If I had the time...

Brand-new non-fiction I'd read...if I had the time:

Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You by Sam Gosling.
How we use our personal, home and work spaces to project, or protect, our identities through "psychological footprints" and "behavioral residue" found in our cars, our tattoos, our living rooms, our MP3 playlists, our blogs (!) and even in the books we read! Your possessions and their ambiance say a lot about you...find out what!

The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes---and Why by Amanda Ripley.
Examines how humans function under duress and identifies common traits among survivors of shipwrecks, fires, tsunamis and other natural disasters. Your "stage of emotional response"---denial, delay, risk, fear, panic, paralysis, or heroism---denotes how you'll fare. The author also gives several tips on how to boost your own odds. Be ready!

Second Banana Books

We have noticed a trend lately of secondary characters so intriguing that they deserve a book of their own. The book that started our discussion was John Sandford’s Dark of the Moon which showcases Virgil Flowers. Frankly, I had gotten a little tired of Sandford’s main character, Lucas Davenport, who has gotten a little too full of himself. It’s nice to see Sandford take a risk with a different character and the result is a tightly plotted action packed mystery with interesting characters. I hope we will be reading a lot more of Virgil Flowers.

Another author who shares characters between some novels is Mary Kay Andrews. I can’t get enough of her quirky and funny southern women so it’s a delight to see them popping up in books sometimes as a main character, or a supporting character. Who could resist names like BeBe Loudermilk and Weezie Foley?

In an interesting twist on this idea, two authors have teamed up together and have their series characters working together. Philip R. Craig’s J.W. Jackson and William Tappley’s Brady Coyne costar in three novels, the last being Third Strike.

Do you have a favorite author who has done this? Tell us about it!

Free Summer Movie Series

The Dover Public Library will be hosting a Monday Afternoon Movie Series beginning this Mon., June 9 at 3:00. The movies are all suitable for families, and are either rated G or PG. We hope you take advantage of this free entertainment, and feel free to BYOP (bring your own popcorn). Call the library at 603-516-6050 to find out what movies are scheduled. Hope to see you there!

Game On @ Your Library

This year's grand prize for the Dover Public Library's Teen Summer Reading Program is a wii game console. We (no pun intended) are very excited about this and hope it draws in lots of local teens to the library. Of course, before the planning for the program I had heard of the wii system--who hadn't with the coverage it has received in the media. Anyhow, I still needed help in figuring out what I needed to buy and where (they are still not easy to get your hands on). After figuring out what I needed and tracking one down, I went shopping. Let me tell you, I felt every one of my 15,218 days when I walked into that store--you could say I was like a fish out of water. So for my pain and suffering I want this to be an extremely successful year for the Teen Summer Reading Program. If you are a Dover Public Library teen (going into grades 6 through 12) come in and sign up starting on June 30th, or if you know an eligible teen please let them know. There will also be lots of prizes to be had throughout the program. Call the library for more information 603-516-6082.

Tuttle’s Red Barn Beautifies the Library

We would like to thank Tuttle’s Red Barn for their generous gift of three large barrels of flowering plants. They really brighten up the Children’s Room entry way!

Library Life

Darn! If only I'd thought to write down all the stories---memorable, comic, sometimes absurd and unsavory---that have happened in our public library over my 30 year career here! Well, two people, with more forethought and direction than I, have done just that. Take a look at:
Free For All: Oddballs, Geeks and Gangstas in the Public Library by Don Borchert; and
Quiet, Please: Dispatches from a Public Librarian by Scott Douglas, two new irreverent, no-holds-barred books which delve into the daily life of a public librarian. I highly recommend them both to anyone contemplating a career in librarianship. And, if you've ever worked in a library, or even if you are just a frequent patron, you will recognize some of the incidents, anecdotes and mayhem. Library customers run the gamut of human society including the quirky and the criminal: anyone who thinks that only silver-haired, Harlequin-reading ladies visit our stacks is woefully mistaken! To be a librarian these days, you also need to be a part-time counselor, social worker, computer guru, mental health professional and babysitter and Borchert and Douglas capture "our world" with wit, warmth, humor and some occasional profanity!

Titles so intriguing that I want to read the book

Clotilde’s Edible Adventure in Paris by Clotilde Dusolier

Edward Trencom’s Nose: a novel of history, dark intrigue, and cheese by Giles Milton
The Life and Times of the Last Kid Picked by David Benjamin

Are You in Good Spirits?

Good Spirits: recipes, revelations, refreshments, and romance shaken and served with a twist by A.J. Rathbun.

