If I had the time...

More wonderful new non-fiction I'd read...if I had the time. Each one seems to have an English connection this time:

The Terminal Spy: a True Story of Espionage, Betrayal and Murder by Alan S. Cowell
Cowell, NY Times London Bureau Chief , spins the intriguing and terrifying tale of the fatal poisoning of former KGB agent Alexander Litvenenko in the Millennium Hotel's bar. The former spy drank green tea with honey, lemon and, as it turns out, radioactive polonium. Who was behind the killing? There are competing conspiracy theories, but the finger points eventually back to Putin.

Dry Storeroom No. 1: The Secret History of the Natural History Museum by Richard Fortey
The retired senior paleontologist at this world-renowned London museum takes readers on a fascinating and affectionate behind-the-scenes tour of the institution, and tells marvelous and often humorous anecdotes about the staff, the exhibits, and its hidden stores. So enjoyable!

The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell
While the words "witty" and "Puritan" seem destined never to co-exist in the same sentence, Sarah Vowell has done it! This is a quote from the Publishers Weekly review which really intrigued me about this book: "While the Puritans who had earlier sailed to Plymouth on the Mayflower were separatists, Winthrop's followers remained loyal to England... Vowell underscores that the seemingly minute differences between the Plymouth Puritans and the Massachusetts Puritans were as meaningful as the current Sunni/Shia Muslim rift."

Get Your Bets In Now

On Thursday, Oct. 9th the winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Literature will be announced. If you have been listening to the news you know that this will not be an American--for more on that read Charles McGrath's article in the New York Times. Anyhow, what I didn't know is that you can actually bet on who you think is going to win. Is there anything that you can't bet on these days? I am not much of a gambler and so perhaps I am showing my naivete, but I find this bizarre. What do you think? Apparently there are 4 to 1 odds on the Syrian poet Adonis. If you hear of any hot tips let me know.

Books Becoming Films

The previews for the big movies of the fall season are coming out and some of them look intriguing. Many of them are based on books, although you would never know it from the advertising. This is your chance to read up on the complete story, not the abridged version the studios offer. Coming to a movie theater near you soon, and already at your public Library:

The Duchess starring Keira Knightly is based on Georgiana:Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman.

The Secret Life of Bees starring Queen Latifah and Dakota Fanning is based on the novel of the same name by Sue Kidd. This is a great story by the way, you should definitely read it.

The Road starring Viggo Mortenson is based on the novel of the same name by Cormac McCarthy. McCarthy's last novel turned film, No Country for Old Men, won last year's best picture Oscar.

And for the kids, The City of Ember, based on the novel of the same name written by Jeanne DuPrau, looks so good I am going to go see it. This book was chosen by the children of New Hampshire as a Great Stone Face Award winner.

Name That Banned Book!

How much do you know about books that have been banned or challenged around the country? In honor of Banned Books Week, take our quiz and find out.

"Git up and hump yourself, Jim! There ain't a moment to lose. They're after us!"

Jim never asked no questions, he never said a word; but the way he worked for the next half an hour showed about how he was scared. By that time everything we had in the world was on our raft and she was ready to be shoved out from the willow cove where she was hid. We put out the camp fire at the cavern the first thing, and didn't show a candle outside after that.

Click on comments for the answer....

Name That Banned Book!

How much do you know about books that have been banned or challenged around the country? In honor of Banned Books Week, take our quiz and find out.

Lennie reluctantly reached into his pocket. His voice broke a little. "I don't know why I can't keep it. It ain't nobody's mouse. I didn't steal it. I found it lyin' right beside the road."

George's hand remained outstretched imperiously. Slowly, like a terrier who doesn't want to bring back a ball to its master, Lennie approached, drew back, approached again. George snapped his fingers sharply, and at the sound Lennie laid the mouse in his hand.

"I wasn't doin' nothing bad with it, George. Jus' strokin' it.

Click on comments for the answer....

Name That Banned Book!

How much do you know about books that have been banned or challenged around the country? In honor of Banned Books Week we will be posting a paragraph or two from a challenged book each day. Can you name this book?

What Jem did was something I'd do as a matter of course had I not been under Atticus's interdict, which I assumed included not fighting horrible old ladies. We had just come to her gate when Jem snatched my baton and ran flailing wildly up the steps into Mrs. Dubose's front yard, forgetting everything Atticus had said, forgetting that she packed a pistol under her shawls, forgetting that if Mrs. Dubose missed, her girl Jessie probably wouldn't.

