters of Stone     Jean M. Auel
The Silent Girl     Tess Gerritsen
The Sinner Who Seduced Me     Stefanie Sloane
Slightly Married     Mary Balogh
Smokin' Seventeen     Janet Evanovich
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan     Lisa See
A Summer to Remember     Mary Balogh
The Vanishing Violin     Michael D. Beil
A Weekend with Mr. Darcy     Victoria Connelly
Where the Dead Lay     David Levien
The Winter Sea     Susanna Kearsley

New Audiobooks
The 4-Hour Workweek      Timothy Ferriss, Ray Porter    
Accidentally Yours     Susan Mallery, Therese Plummer    
The Call     Michael Grant, Ramon de Ocampo    
Dead Is the New Black     Marlene Perez, Suzy Jackson    
Death Sentence     Alexander Gordon Smith, Alex Kalajzic    
Ecstasy Unveiled     Larissa Ione, Paul Boehmer    
Emily Windsnap and the Siren's Secret     Liz Kessler, Finty Williams    
Escape     Barbara Delinsky, Cassandra Campbell    
A Game of Thrones     George R.R. Martin, Roy Dotrice    
Germline     T. C. McCarthy, Donald Corren    
The Homecoming of Samuel Lake     Jenny Wingfield, Catherine Taber   
In Dreams     Nora Roberts, Justine Eyre    
Irresistible     Karen Robards, Anne Flosnik    
It Happened One Season     Stephanie Laurens, Jacquie D’Alessandro, Candice Hern, Mary Balogh, Simon Prebble, Anne Flosnik    
Magic Slays     Ilona Andrews, Renée Raudman    
The Mysterious Howling     Maryrose Wood, Katherine Kellgren    
Notorious Pleasures     Elizabeth Hoyt, Ashford MacNab    
Passion Unleashed     Larissa Ione, Renee Raudman    
The Pirates of Somalia     Jay Bahadur, Sunil Malhotra    
Retribution     Sherrilyn Kenyon, Holter Graham    
The Ridge     Michael Koryta, Robert Petkoff    
Scandalous     Karen Robards, Justine Eyre    
Shameless     Karen Robards, Rosalyn Landor    
Smokin' Seventeen     Janet Evanovich, Lorelei King    
A Storm of Swords     George R.R. Martin, Roy Dotrice    
This Beautiful Life     Helen Schulman, Hillary Huber    
Unlimited     Jillian Michaels, Jillian Michaels    
The Vanishing Violin     Michael D. Beil, Tai Alexandra Ricci    
A Visit from the Goon Squad     Jennifer Egan, Roxana Ortega    
What Comes After     Steve Watkins, Emily Janice Card    
Ashes, Ashes     Jo Treggiari, Cassandra Campbell    
Darkness Dawns     Dianne Duvall, Kirsten Potter    
Forever     Maggie Stiefvater, Jenna Lamia, Pierce Cravens, Dan Bittner    
Ghost Road Blues     Jonathan Maberry, Tom Weiner    
How the Hippies Saved Physics     David Kaiser, Sean Runnette    
Moll Flanders     Daniel Defoe, Davina Porter    
Rip Tide     Kat Falls, Keith Nobbs
 

Thanks to Danielle for collecting the information and posting it on the NH Downloadable Books blog.

Books into Films

I'm sure you all know that the movie The Help premieres this week at theaters. This is one book that everyone at the library totally agreed about: we all loved it and can't wait to see the film! You've also probably seen the previews for One Day (book by David Nicholls) starring Anne Hathaway which begins August 19. Between these two books, there are currently 23 holds at the library! So we wanted to give you a heads up about which books are coming out as movies this fall...read them now so you won't have to wait on the holds list when they're about to premier!

"I Don't Know How She Does It" by Allison Pearson starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Brosnan, Kelsey Grammer, and Christina Hendricks (Sept. 16)
"Drive" by James Sallis starring Ryan Gosling as a stuntman/bank robber (Sept. 16)
"Moneyball" by Michael Lewis starring Brad Pitt in a true baseball story about the Oakland A's (Sept. 23)
"What's Your Number?" romantic comedy based on the book Twenty Times a Lady by Karyn Bosnak; starring Anna Faris (Sept. 30)
"The Three Musketeers" another re-make of the Dumas classic, this one with Orlando Bloom (Oct. 21)
"Breaking Dawn" which is Part 4 of the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer (Nov. 18)
"Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy" by John LeCarre with Gary Oldman as George Smiley (Nov. 18)
"Hugo" based on the Newbury-award winning children's book, "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick (Nov. 23)
"Sherlock Homes: A Game of Shadows", the Robert Downey Jr/Jude Law sequel based on the novels of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Dec. 16)
"We Need to Talk About Kevin" by Lionel Shriver, starring John C. Reilly and Tilda Swinton in one of the most talked about films at this year's Cannes Film Festival (Dec. 16)
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (English language version) based on Stieg Larsson's bestseller, starring Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander and Danile Craig as Mikael Blomqvist (Dec. 21)
"The Adventures of Tintin" the children's classic cartoons by Herge, directed by Steven Spielberg (Dec. 23)
"War Horse" by Michael Morpungo, also from a children's book and directed by Speilberg (Dec. 23)

Read the books now so that you too can say (as we always do) "the book was definitely better"!