Is there anything more decadent and yet quaintly old fashioned than sipping an ice cold martini on a hot summer night? This is THE book for the aspiring mix-ologist who doesn’t want to just throw some gin in a glass and be done with it but who wants to learn to mix the perfectly elegant cocktail and then recount its illustrious, scandalous, or just plain odd history to her (or his) enraptured guests. Filled to the brim (no pun intended) with “imbibement” trivia, your friends will be as impressed with your mixing skills as they are with your knowledge all things liquor related. On the downside, be prepared to spend, spend, spend as these gorgeous, frosty libations require the best and usually most expensive ingredients (like that lovely blue gin…ahhh …but I digress). They also require the perfect glasses, the perfect swizzle sticks, the perfect coasters, and quite possibly, the perfect little black dress and shoes.
BP-W

The Shadow Year

I just finished Shadow Year by Jeffrey Ford. It takes place in the mid sixties and follows the adventures of a nameless boy and his brother who are trying to cope with an alcoholic mom, a father who has to work too much to support his family, and all the usual school age traumas. Throw into the mix a mysterious prowler, a school mate who has vanished, neighbors who suddenly die, an insane librarian, some supernatural events, and you have an involving, nostalgic novel that is hard to put down. Enjoy a little taste of Ford’s atmospheric story telling.

The lingering twilight finally breathed its last, and that first moment of night was like a gunshot at the start of a race. Instantly, frantic kids in costumes streamed from lit houses, beginning their rounds, not to return until they had reached the farthest place they could and still remember how to get home.

We traveled door-to door around the block, joining with other groups of kids, splitting away and later being joined by others. Franky Conrad, dressed like a swami, with a bath towel around his head, eyeliner darkening his eyes, and a long purple robe, walked with us for a dozen houses. The Farley girls were angels or princesses, I couldn’t tell which, but their costumes, made from flowing white material, glowed in the dark. President Henry Mason was dresses in his Communion suit, a button on the lapel that said VOTE FOR HENRY, and his sisters were ghosts with sheets over their heads. Reggie Bishop was a robot, wrapped in silver foil, wearing a hat with a lightbulb sticking out the top that went on and off without a switch, and Chris Hackett wore his father’s army helmet and told us how his dad had gotten hand-grenade shrapnel in his ass and lost three fingers in Korea.

We worked the trick-or-treat with dedication that rivaled our father’s for his three jobs, systematically moving up one side of the street and then down the other. Our pillowcases filled with candy. Old Lady Restuccio gave out Chinese hand-cuffs, a kind of tube woven from colored paper strips. You stuck a finger in each side and then couldn’t pull them out. That’s how we lost Franky Conrad. He was left behind, standing on Mrs. Restuccio’s lawn, unable to figure out that you just had to twist your fingers to free them. The slow, the hobbled, the weak—were all left in our wake as we blitzkrieged Willow Avenue and moved on to Cuthbert.

If I had the time...

New non-fiction titles in the library's Children's Room collection that I would read if I had more time:

• King George: What was his Problem? : Everything your schoolbooks didn't tell you about the American Revolution by Steve Sheinkin
  After years of writing American history textbooks, Steve Sheinkin uses all the amazing stories and quotes that he collected in his research (that textbook editors would never let him use) to write this funny but entirely true account of the American Revolution that kids (and adults) will actually want to read!
  



• Encyclopedia Horrifica: The Terrifying Truth! About Vampires, Ghosts, Monsters, and More by Joshua Gee
  This quote on the back cover had me wishing for the time to read every frightening page: "Bursting with evidence--special investigations, exclusive interviews, rare images, and chilling eyewitness accounts--ENCYCLOPEDIA HORRIFICA proves that the truth is not only stranger than fiction...it's also a lot scarier!".
  



• The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming by Laurie David and Cambria Gordon
  Why global warming happens, the ways it affects our planet, and how we can work together to stop it are topics dicussed in easy to understand language and catchy chapter titles such as "It's getting hot in here, Weird wacky weather, and Extinction stinks".

Do you ChaCha?