He did not begin to calm down until he had cut the tops off every camellia bush Mrs. Dubose owned, until the ground was littered with green buds and leaves. He bent my baton against his knee, snapped it in two and threw it down.

Click on comments for the answer....

Name That Banned Book!

How much do you know about books that have been banned or challenged around the country? In honor of Banned Books Week, take our quiz and find out.

Carrie went to see Tommy the day before the prom. She was waiting outside one of his classes and he said she looked really wretched, as if she thought he'd yell at her to stop hanging around and bugging him.

She said she had to be in by eleven-thirty at the latest, or her momma would be worried. She said she wasn't going to spoil his time or anything, but it wouldn't be fair to worry her momma.

Tommy suggested they stop at the Kelly Fruit after and grab a root beer and a burger. All the other kids would be going to Westover or Lewiston, and they would have the place to themselves. Carrie's face lit up, he said. She told him that would be fine. Just fine.

This is the girl they keep calling a monster. I want you to keep that firmly in mind. The girl who could be satisfied with a hamburger and a dime root beer after her only school dance so her momma wouldn't be worried...

Click on comments for the answer....

A Timely Biography

Alice Schroeder has just published a biography of Warren Buffett titled Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life. Though I find Warren Buffett to be a fascinating man, a new biography of him would not have normally been picked up on my book radar--yes I have book radar. However since he has been in the news as of late, discussing the state of our sagging economy, my interest has been peaked. Can you imagine being so powerful that world leaders consult you about the state of the economy? Can you imagine being so rich that you can boost an investment bank with a $5 billion dollar "cash infusion"? If you are of a certain age you may remember the commercials for E.F. Hutton with the slogan "when E. F. Hutton talks, people listen." That is what I think of when I hear the name Warren Buffett. The library has the biography on order and so you can place a hold on it now. You may be thinking that it would be a dry and boring read the reviews are making it sound very entertaining. And if you are curious about the title, snowball refers to "Mr. Buffet’s way of making things get bigger and bigger". You can read a read a review of the book in the New York Times Book Review.

Name That Banned Book!

How much do you know about books that have been banned or challenged around the country? In honor of Banned Books Week we will be posting a paragraph or two from a challenged book each day. Can you name this book?

There were shelves upon shelves of the most succulent-looking sweets imaginable. Creamy chunks of nougat, shimmering pink squares of coconut ice, fat honey-colored toffees; hundreds of different kinds of chocolate in neat rows, there was a large barrel of Every Flavor Beans, and another of Fizzing Whizbees, the levitating sherbert balls that Ron had mentioned; along yet another wall were "Special Effects" sweets: Droobles Best Blowing Gum (which filled a room with bluebell-colored bubbles that refused to pop for days), the strange, splintery Toothflossing String-mints, tiny black Pepper Imps ("Breathe fire for your Friends!"), Ice Mice ("Hear your teeth chatter and squeak!"), peppermint creams shaped like toads ("Hop realistically in the stomach!"), fragile sugar-spun quills, and exploding bonbons.

Scroll down for the answer....



Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling. The entire Harry Potter series leads the list of most challenged books of the 21st century.

Oh Waiter!

Fans of Anthony Bourdain will enjoy Waiter Rant by Steve Dubanica. It has that same cynical, sardonic, just tell-it-as-it-is style, only this time its from the waiter's perspective. Dubanica offers some tips on how to be a valued customer, and also advises about some things that really annoy waiters, and how they get their revenge. Spitting in your food is the least of it. Restaurants keep much more information stored on their computers than you think; they keep records on troublesome customers as well as the ones who warrant special treatment. Don't even think of claiming you are a friend of the owner! The book details power struggles over prime shifts and tables, the paranoia of restaurant owners, and how a waiter can tell within seconds of seating you what kind of tipper you will be, amongst other interesting tidbits. This is an interesting eye opener for foodies, spiced with amusing anecdotes like what happened when Russell Crowe came to the restaurant.

"The front-of-the-house version of Kitchen Confidential; a painfully funny, excruciatingly true-life account of the waiter's life. As useful as it is entertaining." Anthony Bourdain

Where Did the Audio Books on Tape Go?

