the BCL Book Blog

Headless Body Found in Topless Bar!

2007-06-28T12:28:00.001-04:00

Okay, I'm weird--I love true crime but I don't like gory fiction. I like my true crime psychologically twisted--that is to say, not your sadistic serial killer traveling the country, but your eccentric socialite who convinces her child to murder his grandparent. Usually truth is stranger, more twisted and more bizarre, and so, more interesting, than fiction.

A true crime story is often written by an investigative newspaper reporter who covered the original story/trial as it unfolded. Seduced by Madness: the True Story of the Susan Polk Murder Case was written by Carol Pogash, a journalist who attended the trial--you have to read the book to see how what a long, strange trip that was. Unethical professional behavior, recovered memory, satanic ritual abuse, wealthy people behaving badly--this one's got it all.

I love you, Laurie Notaro

2007-06-12T12:55:00.001-04:00

Who would you rather hang out with, the perfect perky blonde in the spotless twin-set, or her chubby wise-cracking brunette sidekick? Read Laurie Notaro, it's like having that brunette over for lunch (with margaritas).

Laurie Notaro is a humor columnist from Arizona. She been trying to sell a book of her columns for seven years without success. One of her fans offered to help, and sold two books worth of columns. Shortly afterward, Notaro lost her weekly newspaper column. Since then she has published three more essay collections. Her latest book, There's a (Slight) Chance I Might Be Going to Hell: a Novel of Sewer Piper, Pageant Queens and Big Trouble, is her first novel. I am listening to the audio version, which is read by Susan Denaker. She's not my favorite audiobook narrator--she has a little too much sneer in her voice--but either she grew on me, or she's got better as the book went on.

The main character will be familiar to Notaro fans as a fellow member of The Idiot Girls Action-Adventure Club. After moving to a new, fiercely politcally correct town, she has trouble making new friends, and embarks on an interesting new project to remedy this. In the end, she discovers the meaning of true friendship, solves a mystery, and learns the ins and outs of styrofoam recycling.

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

2007-06-12T12:00:00.000-04:00

Do you like to be scared? I loved horror films when I was younger but most of the newer stuff is a bit too gory and sexually-sadistic for me. Even some books are too intense. Still, when a patron returned Heart-Shaped Box and said it was too scary for him, I decided to check it out. Yikes!

This debut novel by Joe Hill, offers plenty of chills, but is easy on the gore. Plot summary: a ghost is purchased by the protagonist via an online auction website. (Someone did try to sell a "Ghost in a Jar" on eBay a few years ago--learn more about that here.) I don't want to give details away--read it yourself. I'm not saying it's great literature, but it's great summer reading.

More Good Audio...

2007-05-31T16:09:00.000-04:00

I first met Anne Lamott in her wonderful memoir of her son's first year, Operating Instructions. Gee, was that really ten years ago? Yikes. She was one of the original writers for Salon.com's column, Mothers Who Think. She writes thoughtful, wry essays about anything and everything, and her latest is no exception. Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith had some pieces that made me sigh, and one that I had to listen to twice, it was so thought provoking. She reads it herself.

Petropolis

2007-05-30T11:30:00.000-04:00

I took Petropolis home with low expectations. I thought it might be too quirky--the main character comes from a small town in Russia called Asbestos 2. This is Anya Ulinich's first novel, and it follows the life of a girl who emigrates to the US as a mail order bride. (I guess we should really change that to internet-order bride). Funny, sweet, and sad, and a window into contemporary Russian life. I couldn't put it down. There's an interview with the author here which will help explain unfamiliar references.

The Wonder Spot

2007-05-30T11:07:00.000-04:00

Remember The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing, by Melissa Bank? Her next book, The Wonder Spot was not as big a seller. Maybe it was too similar--both are about urban women of today, presented more as a series of short stories than as a novel. However, I can think of a few other authors (Elmore Leonard, William Gibson) who write more or less the same book with minor variations, and hey, I like them all. Bank reads the audio version, and she's terrific--I wish she would read other people's work! This will make you laugh out loud.