I recently read about a new free service for cellphone users who need quick answers to simple questions. It's called ChaCha (800-2chacha or 800-224-2242). Supposedly you just state your question and in a few minutes you'll get your answer via a text message. All for free! An article in the Wall Street Journal (April 24) said that their test of the service correctly answered queries such as: the name of the winning pitcher in last night's Red Sox game...the weekend forecast for Boston...the date of death of Abigail Adams...the cast members of "Brothers & Sisters"...Peyton Manning's salary...the sodium content of a McDonald's quarter pounder...and a Revolutionary War date. Your question is routed to one of 10,000 hired "guides" who look up the answer on the Web (they're paid $.20 per answer) and reply back. Speed and accuracy can vary but you can always text back for clarification or more information. ChaCha requires no registration and claims to work with most cellphone carriers. The only fee may come from your carrier if you're paying for minutes or text messages.
Has anyone out there tried this?
Of course, it's only natural that I also remind you that your library also supplies a free question-answering service (603-516-6082) and you can talk to a real, live human being and a professional librarian at that! You can even ask complex, multipart questions and we won't blink an eye! But I also believe that ChaCha has a place in our "search world", perhaps when the library is closed and you have that nagging question at 3am that's keeping you from going back to sleep!

An Evening of Poetry

These are the second category readers.

The Curse Reversed

This is an absolutely amazing poem: a history of the Red Sox in verse. It’s long but a must hear for any loyal Red Sox Fan.

An Evening of Poetry

Tuesday night the Library held its annual Evening of poetry, the culmination of the 2008 Poetry Contest. We are delighted that this year we can share video with you of some very talented students reading their poems. The evening started with the youngest group.
The video takes a while to download, please be patient.

It’s an Odd Day

The latest installment in Dean Koontz’s wildly popular Odd Thomas series, titled Odd Hours, is being released today. Have you reserved a copy yet?

Dean Koontz says: "The legend began in the obscure little town of Pico Mundo. A fry cook named Odd was rumored to have the extraordinary ability to communicate with the dead. Through tragedy and triumph, exhilaration and heartbreak, word of Odd Thomas’s gifts filtered far beyond Pico Mundo, attracting unforgettable new friends—and enemies of implacable evil. With great gifts comes the responsibility to meet great challenges. But no mere human being was ever meant to face the darkness that now stalks the world--not even one as oddly special as Odd Thomas."

Great Stone Face Award Announced

The Great Stone Face Book Award is sponsored by the Children's Librarians of New Hampshire and is given each year to an author whose book receives the most votes from fourth through sixth graders throughout the state. Each year a committee chooses 25 recently published titles, which children then use as a guide for voting. The vote takes place every April during National Library Week, and the winner is announced in May. The purpose of the award is to promote reading enjoyment, to increase awareness of contemporary writing, and to allow children to honor their favorite author.

And the winner for 2007-08 is ...

Rules by Cynthia Lord

The new Great Stone Face nominees list for 2008-09 is now available in the Children's Room and on our website (click here to view).

If I had the time...

Here's more brand new non-fiction in the library that I'd read if I had the time...

Nextville: Amazing Places to Live the Rest of Your Life by Barbara Corcoran and Warren Berger
Corcoran is a frequent real-estate commentator/guest on The Today Show and here she predicts where 77 million baby-boomers will settle into retirement. Interesting stuff and she knows the market!

Vermeer's Hat: the 17th Century and the Dawn of the Global World by Timothy Brook
Examines the myriad details of such items as tobacco, furniture, carpets, silver and beaver pelts in Vermeer's paintings to explain the 17th century's growth in commerce, transport, trade and the exchange of cultures. Brook's studies of Vermeer's works enlighten us on military power and even the status of women. Fascinating!

The Devil's Gentleman: Privilege, Poison, and the Trial that Ushered in the 20th Century
by Harold Schechter
This true story of a 1900 Manhattan murder reminds me of the novels of Caleb Carr. This high-profile case became a NYC media circus, complete with yellow journalism, vice, money, romance, and the liberal use of poison!

Dover Middle School Art

Take a moment to enjoy the new slideshow on the right side of the blog. The art was created by students at the Dover Middle School and illustrates the 2008 Poetry Contest booklet. We have such talented students in Dover!

Poetry Winners Announced!!!

The following is a list of winners in the Dover Public Library's 6th annual Poetry Contest for kids in grades K-12. Congratulations to all!

K-2 Category:

1st Place: Aiyana G. Brough, Grade 2, Garrison School (tie)
Adrianne Page, Grade 2, Garrison School (tie)
2nd Place: Shawn DeKorne, Grade 1, Saint Mary Academy

3rd Place : Emma Goodridge, Grade 2, Woodman Park

Honorable Mention: Ailia Rochefort, Grade 2, Woodman Park

3 & 4 Grade Category:

1st Place: Asia Merrill, Grade 4, Belmont Elementary
2nd Place: Kaylee Burke, Grade 4, Woodman Park
3rd Place : Megan Whitten, Grade 4, North Hampton School
Honorable Mention: Niko Alexandropoulos, Grade 4, North Hampton School (tie) Danny Provencal-Fogarty, Garrison School (tie)