No need to panic, we still have our collection of audio books on tape. There is still a loyal base of fans that prefer tapes over books on CD and they have been very concerned when they can't find them in the Browse Room. Sad to say it is a dying medium. Very few titles are now offered on tape, and most of our patrons have moved on to books on CD or downloadable audio books since cars don't even come with cassette players any more. As the collection of books on CD grew larger, and the audio books on tape dwindled we had to give the growing collection the premier spot in the Browse Room. Fear not, the audio books on tape have simply moved to the back of the book stacks on the right side. You may even find them easier to browse now that they are on tall shelves.

If I Had the Time

So many books so little time. I came across two non-fiction titles recently that I would love to read, but the stack on my nightstand is too big and my one year old is too energetic so they will be added to "the list". However, if you have the time you might want to check them out and let me know how they were.

• The End of Food by Paul Roberts who wrote The End of Oil. "Roberts lays out the stark economic realities behind modern food and shows how our system of making, marketing, and moving what we eat is growing less and less compatible with the billions of consumers that system was built to serve."
  
• A Year With-Out "Made in China" : One Family's True Adventure in the Global Economy by Sara Bongiorni. "On January 1, 2005, Sara Bongiorni's family embarked on a yearlong boycott of Chinese Products. They wanted to see for themselves what it would take, in will power and creativity, to live without the world's fastest growing economy--and whether it could be done at all."

Hot Off the Press!

Chris Paolini's lastest book in the Inheritance series is finally here! Hardcore fans lined up at bookstores on Friday for the midnight release of Brisingr. Paolini was just 15 when he started writing the first book, Eragon, and is now a whopping 24. Brisingr will have a first press run of 2.5 million books, the largest ever for Random House's children's division--pretty impressive. Put all 784 pages on hold today at the Dover Public Library.

Oprah Has Spoken

Oprah announced her latest book club pick today--The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. You can visit Oprah's web site to find out more about her book club and her latest pick. Here is a description of the book from the publisher:

Epic in scope, evoking the ancient kinship between people and dogs, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski is an unforgettable debut novel set against the majestic backdrop of the northern Wisconsin wilderness.Born mute, speaking in a sign language of his own invention, Edgar Sawtelle has led an idyllic childhood on his parents' remote farm, where, for generations, the Sawtelles have raised and trained a fictional breed of dogs whose thoughtful presence is exemplified by Almondine, Edgar's lifelong companion. During the summer of his 14th year, Edgar seems poised to excel in his family's work. He has a way with the dogs, and he has just been given his first litter of pups to raise. But that summer brings two unexpected visitors: a stray dog who refuses to come in from the wild, and Claude, Edgar's uncle, who cannot seem to tame his own ferocious nature. In this masterful novel, Wroblewski brilliantly examines the limits of language and the elemental forces of love, loss and revenge. At once a riveting adventure and a multilayered family saga, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is a bold, ambitious novel that will captivate readers from its mysterious opening to its breathtaking finale.

Shiver Me Timbers!

Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day!If you board their web site, you can learn to talk like a pirate, generate your own pirate name, and even pick up some knitting patterns for pirates. In the spirit of the day, I would like to share some great pirate novels with you. I heartily recommend Pirates! The True and Remarkable adventures of Minerva Sharpe and Nancy Kingston, Female Pirates by Celia Rees. Its the swashbuckling tale of a wealthy merchant's daughter and her slave who find freedom by escaping to the high seas. Arrr!

Anatomy of Deception

I don’t read a lot of mysteries. Those that I do read must bring something extra to the plate. I enjoy the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters for its humor and Egyptian atmosphere. I like the Jade Del Cameron series by Suzanne Arruda for its exotic African surroundings, and I love the Phryne Fisher series by Kerry Greenwood for its 1920s feel and feisty heroine. Recently a co-worker who enjoys the same historical fiction I do urged me to read The Anatomy of Deception. It is a mystery by Lawrence Goldstone but has the intriguing background of a 1889 Philadelphia medical school. It is billed as forensic thriller. Things were very different then, doctors operated in street clothes with bare hands, anesthesia was still an uncertain, dangerous science, the theory of antisepsis was just being explored, and autopsies had just been legalized. Young doctor Ephraim Carroll is studying under the brilliant William Osler when he stumbles into the mystery of the beautiful girl’s corpse that disappears from the Dead Room, a.k.a., the morgue. His search for the truth will lead him into impoverished, dangerous neighborhoods, and the equally dangerous drawing rooms of the rich and powerful. True life characters like Osler, and artist Thomas Eakins add flavor and depth, as do details like Bayer patenting and marketing Heroin as a non prescription pain reliever, even as a cough remedy for children. If you enjoyed The Alienist by Caleb Carr and The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld, you will like this novel too.

