2006 Tax Forms

Both the state and the federal tax form shipments of printed forms were reduced--we simply aren't getting the same amount we received before. We currently have the basic forms and instruction booklets, but they are going fast. Check out the websites for the IRS and the NY Dept. of Taxation to download and print what you need.

Recent picks

Just finished to listening to A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon. It's a departure from his last book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, but more like The Corrections--a portrait of a family going through domestic turmoil, each in their own way. A little heavy, but lots of humorous moments to break it up.

If you read Rats and were wondering where to go from there, try Pigeons. It's not quite as exhaustive a book as, say, Cod, but how much do you really need to know about pigeons? I promise you'll learn something them that you didn't know before. And in case you haven't heard, we're mismanaging the world's fisheries: read The End of the Line: How Overfishing is Changing the World and What We Eat.

The Big Read

Have you ever heard of a community read? It's like a book group for a whole city or county--in our case, all of Albany and Rensselaer counties. With support from a grant from the NEA, The Upper Hudson Library System is sponsoring "The Big Read" in May, 2007. There will be book discussions, lectures, parties, performances and other events, all focused on one book, and its author. The book we have chosen is Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston.

Zora Neale Hurston was active during the time of the Harlem Renaissance, but died in obscurity in 1960. I have listened to the audiobook version, and it was excellent. Ruby Dee does a terrific job bringing the characters to life. There is also a film version of the book, starring Halle Berry, with a script by Suzan-Lori Parks. I haven't seen it, but I thought Parks' novel Getting Mother's Body was pretty good.