5 & 6 Grade Category:

1st Place: Merranda Donnelly, Grade 6, Saint Mary Academy
2nd Place: Lydia Carlson, Grade 5, Marshwood School
3rd Place: Kevin Gould, Grade 5, Saint Mary Academy
Honorable Mention: Olivia Furino, Grade 6, Saint Mary Academy

7 & 8 Grade Category:

1st Place: Sean Lombard, Grade 7, Dover Middle School
2nd Place: Grant Flewelling, Grade 7, Dover Middle School
3rd Place: Clayton Stanley, Grade 7, Dover Middle School
Honorable Mention: Riley Gowen, Grade 7, Dover Middle School

9 & 10 Category:
1st Place: Leah Guercio, Grade 9, St. Thomas
2nd Place: Sofia Kouninis, Grade 10, St. Thomas
3rd Place: Faithlynn Robinson, Grade 9, Dover High School
Honorable Mention: Kelly Voltz, Grade 9, Dover High School

11 & 12 Category:

1st Place: Katy Sternberger, Grade 11, Portsmouth Christian Academy
2nd Place: Kyle Lanzit, Grade 11, Berwick Academy
3rd Place: Molly Hearn, Grade 12, Dover High School
Honorable Mention: Stephen Guptill, Grade 11, Portsmouth Christian Academy Kile Townsend, Grade 11, Portsmouth Christian Academy

The Follett Fitness Program

I have been lugging Ken Follett’s World Without End around the past few days. Literally. It is 1024 pages. It is so darn heavy that I actually weighed it this morning. It's three pounds! No wonder I am having such a difficult time finding a comfortable position to read. I either have to lay it out flat on a desk or table, or lie on my back and balance it on my stomach. Needless to say I have not been reading late into the night. So far the extra workout for my arms has been well worth it to enter the medieval world of Kingsbridge Priory and its scheming, intriguing characters.

By the end of this book I am going to look like Popeye.

The Sound of Summer Running

Ray Bradbury is renowned as an author of Science Fiction, a label he disputes, and rightfully so. Many of his finest works are not Science Fiction at all. He wrote a series of stories about a young boy named Douglas growing up in Illinois. They are masterpieces of nostalgia, vividly evoking the experience of childhood. Can you remember the delight, the wild freedom of the first few days of summer? While all of his stories are memorable, one had a particular resonance for me and I often think of it this time of year.

“Dad!” He blurted it out. “Back there in that window, those Cream-Sponge Para Litefoot Shoes…”

His father didn’t even turn. “Suppose you tell me why you need a new pair of sneakers. Can you do that?”

“Well…”

It was because they felt the way it feels every summer when you take off your shoes for the first time and run in the grass. They felt like it feels sticking your feet out of the hot covers in wintertime to let the cold wind from the open window blow on them suddenly and you let them stay out a long time until you pull them back in under the covers again to feel them, like packed snow. The tennis shoes felt like it always feels the first time every year wading in the slow waters of the creek and seeing your feet below, half an inch further downstream, with refraction, than the real part of you above water.

“Dad,” said Douglas, “it’s hard to explain.”

Somehow the people who made tennis shoes knew what boys needed and wanted. They put marshmallows and coiled springs in the soles and they wove the rest out of grasses bleached and fired in the wilderness. Somewhere deep in the soft loam of the shoes the thin hard sinews of the buck deer were hidden. The people that made the shoes must have watched a lot of winds blow the trees and a lot of rivers going down to the lakes. Whatever it was, it was in the shoes, and it was summer.

Rediscover the magic of summer; pick up a copy of Dandelion Wine.

Infected

Infected by Scott Sigler

This Book on CD is not for the squeamish. I cringed a lot while listening but never thought of giving up. I’m not sure how I would classify this novel; science fiction, techno thriller, saving the world, they came from outer space? There was a great deal of dark humor, a fast moving plot, and well defined characters. The author does a fantastic job reading the book which is not surprising if you know that he already has a large fan base from the podcasts he does. Look for the sequel and movie to come! J.M.

IF I HAD THE TIME...