Can you guess this Saturday's Matinee?

As I stated in an earlier blog post, due to our movie licensing agreements we are not allowed to announce the titles of the movies that we are showing, but we can describe them. So here is the description of the movie we are showing this Saturday, September 20 at 2:00pm in the Library Lecture Hall.

This is a live action adaptation of a 1960's Japanese cartoon/anime series of the same name. Emile Hirsch is starring as the title character, who incidently likes to drive fast, and Christina Ricci will portray his girlfriend.

Quote of the Day

Favorite comment overheard in the library today:
"There’s tons of cool stuff here.”

Do You Collect Books?

We have a small collection of special books that we will be selling off a few pieces at a time. These books range in price from $5 to over $100 because of their “antiquity” and/or value to collectors. Although we are still not asking full market price, prices are more than we ask for in our annual Fall book sale which begins October 25. These books have been in our basement collection for quite a number of years, and are being displayed a few at a time in the glass case near the adult circulation desk. So check back every week to see more!

All the Excitement is in the Library Parking Lot Today

Barack Obama is speaking at the McConnell Center adjacent to the Library today at noon. The excitement has been building all day.

Ever Heard a Didgeridoo?

The Friends of the Library will be hosting a lecture and concert with Joseph Carringer on Tues., Sept. 16th at 7:00pm in the library lecture hall, and yes he will be playing the didgeridoo. Joseph Carringer has been playing an Australian Aboriginal-made didgeridoo since 1997. Probably the world's oldest wind instrument, the didgeridoo originates in Northern Australia. Cave paintings by ancient aborigines suggest its age at 1500 years. Come and see how they are constructed, used in ritual and communication. Learn how it resonates and how its vibrations affect the human form. Check out its links to modern wind instruments and why many Celtic music groups are incorporating it into their arrangements. The lecture & concert is free and open to the public.

Still Writing at 88!

I assumed when The Lighthouse was published in 2005 that it would be the last mystery novel by P.D. James. After all she was 85 at that time, and so I figured PD might want to retire. Well The Private Patient is scheduled to be released on November 18, and PD is now 88. This is her fourteenth mystery featuring Commander Adam Dagliesh, the first being published in 1962. I am not going to make any further guesses about PD James retiring, but poor Adam has put in some long years for the New Scotland Yard. If you are a fan of PD's you can put your name on the list for the Private Patient now, and if you are not you might want to give them a try--they are quite fun.

Misleading Book Jackets

Do you know a book lover with a sense of humor? Or perhaps your child is sad about returning to school and dragging around a textbook covered with dreary brown paper. They might enjoy a creative book cover like How to Get Your Brother Kicked Out of the House, or Yes Dear and You’re Right- A Husband’s Guide to Marriage. Personally, I think I will buy How To Murder a Complete Stranger and Get Away With It before my next plane flight.

This is not a product endorsement, it just made me laugh!

Which Came First the Chicken or the Egg

Rick Riordan, author of the popular kids series Percy Jackson & the Olympians, is authoring the first in a new series titled 39 Clues. This new series, by Scholastic, is scheduled to release a book every 2 to 3 months. The books contain clues which are linked to an online game and to a set of 350 playing cards. Maybe I am just a stick in the mud (or old-fashioned because I just used the term stick in the mud), but I don't really like this cross-marketing. We spend a lot of time as librarians trying to get kids into the habit of reading, and hoping it will replace some of their online time. Also, it is yet another thing for parents to spend money on. Now I know there are plenty of games, web sites, and merchandise connected to other books, Harry Potter, for example, but the books came first. All of the "stuff" came as a result of the popularity of the series. Just my opinion--I'd like to know what you think. If you would like to read more about the series there is an article about it in the New York Times book section.