I Can't Believe Tolstoy Wrote a Kid's Book

I came across this fascinating article about famous authors of adult literature on brainpickings.org. Did you know Oscar Wilde, Virginia Wolfe, and James Joyce all wrote children's books? It got me thinking; which of my favorite authors would I like to see write a kid's book? I think James Lee Burke. I would love to see his lyrical prose translated into a children's book, and I am really curious about what he would write since his usual themes are violence and corruption, and he tends to use, shall we say, some very colorful slang. Who would you choose?

Party!

A party for all readers enrolled in the Children's Summer Reading Program will be held on Wednesday, August 10 from 10:30 to noon. After refreshments, Sammie Haynes will entertains us with her interactive musical show @ 10:45.

Sammie Haynes is an award-winning children’s musician whose performances for children over the past 15 years have enchanted audiences in New England and nationally. Her 2nd CD, Nature’s ABCs on the Gentle Wind label, received 4 awards including a Parent’s Choice!

Reviewers say she’s a lively and engaging performer whose songwriting is tight and catchy, pitched perfectly to her audience. Listeners will be inspired and enriched as Sammie performs clever and thought-provoking songs about everything from dogs and rivers to messy cars and the library! Join us.

What We Did on Our Summer Vacation

(We read, of course!)
 
Now that the librarians have all had some time off we can report back to you that we have read some great books this summer.  From “bodice rippers” to biographies, here are just a few of the Librarians Choice:  Best Vacation Books.

If a romantic historical mystery is what you crave, then The Dark Enquiry, the sixth installment of the Miss Julia Grey series by Deanna Raybourn should satisfy.  If you haven't read any of this series be sure to begin at the beginning with Silent in the Grave.   

If you can’t get enough Tina Fey, Bossy Pants should  hold you over until a new season of 30 Rock.  Be sure to grab the book on CD, read by the author, if you have a long car ride, but do remember, if there are little ears in the car, this is Tina Fey uncensored! 
       
Fans of Jennifer Egan’s first novel, The Invisible Circus will enjoy Sister a first novel by Rosamund Lupton in which a young woman is compelled to unravel the mystery surrounding her sister’s death.
     
If you need a cure for yoga class performance anxiety check out Poser: My Life in Twenty-three Yoga Poses by Claire Dederer.  Dederer, a young mother with a bad back, breaks a long standing personal rule to never enter a room that has prayer flags hanging from the ceiling in a last ditch effort to solve her back problems and gets hooked on yoga.  This ridiculously funny book, about the perils of postures and parenting, will have you laughing even if you have not done either.
    
For a complete list of our Best Vacation Books stop by the Circulation Desk.

Can We Help You?

Libraries have many roles, but one of my favorites is solver of disputes. Sounds very official doesn't it? This is when we get people in who have been arguing over a fact-- a song lyric, how many RBIs so and so has, who was the 17th president (Andrew Johnson)--the list could go on and on. Recently I had a woman in looking to check out one of our Kill-A-Watt Energy Detectors--apparently there was some dispute in the household about exactly how much energy the air conditioner used. Of course, we don't like hearing about discord in a household or friendship, but we are happy we can be here to help. :)

One World, Many Games...

Keeping with the summer reading program's theme of "One World, Many Stories", Miss Amy has taught the children a couple of games played in different countries. Here, the children are learning to play Bocce (Italy). After the game, they were even given a special treat--gelato!

19th Wife

I was watching the Warren Jeffs trial on the news this morning when it reminded me of a superb novel I had read a few years ago. Jeffs is the leader of a breakaway sect of the Mormon Church known as the FLDS. You may remember seeing scenes of his ranch being raided by law enforcement, while hoards of women wearing identical styles of long dresses and elaborate coiffure milled about. Children were temporarily placed into protective custody due to possible charges of sexual assault on minors and bigamy. I had just read a fiction book around the time of this occurrence calledThe Nineteenth Wife by David Ebershoff. The Nineteenth Wife is actually two interwoven stories; one is the story of Mormon prophet Brigham Young's nineteenth wife, Ann Eliza, who spent her life revealing the truth about plural marriage in her memoirs and lecture tour. The second story is that of a present-day  nineteenth wife, BeckyLyn, who lives in a cult similar to the FLDS and stands accused of murdering her husband. BeckyLyn’s son Jordan, who was thrown out of the First Latter-day Saints compound as a boy returns to help her, putting his life at risk. Both stories were fascinating. This is one of those books that is difficult to put down.