New NON-FICTION titles in our library's collection that look so intriguing I would read them IF I HAD THE TIME:

• A Wolf at the Table: a Memoir of My Father by Augusten Burroughs who wrote "Running with Scissors"
• Perfumes: the Guide by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez – an essential guide to shopping for fragrance; nearly 1500 fragrances are separated into the "divine and the good from the monumentally awful"
• Erased by Marilee Strong – about missing women and murdered wives who have essentially been "erased". Some have vanished never to be seen again and others found dead under mysterious circumstances, most murdered by a husband or boyfriend and then made to disappear.
• 1 Dead in Attic by Chris rose –a collection of stories recounting the first harrowing year and a half of life in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

Mystery Authors Revealed

I recently attended a conference that featured a panel of well known mystery authors, and since I recognized a couple of my favorites like Laura Lippman and T. Jefferson Parker, thought it would be great fun to see them and find out who was accompanying them.

Much to my surprise one of the other authors was C. J. Box, whose newest book "Blue Heaven" I had just read and loved. I was enthralled by the pictures these three authors painted as to how they came to write, get published, and even become famous. They are now real personalities to me, and I will pursue their books with greater interest and curiosity.

An even bigger treat for me was the introduction of another author I had never encountered in my quest for new mystery authors: Linwood Barclay. Barclay is a popular newspaper columnist in Canada who broke on to the mystery scene with a humorous mystery "Bad Move" several years ago. Since I'm more in to the suspense/thriller type of mystery, I didn't follow up on his later books until he spoke about "No Time for Goodbye" which was published a year ago. I promptly checked out the book when I came back from the conference and am now convinced his forthcoming books will be at the top of my favorite mysteries list. He drew me right in when he said, "Imagine being a 14 year old and waking up one morning to find your whole family had disappeared during the night". The 14 year old grows up never knowing what happened.

Barclay went on to describe the plot of another book he is working on in which "the family next door is murdered" and you discover that it was your family that was supposed to be murdered. Barclay is right up there with John Hart and Greg Iles if you're looking for some different mystery authors, and don't forget C. J. Box.

Holy Moley!

I have had unwanted visitors in my neighborhood this spring. I love the return of the peepers and the song birds, and resignedly accept that spring in New Hampshire also means the return of the Black fly. However, this year spring also brought mysterious tunnels and piles of dirt all over my pristine lawn. Well, it’s as pristine as you can hope for with two large dogs frolicking on it. The dogs were not the culprits of lawn destruction this time. I was whining to one of the neighbors about it when they mentioned that they were having troubles with moles too. Another neighbor farther down said he had tunnels all over his yard and he had never had problems before. I established an informal poll and found every neighbor I talked to was having mole problems. I was duly appointed to find a solution since I work in the library. Sure enough, the Library collections came up with some helpful books.

Bugs, Slugs & Other Thugs by Rhonda Hart recommended:
Whirligigs and whistling soda bottles
Placing used kitty litter in the tunnel
Planting Castor oil plants (these are poisonous, children should be kept away from them)
Drenching the soil with a solution of 2 parts Castor oil, 1 part liquid detergent. Dilute in one gallon of water and saturate the soil inside and around the mound
Trapping them with a mole trap

Tiny Game Hunting by Hilary Klein had further suggestions:
Flood the tunnels with a garden hose
Get rid of the grubs the moles are eating by applying milky spore disease and beneficial nematodes
Digging a trench at least 2 feet deep all around and filling it with stones and clay
Put peeled garlic cloves, hot peppers, Juicy Fruit gum, or pet droppings in the tunnel

So far the Castor oil solution has been the most successful, Juicy Fruit gum was a total bust. Let me know if you have some clever solution to the attack of the moles!

If I had the time...

There's never enough time to read everything you want. I pretty much stick to reading fiction as its "escapism" has a special lure for me. But there's many extremely interesting non-fiction titles being published every week. I thought I'd start a recurring post, listing new NON-FICTION titles in our library's collection that look so intriguing that, even though I probably won't get to them, I would read them IF I HAD THE TIME! Maybe you'll find the time to read them and report back!!!

Arnie & Jack: Palmer, Nicklaus and Golf's Greatest Rivalry by Ian O'Connor ---Explores their complex, at-times contentious, rivalrous relationship over many decades. One reviewer said Arnie had the crowds but not the trophies; Jack had the championships but wanted the love.

The Man Who Made Lists: Love, Death Madness and the Creation of Roget's Thesaurus by Joshua Kendall --- Biography of Peter Mark Roget (1779--1869) who anxiously and obsessively classified words to fend of the cycle of madness in his family. Sounds fascinating!

The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart by Bill Bishop
--- Americans are choosing homogenous places to live, compatible with our lifestyles and beliefs. Think red states versus blue ones, but on an even smaller scale. Alarming social research!

(Can you tell by this abbreviated list that I like golf, words, and statistics? )

The Crime Scene is Cleared

We have been living with crime scene tape across one of the entrances into the addition for months. Falling ice had damaged two of the sky lights, making it unsafe to walk under them.