Saturday Matinee

The DPL will be resuming Saturday afternoon matinees beginning this Saturday, September 6 at 2pm in the Library Lecture Hall. Due to our movie licensing agreements we are not allowed to announce the titles of the movies, but we can describe them. So here is a description of the Sept. 6 movie: Singing performance by a wildly popular young actor/singer whose father, Billy Ray, had an "achy breaky heart". Also you can't shake a stick these days without seeing something about the young star's television show, concerts, controversial Vanity Fair photographs.... After all of my wonderful hints if you still don't know what it is, or if you want to know what future movies will be shown gives us a call at 516-6050. All movies are free and open to the public.

Library Closed for the Holiday Weekend

The Library will be closed on Sat., Aug. 30 through Mon., Sept. 1 for the Labor Day Holiday. Beginning on Sat., Sept. 6 we will be open on Saturdays from 9am to 5pm and on Sundays from 1pm to 5pm. Enjoy the holiday!

Seeing Double

Over the years I have seen many books that have the same title or the same plot. I easily found six other books named Absolution, there are probably many more. This is the first time I have seen two books with the same cover. Granted, The Third Angel cover has been colorized, but it is the same image. I don’t know why, but this irritates me. How about you; do you feel jacket art should be distinctive to the book that it covers?

Again With the Stephenie Meyer's Fans

Yesterday I received a request for Stephenie Meyer's book Midnight Sun. Hmmm...never heard of that one, and so I went to Stephenie Meyer's web site to find out the scoop. Apparently they have been bombarded with emails about this title and so they had this note to the rabid fans:

Update: In response to the outrageous number of emails that I have received with questions concerning Midnight Sun, I talked to Stephenie this weekend and she asked me to let everyone know that Midnight Sun is her next project. She has not yet finished writing it (and there is no timeline set up, so we all need to put a lot of effort into being patient for a while longer), but she is definitely still planning on having it published. And, after Breaking Dawn comes out, Stephenie will have much more time to focus on writing Midnight Sun.

Apparently Midnight Sun is Twilight, but it is told from the perspective of Edward. The first chapter of the book is available on Stephenie's web site for your viewing pleasure.

Listen Up!

The New Hampshire State Library has purchased more new titles for you to download, check them out!

New June Titles

Title	Author
The Billionaire's Vinegar	Wallace, Benjamin
The Fires of Merlin	Barron, T.A.
The Front	Cornwell, Patricia
Peeled	Bauer, Joan
Shadow Command	Brown, Dale
Audition	Walters, Barbara
Careless in Red	George, Elizabeth
Devil May Care	Faulks, Sebastian
Executive Privilege	Margolin, Phillip
First Test	Pierce, Tamora
Hickory Dickory Dock	Christie, Agatha
The Immortal Highlander	Moning, Karen Marie
Life's a Beach	Cook, Claire
Our Dumb World	Onion, The
The Sugar Queen	Allen, Sarah Addison
What Happened	McClellan, Scott
Fearless Fourteen	Evanovich, Janet
No Choice But Seduction	Lindsey, Johanna
Nothing to Lose	Child, Lee
Page	Pierce, Tamora
Plague Ship	Cussler, Clive
Summer Blowout	Cook, Claire
Sway	Brafman, Ori

New July Titles

Title	Author
The Beach House	Green, Jane
The Beach House	Patterson, James
Chasing Darkness	Crais, Robert
The Dead and the Gone	Pfeffer, Susan Beth
Echo Burning	Child, Lee
Ghost	Burton, Fred
The Mysterious Affair at Styles	Christie, Agatha
Persuader	Child, Lee
Squire	Pierce, Tamora
Without Fail	Child, Lee
YOU: The Owner's Manual Updated and Expanded Edition	Oz, Mehmet
At First Sight	Cannell, Stephen J.
City of Time	Mcnamee, Eoin
Death Angel	Howard, Linda
The Enemy	Child, Lee
Love Only Once	Lindsey, Johanna
The Monster of Florence	Preston, Douglas
Mostly Harmless	Adams, Douglas
On the Wings of Heroes	Peck, Richard
One Shot	Child, Lee
Silent Thunder	Johansen, Iris
Tribute	Roberts, Nora
The Book of the Dead	Preston, Douglas
Illegal Action	Rimington, Stella
The Lion's Game	DeMille, Nelson
London Bridges	Patterson, James
The Magician	Scott, Michael
Moving Forward	Pelzer, Dave
Rogue	Steel, Danielle
Tender Rebel	Lindsey, Johanna
The White Giraffe	John, Lauren St.