Kabul Beauty School, or Buffy, the Taliban Slayer

2007-05-15T14:57:00.000-04:00

Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil
I brought this book home and abandoned it to read other more enticing titles. Once I started it, however, I couldn't put it down. It's compelling in much the same way as Reading Lolita in Tehran, as a window into a vastly different culture where you are touched by the people you meet. Unlike the earlier book, written by an Iranian-born college professor, this is written by a hairdresser, Debbie Rodriguez, from Holland, Michigan. She goes to Afghanistan in 2002 in part to escape her own abusive, controlling ex-husband. Once there she identifies with the plight of the Afghani women in her classes, and finds much to admire in them. Read it!

The Mistress's Daughter

2007-05-10T16:45:00.000-04:00

The audiobook version of A.M. Homes' The Mistress's Daughter is only five disks, so it's over with pretty quickly. Not that I wanted it to be over with because it was bad, but it's another painful memoir, with a twist--it's her natural parents re-entering her life who cause her the trouble. The reader is terrific, with a great voice, excellent diction, cadence, and she really pins the biologic mother. Not so great with the father, but he's a tough one--easier to visualize, perhaps. Homes' fiction is often wrenching, never easy, but quite compelling. This would make a good book club read, as one can talk so much about parent-child relationships, and the many changes in cultural attitudes towards adoption and illegitimacy.

Spring--the time for romance...

2007-04-12T10:59:00.000-04:00

Generally I don't read romance--I'm not against it as an element in other kinds of stories. Somehow I heard about Ruchama King's debut novel, Seven Blessings, and I read it in two bites. It's set in Israel, among observant Jews, all immigrants from the U.S. and Canada, and their struggles to make the right match. In this world, the spiritual and the physical yearnings of a person are all tied together--the author takes us inside the heads of many people, including older women, younger women, and several men. Some are single, some are long-married. Who will find love, who will find peace--can one have both?

A Three Dog Life, by Abigail Thomas, tells the story of a different kind of romance. It's a memoir covering the five years since her husband suffered a traumatic brain injury. Not told in a strictly chronological sense, she has almost written a series of essays. Some readers found this structure a little disconcerting, but I thought it suited the subject matter--her husband has lost his short term memory, and lives in the moment; a quite distorted moment, at times. Moving, beautiful, human.

Super! Crazy! Fun! Amigurumi!

2007-04-11T15:52:00.000-04:00

It's coming! Get ready! It's a wave of Japanese cuteness (or kawaii), threatening to engulf us. It's not just for kids anymore. If you are already a fan of Hello Kitty, then this is okay by you. The good thing about this is that you can do it yourself (as opposed to, say, Beanie Babies) and many new books are coming out to tell you how.

We have one, Plush-o-rama: Curious Creatures for Immature Adults, by Linda Kopp. The word Amigurumi is not used in this book, but I think it still fits into the same design aesthetic. These creatures are sewn, not knitted or crocheted. You can buy patterns on the web, download free ones, or wait for the books to be published, and added to the library collection, or just look at some fun stuff. Whee! If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry, neither did I till this morning.

There are too many knitting books...

2007-04-10T11:42:00.000-04:00

I love to knit and I love to read, so naturally I love to read knitting books. The literature of knitting is HUGE--lots of new books coming out all the time, plus older books being reprinted. We are buying knitting (and other needlework) books for the library all the time, especially as new trends (e.g. felting) have become popular. We have also started subscribing to Interweave Knits magazine.

With so much new knitting/crocheting/needlework stuff out there, some of it has got to be bad. For a while, you could go to this website You Knit What? to chuckle at some pretty awful patterns. (The bloggers on that site have called it quits but you can still read their archived posts.) I always try to check out a knitting book from the library before I decide to buy it--so many books sound interesting from a short description, but turn out to be duds.

I suspected that Knitprovisation: 70 Imaginative Projects Mixing Old With New might be iffy. It had been reviewed by several people on Amazon.com, and no one took the middle of the road--it was either loved or hated. I can't say I hated it entirely, but I have to wonder, why was it ever published?