We are delighted to announce that the tape has come down and we have lovely, new sky lights. You can look through them and actually see the sky now!

New Downloadable Audibooks

Have you looked at the downloadable audiobooks recently? New titles are constantly being added. These are some of the titles that were added in April:

Title	Author
Armageddon in Retrospect	Vonnegut, Kurt
The Ex-Debutante	Lee, Linda Francis
The Finder	Harrison, Colin
Hold Tight	Coben, Harlan
Light of the Moon	Rice, Luanne
Sex and the Seasoned Woman	Sheehy, Gail
The Siege	Lasky, Kathryn
Talking to Dragons	Wrede, Patricia
The Ten-Year Nap	Wolitzer, Meg
This Republic of Suffering	Faust, Drew Gilpin
Unaccustomed Earth	Lahiri, Jhumpa

Cheap Trick!

Daughters of the North by Sarah Hall is about a future England in which a combination of global climate change and a fuel shortage has led to the creation of an all powerful new government called The Authority. The book is written in journal format and describes the dismal lives people lead in cramped quarters working pointless, filthy factory jobs. When Sister is sterilized against her will by the government it is the last straw. Sister risks her life with a daring escape from the city to a utopian farm community of all women. Fascinating premise, isn’t it? I thought so, and was enjoying Sister’s dramatic tale of survival until the author decided to opt out of writing a big chunk of the book. The women of the farm learn that The Authority is coming to destroy their community. They prepare to fight, then suddenly the fight is over. I was flipping back and forth wondering if pages had been left out of my edition when I see a sneaky little heading at the top of the page, “DATA LOST”. What a cop out! I don’t know if the author didn’t want to deal with writing battle scenes, (she certainly had no qualms writing about violence previously), was bored with where the story was going, or simply did not know how to end her book.

I certainly hope other authors don’t resort to this bogus trick on their readers. What if Jane Austen hadn’t known what do with Mr. Darcy and merely leapt to the ending? How about we delete the whole battle of wits between Moby Dick and Ahab and just skip to 'And I only am escaped alone to tell thee.'

Ok, I am done ranting. For now.

A Glimpse into the Past

Foster’s Daily Democrat ran this advertisement for a grocery store April 24,1901. Five pounds of coffee went for $1.00, sugar was .08 a pound. I wonder what the price of gas was then?

If you are curious about what dog bread is, (don’t read this if you have a weak stomach!) read this excerpt from the Henley's Twentieth Century Book of Formulas Processes, and Trade Secrets by Gardner D. Hiscox.

Dog Biscuit:
The waste portions of meat and tallow, including the skin and fiber, have for years been imported from South American tallow factories in the form of blocks. Most of the dog bread consists principally of these remnants, chopped and mixed with flour. They contain a good deal of firm fibrous tissue, and a large percentage of fat, but are lacking in nutritive salts, which must be added to make good dog bread, just as in the case of the meat flour made from the waste of meat extract factories. The flesh of dead animals is not used by any reputable manufacturers, for the reason that it gives a dark color to the dough, has an unpleasant odor, and if not properly sterilized would be injurious to dogs as a steady diet.

I'm Not Charmed

Ok I am a little behind the times, but I just found out that Kendall Hart wrote a novel. Yes THE Kendall Hart. Don't know who she is? Ok I didn't either but she is a character on ABC's All My Children. That's right she is a character and she wrote a book titled Charm!. Apparently her husband and best friend (and enemy) were missing for a month, eventually found trapped in a mine shaft, so she had some time on her hands. Now everyone knows it only takes a month to write a novel. The book has been published by Hyperion, which is owned by Disney, as is ABC. I find this cross marketing disturbing. My thinking is that there are struggling authors out there, writing great novels, who can't catch a break because publishers are spending their time with books like Charm!. (I could go on but I have been told no one wants to hear my rantings.) Ok I haven't read it, and I suppose it could be the next great american novel, but I am still skeptical. If you would like to read Charm! the library owns it. Think I am a curmudgeon? Let me know--I can take it I've been called worse.

Get Your Hands Dirty

I don’t know about you, but I am pretty anxious to get my fingers into the dirt and start planting stuff. Unfortunately, New Hampshire weather will just not cooperate with my yen for flowers. In order to satisfy my need to garden, I am planning ahead to the fabulous container garden I will create. Every year I plant a huge pot differently; one year it was all purple and silver plants, the next year I chose white flowers mixed with red and white striped petunias. Last year was a riot of yellow, red, blue and white flowers. I am looking for something different for this summer so I am browsing through The Complete Book of Container Gardening by Alan Toogood and Hanging Baskets, Window Boxes and other Container Gardens by David Joyce to get some ideas. Toogood’s book has some interesting ideas for specialty container gardens to attract wildlife, or for scent. What do you think of a red, white, and blue container garden? Too traditional? I would love to hear what creative combinations you have used in your container gardens.