How Go-Go Dancers Saved the World

Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse by Victor Gischler

It’s a captivating title for a particular type of reader. Since I am a fan of post apocalyptic fiction and Monty Python, it is definitely my cup of tea. Picture this: the world lies in ruins after a devastating flu epidemic, a massive earthquake in California, economic collapse, and nuclear terrorism. In the U.S. the last bastion of civilization is a chain of taverns similar to Hooters called Joey Armageddon’s Sassy A-Go-Go. Fascinating characters abound; Bill copes with the collapse of the civilized world by taking on the persona of a straight-shooting, good guy cowboy, the Glam Van Dammes, a bearded radical Ted Turner fights in the resistance, and Terry, the polite corporate torturer.

Terry cleared his throat. “I’m not usually involved with interrogations, but I was the only one around, and, well beggars can’t be choosers. Am I right?”

“I’ll try to go easy on you.”

“Ha, That’s the spirit,” Terry said. “We’re going to get along. I can tell.”

Terrific.

“Now. I’ve got a lit of question and procedures here, so that should help things along.” He produced a pencil and a clipboard from his briefcase. “First question: are you here to kill the Czar?”

“Actually,” Mortimer said, “I think I can save us some time. If I could just talk to the Czar--”

Terry tsked, sucked air through his teeth. “Yeah, the thing is, I just have this list of questions, and I’d feel better if we just got through them. I’m a rules kind of guy, and, look, I’m going to be square with you, okay? I’m a little out of my comfort zone, so I really think I should stick with the format.”

Mortimer said nothing.

“Let’s skip ahead,” Terry said. “Are you here to steal gasoline or sabotage the Red Stripe gasoline supplies?”

“No.”

“Super. Now let’s--” Terry consulted the clipboard. “Oh wait. It says here not to believe you and in parenthesis it says slap face.” Terry tsked again. “I guess we can skip that. Things are going well enough, don’t you think?”

The stone-faced guard cleared his throat, shook his head.

“Oh.” Terry seemed disappointed. Rules are rules.”

And then there is the Mad Max style chase that pits Mini Coopers against muscle cars…

If I Had the Time

A Young Adult Novel I would read if I had the time:

Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson.

Alcatraz Smedry doesn’t seem destined for anything but disaster. But on his thirteenth birthday, he receives a bad of sand, and his life takes a bizarre turn. This is no ordinary bag of sand… and it is quickly stolen by the cult of evil librarians who are taking over the world by spreading misinformation and suppressing truth. The sand will give the evil librarians the edge they need to achieve world domination. Alcatraz must stop them!

Who could resist a story like that?

Mean Librarians are Wealthier!

Maybe it's because I just finished laughing at all the Bulwer-Lytton entries (see previous post) but this online article's headline from American Libraries' ALA News just struck me funny!

Mean librarian salaries up 2% in 2008

Analysis of data from more than 1,010 public and academic libraries showed that the mean salary for librarians with ALA-accredited master’s degrees increased 2% from 2007, up $1,151 to $57,809. The median ALA MLS salary was $53,251, and salaries ranged from $22,000 to $331,200. Results are reported in the 2008 edition of the ALA-APA Salary Survey: Librarian—Public and Academic, published by the ALA–Allied Professional Association....

So, apparently the nastier we are, the more we make? In that case...

The Bulwer-Lytton winners!

Each year, I love to read the ghastly (but extremely clever) opening sentences created by the winners of the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. This year's grand prize ($250) winner is from Washington, DC (a place where we know they write good fiction!) and his winning sentence is:

"Theirs was a New York love, a checkered taxi ride burning rubber, and like the city their passion was open 24/7, steam rising from their bodies like slick streets exhaling warm, moist, white breath through manhole covers stamped 'Forged by DeLaney Bros., Piscataway, N.J."

This is the 26th year for this international literary parody contest and among the category winners are some sentences I really enjoyed:

Winner---Adventure: Leopold looked up at the arrow piercing the skin of the dirigible with a sort of wondrous dismay -- the wheezy shriek was just the sort of sound he always imagined a baby moose being beaten with a pair of accordions might make. (from New Hampshire!)