The author is Cilla Ramnek, a Swedish textile designer. In the foreword, she mentions that she has never finished a knitting or crochet project--warning sign number one. The book has few actual patterns--most of the projects involve cutting up knitted garments or doilies--yes, doilies. Apparently, Sweden is a treasure trove of thrift store doily finds, and Cilla suggests that your middle schooler would like these doilies attached to the fronts and shoulders of shirts, or the pockets of pants. Right. Or maybe you'd like to spend your spare time crocheting bands on white gym socks? Oh, yeah. The models in this book appear to have been selected from extras on the set of Napoleon Dynamite. I have no beef with the non-professional models, but these folks look like they were photographed in a room with a carbon monoxide leak.

If you want a knitting book that will tweak your creative muscles a little, may I suggest Loop-D-Loop, or Mason-Dixon Knitting? You might find a few things in these books that you could see yourself knitting. And if you want to know what to do with your doilies, or get lots of other craft ideas, try craftster.org

Jackpot Nation

2007-04-05T15:46:00.000-04:00

How much does our nation spend gambling every year? About as much as we spend on fast food, according to Richard Hoffer, in Jackpot Nation: Rambling and Gambling Across Our Landscape of Luck. From state lotteries to Indian casinos to online poker to charity raffles, he has quite a bit of ground to cover. Like Positively 5th Street, the author is himself a gambler, and injects his own story into the book. I found it interesting to learn about a world I would never want to experience firsthand--I just don't get the attraction. By the way, the odds on the state lottery are so long that not buying a ticket does not substantially reduce your chances of winning, so keep your eyes out for winning tickets lying on the ground.

Win a quilt for Mom!

2007-04-05T14:59:00.000-04:00

We are raffling this beautiful quilt as a fundraiser. Tickets cost $1 each or six for $5. The drawing will be held on Garden Day, Saturday, May 12, when we will also have flats and hanging baskets for sale. Pre-orders recommended!

Take a Seat, and Check Your Pre-conceptions at the Door

2007-02-08T15:32:00.000-05:00

You've probably never thought about it, but there are people in California writing the scripts for the ten gajillion award shows on tv each year. Allen Rucker has written lots of those, but his latest book is The Best Seat in the House: How I Woke Up One Tuesday and Was Paralyzed For Life. His particular affliction is extremely rare, but he sees himself as a kind of pioneer for the rest of the boomer demographic who will likely also face some kind of debilitating illness in the not-too-distant future. He has no mercy for his own foibles, although he (and his family) behave about as well as anyone could under the circumstances. Reminded me a bit of John Hockenberry's memoir Moving Violations: War Zones, Wheel Chairs, and Declarations of Independence. And don't forget about Murderball, the 2005 documentary about wheelchair rugby.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

2007-02-01T13:55:00.000-05:00

The final book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, hits the street on July 21, 2007. It is listed in the UHLS catalog, so it can be requested. Yippee!

You can view the trailer for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix here. Harry is getting to be very handsome. There's lots of fun to be had at the website, with games, quizzes and discussions.

2006 Tax Forms

2007-01-31T15:04:00.000-05:00

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

2007-01-24T11:42:00.000-05:00

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

2007-01-18T11:29:00.000-05:00

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.

Reads this week

2006-08-31T17:06:00.000-04:00

Because I way down on the list to read The Ruins, by Scott Smith, I read his first novel, A Simple Plan, from 1993. It was made into a movie in 1998. What a tough act to follow, no wonder there were 13 years between books. You will stay up late to finish it, so save it for the weekend. It's a compelling mixture: the overwhelming greed of ordinary people as they're thrown into extraordinary circumstances, and the weirdness of family dynamics as they're mixed with alcohol and money. I hope the movie did justice to the book--the author draws vivid pictures of the cold, bleak mid-Western landscapes where much of the action takes place. One review of The Ruins promises "an episode of Friends on psilocybin mushrooms". Yippee!