Julie & Brownie Present "Healthy Choices"

Children’s entertainers, Julie & Brownie, will perform their delightful new show, “Healthy Choices”, in the Dover Public Library Lecture Hall on Tuesday, April 22 @ 2:00pm. With music, comedy, visuals and audience participation, Julie & Brownie’s performance and original songs encourage children to make healthy choices when it comes to food and safety. This show, that has earned critical praise and has launched them on tours throughout eastern United States and Canada, is being sponsored by Wentworth Douglass Hospital.

Calling All Dover Libraries

We get some strange reference questions but one of the oddest was, “Do you have the skull of Patty Cannon?” We checked the Internet to see what that was all about because we certainly don’t have any skulls here at the Library. We found out that Patty Cannon was notorious for capturing free black people in Delaware and selling them into slavery. She died in jail 1829 while she was being held on four counts of murder. She is thought to be buried in a nearby Potter's Field; except for her skull which is now said to be stored in a hatbox at the Dover, Delaware Library.

It’s not the first time we have gotten a question intended for the Dover Public Library in Delaware. Someone else called to ask who was Miss Delaware in 1964.

We also got a call asking about the Dover’s tragic mining accident. This stumped us until we figured out they were enquiring about Dover, England. Rich coal seams near Dover, England were heavily mined through shafts sunk into coal pits. August 22nd 1908, at the Maypole pit, close to Dover, a mining accident resulted in 75 lives lost due to an explosion.

I am still trying to figure out which Dover library has a collection of art by a famous pin-up artist. Do you know?

These are just a few the Dover Libraries. If you have a question, make sure you contact the right one!

Dover Public Library- Dover, Arkansas
Dover Public Library -Dover, Delaware
Hare Bay/Dover Public Library- Hare Bay Newfoundland, Canada
Dover Town Library Dover, Massachusetts
Dover Free Public Dover, New Jersey
Dover Plains Library- Wingdale, New York
Dover Public Library- Dover, Ohio
Dover Area Community Library -Dover, Pennsylvania
Dover Free Library- Dover, Vermont

Can a Photo Lie?

You have seen deceptive photos before. You must have been e-mailed that picture of a man holding a domestic house cat that appears to be the size of a cougar, or the photo of President Bush reading an upside down book. The retouching of photos has become so easy that the software that enables you to do it has become a verb.

Sometimes photos are misleading without any help at all. Louis Masur has written a book, The Soiling of Old Glory, about a Pulitzer Prize winning photo. Stanley Forman's shocking "Old Glory" photograph was shot during a 1976 Boston anti-busing demonstration. It appeared to show a well dressed black man being set upon by a crowd of white people. A young man seemed to be attempting to impale him with the American flag. The photo became symbolic of continued resistance to equality and was printed in newspapers across the country. In reality the teenager was swinging the flag, not charging, the camera caught the arc of the flag swinging in front of the black man. The man who appears to be restraining him was actually helping him to his feet. It was such a powerful image, even though it was misleading, it successfully stalled Boston’s anti busing movement. Read this book to find out what truly happened, exposed through interviews and other images on the camera.

THE DEADLINE IS HERE!!!!

Today is the very last day to enter the Dover Public Library's Poetry Contest for kids in grades k-12!!! I bet you thought I was talking about the IRS deadline, taxes schmaxes I am sick to death of hearing about them. Poetry is infinitely more interesting so run, walk, bike, or skateboard yourself down to the library to get your poem in. Oh and if you are a tax slacker and haven't done your taxes yet we have tax forms too. Good luck to all.

Take A Ride On The Cash Cab

Many librarians love trivia; we are after all, in the information business. One of my favorite shows on the Discovery Channel is Cash Cab. Unsuspecting New Yorkers hail a cab and suddenly find themselves in a movable game show. They have the chance to win money for every correct answer; if they get 3 answers wrong they get tossed out of the cash cab. I usually feel brilliant after being able to answer most of the questions and shocked by some of the things that regular people don’t know. Nothing like a little ego stroking to make your day. Every now and then the cab driver asks a series of questions that makes me question my intellect. Oh well, win some, lose some. If you want to test your wits against the cash cab you can try their quiz. You must answer 12 questions. The first ones are real softballs like what was the name of cartoon character Calvin’s stuffed tiger. They get a little trickier later on but they are multiple choice so you can always guess. So go on, how smart are you? I got 11 out of 12.