Winner---Children's Literature: Joanne watched her fellow passengers - a wizened man reading about alchemy; an oversized bearded man-child; a haunted, bespectacled young man with a scar; and a gaggle of private school children who chatted ceaselessly about Latin and flying around the hockey pitch and the two-faced teacher who they thought was a witch - there was a story here, she decided.

Runner-Up--- Spy Fiction: The KGB agent known only as the Spider, milk solids oozing from his mouth and nose, surveyed the spreading wound in his abdomen caused by the crushing blow of the low but deadly hassock and begged of his attacker to explain why she gone to the trouble of feeding him tainted milk products before effecting his assassination with such an inferior object as this ottoman, only to hear in his dying moments an escaping Miss Muffet of the MI-5 whisper, "it is my whey."

Winner---Vile Puns: Vowing revenge on his English teacher for making him memorize Wordsworth's "Intimations of Immortality," Warren decided to pour sugar in her gas tank, but he inadvertently grabbed a sugar substitute so it was actually Splenda in the gas.

If you like this kind of stuff (and obviously I do!) see them all at: http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/scott.rice/blfc2008.htm and feel free to create your own opening sentence for this post!

Summer Reading-a Success!

"Get a Clue @ Your Library", the childrens' summer reading program, was a huge success! 465 patrons between the ages of 5 and 12 participated. 324 patrons (in grades 2-6) recorded minutes spent reading (many read up to 20 hours!) and titles of books read on their reading logs and 141 patrons (ages 5 & 6) recorded the titles of books read (up to 36 books!) in their reading booklets. In addition, 190 attended our special programs and 1,622 used the craft table this summer. Congratulations readers, you did a great job!

Our thanks to everyone who helped make "Get a Clue @ Your Library" a success--especially The Friends of the Dover Public Library, the Dover Police Department, Dominoes Pizza, Nicole's Hallmark Store, the 99 Restaurant, Shaw's Supermarket, and all the parents/care-givers who transported the children to the library and made refreshments for the final party.

Breaking Dawn Mania

Breaking Dawn, the last book in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga, was released on August 2 and sold a whopping 1.3 million copies on its first day. It was a midnight release and fans were lining up outside the bookstores. The mania surrounding this book series, and upcoming movie, is unbelievable. There are hundreds and hundreds of fan sites with wacky titles like Twi-hard, Fatal Attraction, Fanpire Forums, and the Edward Plushie Club. Fans call themselves Twilighters, Cullenists, and Twerds, to name a few. There have been vehement arguments over the Jacob vs. Edward controversy, and many broken hearts over Bella's final selection. So if you have yet to find out who Bella finally chooses you best get your name on the waiting list for Breaking Dawn now, but don't worry the library owns more than one copy.

Wii Winner Announced

Ashlee Whitehouse is our Teen Summer Reading Program grand prize winner. Ashlee's name was chosen from amongst the 120 other Dover Public Library Teen Summer Reading Program participants. Congratulations to Ashlee!

Back by Popular Demand!

The final celebration of the Children's Summer Reading Program will feature Peter Boie: Magician for Non-Believers. Peter was featured at last years celebration, and was so incredibly popular we decided not to mess with a really good thing so join us tomorrow, Friday August 8th, at 10:45 in the Lecture Hall of the Library. Beware that once the show starts Peter doesn’t let you go for a solid 45 minutes. The show runs the gamut from audience members getting into the show and doing magic themselves, to award winning mind blowing magic, to side splitting comedy. So come to the library and experience the show for yourself!

Poppy are you out there?

I just finished The Sister by Poppy Adams. The book was recommended to me (by a very reliable source), and it is sort of a gothic mystery (right up my alley), and though I loved the novel, it left me scratching my head. I have so many questions and no answers! So Poppy if you are out there, or anyone who has some input on the matter, here are a few questions:

• Was Ginny really a famous lepidopterist (one who studies moths) or was this a figment of her imagination?
• Who really killed Maude?
• Why did Vivien allow Maude to carry her baby if she was unstable? Or was she really pregnant?

You see my dilemma? I should have known when the last patron returned the book and we had the following conversation:

Me: How did you like the book?
Her: Weird
Me: Good weird or weird weird?
Her: Weird

I think it is good weird, but take a look and let me know what you think.

It's Not Too Late

There is one week left in the Teen Summer Reading Program! Make sure that you have completed all four levels in order to maximize your chance to win the Wii. We will be drawing the winner on Friday afternoon, August 8th. Good luck.