Just finished The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky: a True Story, by Ken Dornstein, a good example of truth being stranger than fiction. The boy in the title is his older brother, David, who died in 1988 on PanAm flight #103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. David was 25, handsome, extroverted, neurotic, smart, and, sorry to say, sounded like one of the obnoxious self-proclaimed geniuses who are thick on the ground during one's college years. There's almost too much for a book here: a tragic childhood, complete with a mentally ill mother, divorce, and molestation; the attack on the plane, and subsequent trial of the terrorists; and then the strangely incestuous relationship between Ken and David's college girlfriend--there's stuff in here to make anyone uncomfortable. There is a sister in the family who remains a shadow figure, maybe she didn't want to be in the book, which makes you wonder what more there is you could possibly not know...

Travel In Your Head...

2006-07-19T14:28:00.000-04:00

Some of us like to travel, some of us like to stay home, and some of us like to travel vicariously through reading about other people's adventures. Lots of books about the warm climes: Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before, by Tony Horwitz, in which he follows in the footsteps of the English explorer; In a Sunburned Country, by Bill Bryson, in which the great comic writer skips around Australia--for a guy who is a big gee-whizzer, Australia provides a lot of fodder. Carnivorous Nights--On the Trail of the Tasmanian Tiger, by Margaret Mittlebach, is interesting because how much do we really know about Tasmania? It's written in the plural, by a married couple of writers, which I found rather off-putting--what are they, the Borg? Also, they drive around Tasmania, searching for the tiger, which has not been seen in decades and is presumed extinct, and they actually seem to think they're going to see one. D-oh.

Meanwhile, Jane and Michael Stern have perfected the co-authoring trick by driving around the U.S. and eating a few gazillion meals for the past thirty years. They've written a passel of books on food, kitsch, and roadside attractions, and their latest is Two for the Road: Our Love Affair with American Food, in which they discuss their research methods (drive, eat, repeat til bedtime), and describe various encounters with regional restaurants through the years. Included are lots of recipes--be forewarned, they are not low-fat. Also, the ham recipe which includes the directions "scrub mold off of ham"--well, let's just leave it at that. (For those of you who like diner food, my favorite is the Townshend Dam Diner in Townshend, Vermont. Also, if you need to stop on the way there, there's a new diner in Bennington, the Top Notch Diner on Route 9, heading towards Brattleboro.)

Farther afield, Lawrence Osborne manages to get to some of the most strange and bizarre and remote places on earth, in The Naked Tourist: In Search of Adventure and Beauty in the Age of the Airport Mall. He goes from Dubai, where it sounds like Michael Jackson isn't the weirdest person there, to Thailand, Irian Java, and more, all the while thinking about the whole travel mindset. Maybe he spends too much time on his own. He joins a group led by a guide who specializes in taking people deep into the jungle, where they'll encounter villages with little or no contact to the rest of the world. Yikes.

Now traveling is one thing--what if you moved to the other end of the world for two years? J. Maarten Troost does just that in The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific. He follows his girlfriend to Kiribati (it's really far away, and really small), and takes up life on Island Time. His second book has just come out, Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu, which is also good, but not as good as the first book. It's not as good because 1) in the second book they live on bigger islands with expatriate communities, whereas on Kiribati they get to know the locals; and 2) he tries harder to be funny--in the first book you don't feel the strain of that.

Now, one thing I noticed about this traveling bug is that it hits men more than women. For a woman's perspective, check out these two: Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World, by Rita Golden Gelman. Ms. Gelman strikes out after her unhappy divorce and learns to be braver than she could imagine before. She travels through Mexico, Central and South America and on through the Eastern Hemisphere, developing a way of life centered around traveling. Wow. No Touch Monkey!: and Other Travel Lessons Learned Too Late, by Ayun Halliday is more of a twenty-something account, a little cynical, a little ironic, a little naive at times, and really, really funny. At one point while reading this book I thought to myself, hey, this reads like Hunter Thompson reborn, and not a jerk anymore! Thanks, Ayun. I look forward to reading more.