Appearance Can Be Misleading

I know, I know, never judge a book by its cover. Some book cover art is so striking that you cannot help wanting to read the book. If the inside is as good as the outside, you will have a fabulous read. One of the covers I have really liked recently is The Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz. The slightly 3-D effect of the eyes cut into the cover perfectly conveys the humorous feel of the book, and all those watching eyes perfectly exemplify the Spellman family who cannot stop spying on each other. In this case, a fun, catchy cover matched the fun, enjoyable story inside.

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen is another example of a book that fulfills the promise of its cover. The enchanting, Alice Hoffmanesque story of the Waverly women and the peculiar talents they inherited, their temperamental apple tree, and a mysterious walled garden that blooms year round, is by turns touching, enthralling, and amusing.

On the flip side, there are those covers that lead to disappointment. Take Narrow Dog to Carcassonne by Terry Darlington. The brightly colored, cute cover caught my eye; the topics were right up my alley. A retired English couple takes a narrowboat ( I always wanted to take a narrowboat cruise) from England ( I love books about England) across the channel into France ( I love books about France too) and down the many lovely canals to the ancient city of Carcassonne. To top it off they brought their whippet Jim with them ( I love books about dogs). All these topics should blend together to make a perfect storm of a book. Sadly, the book plodded wearily along: I gave up halfway through. Perhaps it was the odd blue typeface that threw me off. If you have read the whole book and can tell me the tale improves, let me know, I will persevere.

Is there a book cover that you remember as being perfectly outstanding, or perfectly misleading?

What was your favorite childhood film?

We are currently planning the library's summer movie schedule for kids. We will be showing some new releases that cannot be mentioned here due to our licensing agreement with the studios, but we are also thinking of showing some classics. Of course when I bring this up with staff members they say "...you have to show such & such because it was my favorite." Do you have suggestions? What was your favorite? My personal favorite is The Jungle Book and lucky for you this blog doesn't have sound or you would hear me belting out "The Bare Necessities" song--oh the simple bare necessities...

This year's Pulitzer Prizes have just been announced:

FICTION:
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

HISTORY:
What Hath God Wrought: the transformation of America 1815--1848 by Daniel Walker Howe

BIOGRAPHY:
Eden's Outcasts: the story of Louisa May Alcott and her father by John Matteson

POETRY:
Time and Materials: poems 1997--2005 by Robert Hass

Failure by Philip Schultz

A Great Book for Animal Lovers

Tell Me Where It Hurts by Dr. Nick Trout
It looks like we finally have a successor to the charming, heartwarming, and humorous stories of James Herriott. Nick Trout is also an Englishman, but he works just down the road from us at Boston’s Angell Animal Medical Center. The book starts off with a bang as Nick is called in to the hospital in the middle of the night by a panicked intern. A German Shepherd has arrived suffering bloat, a life threatening condition. Sage is the last gift from an elderly widower’s late wife, and means the world to him. Will the vet be able to save the loving Shepherd, who manages to wag her tail at him through her pain? Many of the stories are very humorous like that of Taco the man hating Chihuahua and the Labrador puppy that exposes a cheating fiancé by eating the fish net stocking of his mistress. Some are sad as not all pets can be saved, no matter how dearly loved. Times have changed from what the good Doctor Herriott was able to offer and there is much discussion of modern technology and the philosophical questions it poses for vets and owners. How far should you go to save the life of your pet? This book was intriguing and enjoyable, I didn’t want to put it down. Another librarian is listening to the audio book and says the narrator has been fantastic, she has been laughing at loud, as well as almost in tears.

Richard Steinbach Art on Display

Richard Steinbach, a Dover artist who began painting at age 50, has a display of many his paintings in the Reference Room. Make sure to come see them!

The Library Redecorates

I was just inspired by the March 2008 issue of Country Home magazine! The room designer wanted to "turn a distracting jumble into a neutral element" and so turned all the books on the bookshelves spine-inward:

This lovely monotonal palette of ecru, buff, cream, wheat and linen-colored pages had such instant appeal that I've made an executive decision to turn all of our library's 100,000 volumes backwards too! Won't it be fun to try and find a book? Every trip to the library will be like a scavenger hunt! I know our reference librarians will just love the change! It will, however, be more difficult for those who can only remember that the book they need "had a red cover".

Note to some aghast readers: remember to take a look at the date on this post!