My Favorite Books, as of 7/11/06

2006-07-11T15:08:00.000-04:00

In no particular order, these are the books I love, as of this minute:

Operating Instructions : A Journal of My Son's First Year , Anne Lamott
Anne Lamott also wrote many of the columns appearing in Salon's Mothers Who Think department. Her account of her first year as a single mom is witty, heartfelt, and wise. It makes a great gift for a first time mom or dad.
Candyfreak, Steve Almond
What could be more fun than visiting small candy factories around the country? Tasting the candies fresh off the line? His descriptions will turn you into a candyfreak, too.
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith
I'm not a big mystery fan, but I love this series starring the "traditionally-built" Precious Ramotswe of Rwanda. This is the first one, and my favorite.
The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde
Another non-traditional mystery series, starring literary detective Tuesday Next, who can travel between our world and the one inside of books. It's difficult to describe. It's got elements of science-fiction, abundant literary puns and inside jokes, British humor...have I lost you yet? I particularly love the third book, The Well of Lost Plots, because it takes place almost entirely in the Book World, which is where I want to live.
E.F. Benson , Mapp and Lucia books
If you like Jeeves and Wooster, try these mis-adventures, starring Lucia and Miss Mapp, who each rule their own little circle in small picturesque Edwardian English villages.
Stephanie Plum series, Janet Evanovich
My guilty little pleasures. Stephanie is ill-suited to her job of bounty-hunting in Newark. Featuring her interesting ethnically blended family, two beaus, and inability to prevent someone from blowing up her car in each book. I think the series slumps a little in the middle, then picks up in the later books.
Harry Potter..., by J.K. Rowling
Do I have to explain this?
Terry Pratchett
Pick up any of his books, see if you like it, and rest assured that you have scads more to read. Most take place on the Discworld. More dry British humor. Tons of clever little details. They don't have to be read in order, but you can, if you want. I especially liked The Truth. He also writes children's novels, of which I loved the trilogy of Truckers, Diggers, and Wings. If you or someone you know liked The Borrowers, try it.
Calvin Trillin
He writes humorous, leftist verse, but I love his thoughtful, funny essays on traveling, fatherhood and food.

Brushes with Greatness...

2006-05-30T13:05:00.000-04:00

This weekend I had the pleasure to attend the Gottagetgon Family Folk Music Festival in Ballston Spa. It was too much fun: loads of great performances, jams, and sing-alongs, and who knew I'd find a fun book to read: Ticket to Ride: the Extraordinary Diary of the Beatles' Last Tour, by Barry Tashian. Barry and his band The Remains, were hired to open for the Beatles on their 1966 tour of the US. He was only 21 years old. On the advice of his father, he kept a diary. (Listen to your parents.) What an experience that must have been! Along with his diary entries, Barry includes numerous photos, fan accounts of the shows, and then-current events of the day. Paging through the book gave me a chance to explain who the Beatles were to my kid. The Remains disbanded soon after, and Barry later spent ten years touring with Emmylou Harris as part of her Hot Band.

Barry and his wife Holly played at the festival this weekend, and they were terrific. I love the new/old country music--call it what you will. They have a great stage presence, and witty lyrics. You can sample their music and purchase their cd's at their website. If you like guitar jazz/blues of the 20's and 30's then you should check out The Blue Rhythm Boys. They were also at the festival, and played a smokin' set.

Meanwhile, if you'd like to read other Brushes with Greatness, I recommend You'll Never Nanny in This Town Again: The True Adventures of a Hollywood Nanny, by Suzanne Hansen. It's another tale of what happens to a fresh-faced young thing as an underpaid underling to the rich and famous, a la The Devil Wears Prada. If this is what the working world is like for the entry level, it's no wonder we have a Boomerang generation that doesn't want to leave home. If you want to peek inside the music biz, try So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star?... by Jacob Slichter, drummer for the band Minneapolis band Semisonic. They had one big hit with Closing Time, a few years back, but didn't live up to their own expectations of being the next U2. (Q: Does everyone who went to Harvard think they'll be the next U2? A: Yes. Q: Can you dislike the narrator and still like the book? A: Yes.) From what he says about the music biz you see that's it's almost a miracle that any good music gets major label backing at all, ever.

One more sad memoir...and this one's not so sad! And then I'm not reviewing any more memoirs.

2006-04-04T14:01:00.000-04:00

Jesus Land : A Memoir, by Julia Scheeres, is another heartwrenching memoir--get out your handkerchiefs. Scheeres is a journalist, and delivers the goods in a straightforward manner without a drop of self-pity. The last part takes place in a boot-camp style religious camp for wayward youth, of which we see all too much in the news these days. Her white parents adopted two black children, which, as you can imagine, made for some unique experiences--well, probably not that unique, sadly. Although this would seem a large-hearted gesture, the parent's emotional coldness sounds extreme--it's easier to love humanity than to like people. This would make a good book group read.

Golden Boy : Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood, by Martin Booth, is a little sad, and a lot enchanting. Booth wrote it as a legacy for his children, and managed to finish it before he succumbed to cancer. As a young boy, his family spent several years in Hong Kong, and he seems able to recall every tiny detail from half a century ago. His father was a low-level narrow-minded bureaucrat, while his mother shared his delight in exploring Hong Kong. His descriptions of the street life, the food, and the people will have you enthralled. One thing that struck me was how they had such a rich variety of food and goods in Hong Kong, while their English relatives were still living under rationing.

from the Public Library Association conference...

2006-04-04T10:45:00.000-04:00

The Public Library Association held its bi-annual conference this March in Boston. There were many opportunities to hear authors speak, or press their flesh while they peddled their books. I'm in the midst of a very fun read, Lapham Rising, by Roger Rosenblatt. He was very merrily signing free copies of the book--if you've ever read authors' accounts of dreary, poorly attended book tours, you can see how being at a conference full of interested, eager readers must come as quite a relief. (the wonderful Laurie Notaro, who should be as rich and famous as Dave Barry, has some pretty funny book tour stories.) Lapham Rising strikes me as very similar to Nicholson Baker's A Box of Matches. In both books there's very little action, and the main character/narrator is peculiar, but the sly humor and vivid descriptions are so engaging that it doesn't matter. The rising refers is of over-the-top McMansion being built in the Hamptons.

I felt fortunate to be at the rubber chicken luncheon to hear Elie Wiesel speak. He talked about how difficult it had been to get Night, the harrowing account of his time in Auschwitz, published originally, and how he signed the rights away at the time. Although the book has stayed in print ever since, it sounded like he'd never made much money from it. Good for him that Oprah made it one of her picks. He described the Oprah Effect as being like having the presidents of several major world powers demanding their citizens all purchase his book.

I also enjoyed meeting the two guys behind the comic strip of librarianship, Unshelved. The strip is great, and so is their merchandise. (In case you need to purchase a gift for National Library Week--this is it!) I was disappointed to hear they weren't able to quit their day jobs, although how would they come up with ideas for the strip if they did? I was happy to get a book from the hand of Terry Moore--incidentally, two of the characters in Unshelved are able to find their only literary common ground in his series of graphic novels, Strangers in Paradise. I think I met children's book author, Kathleen Duey--I don't think you could pay a sales rep to be as enthusiastic as she was. The book she was handing out, Rex 2, in the Time Soldiers series, looked like a photo-novella--it might be good for a reluctant reader. I'm going to try her Unicorn's Secret series.

Local Boy Rocks Out!

2006-03-02T12:42:00.000-05:00

For a limited time only, we are offering free video/music samplers of Action-Action's new release "An Army of Shapes Between Wars". An Action-Action mom is one of our patrons. To quote the cover, they have "The disturbing melodies of Depeche Mode meets the pop sensibility of Bloc Party." Well, all right then. Come get yours now! For more about Action-Action, go to their website
We will also have a copy of the cd available for loan at the library any day now...