The Book Or The Movie?

While movies and television allow the beloved characters from literature to come alive and flourish if put into the hands of the right actors, writers, directors, and producers; the opposite is true if the wrong sort of people get their hands on our favorite stories. Ever since the advent of motion pictures, there has been a heated debate. Is the book or the movie better? The following books have been made into motion pictures that are currently available in theaters. I'll let you decide which is better, but you'll have to read the books to make your choice.

"Middle School: the Worst Years of My Life" is a series of juvenile books by the ever-popular James Patterson (Alex Cross novels). Rafe Katchadorian has enough problems at home without having to worry about the oppressive rules laid down by the principal of his middle school. With the help and encouragement of his best friend, Leonardo the Silent, Rafe has decided it will be his mission to break as many of the school rules as he can. The two have even made a game of it: Chewing gum in class, 5,000 points! Running in the hallway, 10,000 points! Pull the fire alarm, 50,000 points! When all of this rule-breaking begins to catch up with him, Rafe must decide whether or not he can face up to the rules, the bullies, and what is really bothering him.

"Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children" is the first book in a Young Adult series by Ransom Riggs. Haunting photographs help tell the story of sixteen-year-old Jacob who has suffered a terrible tragedy. His beloved grandfather was attacked and Jacob finds him barely alive. With his dying breath, his grandfather compels him to seek out the orphanage where he spent his childhood. Jacob manages to convince his parents to let him go, but what he finds there he doesn't fully understand. As he explores the rooms and hallways, Jacob comes to believe that these children may have been quarantined on this island because of their peculiar abilities; and even, perhaps, because they were dangerous. Local history says that the children were killed when the Nazis dropped a bomb on the house, but what Jacob finds leads him to think otherwise. Are the peculiars still alive? You'll have to read it to find out!

Finally, for the adults, we have "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins. Rachel's life now is full of monotony. She takes the same train everyday with the same people who have the same conversations. Her only bit of respite is the young couple she sees having breakfast every morning--she calls them Jess and Jason. They remind her of how her life used to be before her divorce. One morning however, she witnesses something shocking. It is only a split second before the train moves on. Rachel doesn't know what to do, but she goes to the authorities anyway. Soon, the authorities begin to question her sanity as well as her motives while Rachel becomes more and more entangled in the lives of those involved. Has she done more harm than good? You decide.

How to Negotiate the Non-technical parts of Life

In years past, Shop and Home Economics were part of normal school life.  Now that those classes have become rarer, people are finding themselves in the real world without some of the basic life skills that those classes used to teach.

Here to fill in some of those gaps is The Useful Book by Sharon and David Bowers.  It is divided into two sections, color coded red for Home Ec and blue for Shop.

The first section covers the Home Ec part - Cooking, Sewing, Laundry & Clothing, Domestic Arts, and Life Skills.

• Cooking : Everything from the basic kitchen tools to identifying and handling lettuce as well as how to cook rice is covered.  
• Sewing : Begins with the basic skill of threading a needle and goes onto instruct readers on how to hem, repair holes in clothing, and even make a pillow.
• Laundry and Clothing : Instructs readers how to read and understand laundry labels, how to iron a shirt, and ends with learning how to fold a t-shirt the way you see them on retail shelves.
• Domestic Arts : Skills such as hand-washing dishes, mopping, removing gum from a rug, and Spring Cleaning.
• Life Skills : This chapter covers a variety of topics.  For example : making a household budget, setting a table for a formal dinner and stocking a first aid kit.

The second section is Shop - Domestic Repair, Woodworking & Metalworking, Plumbing, Electrical, and Mechanical.

• Domestic Repair : Contains topics such as hanging pictures, patching holes in a wall, and caulking a bathtub.
• Woodworking & Metalworking : This chapter suggests tools for around the home, how to determine board feet, building a bookcase, and even how to make earrings. 
• Plumbing : Suggests tools and shows how to deal with clogs, leaks, and basic troubleshooting of plumbing problems.
• Electrical : Shows a basic electrical repair tool kit and also details how to winterize your home, steps to take to cut your electric bill, and how to install a light fixture or ceiling fan.
• Mechanical : Suggests basic garage tools as well as what you should carry in your trunk.  Topics covered includes a variety of basic maintenance steps for both cars and motorcycles such as washing a vehicle, detailing, oil changes, repairing a minor dent, and changing out windshield wiper blades.

The Useful Book is well named and contains topics useful to anyone.

The Windows 10 Computer

     Thinking of buying a new computer for yourself or a loved one sometime soon? If you buy a PC (as opposed to a Mac) your new computer will probably run Windows 10 software. Want to know how to navigate this new operating system without pulling out your hair or crashing your machine? We can help with four new manuals specifically written to help you get to know and navigate Windows 10.

     Windows 10 Tips and Tricks by Guy Hart-Davis and Windows 10: Step by Step by Joan Lambert and Steve Lambert are both quick start guides for your new desktop, laptop, tablet, or convertible Windows 10 device. Both feature step-by-step instructions for working with your new programs and comprehensive indexes to help you find what you are looking for. They also offer full color photographs to make learning to navigate your device easier.

     If you would like more comprehensive instruction manuals for your Windows 10 device, then why not check out Windows 10 All-In-One for Dummies by Woody Leonhard or Windows 10: the Missing Manual by David Pogue. Neither of these have color photographs, but the information contained within them is more comprehensive so that you can really get to know your new device. From what features are new and different with Windows 10 to enhancing and personalizing Windows to meet your specific needs, you will find all of that and more in these two manuals.

New Books on the Newest Software and Internet Trends

We have added six new books from the For Dummies series to our collection thanks to a grant from the International Paper Foundation : Computers for Seniors, eBay, PC, Power Point 2016, Word 2016, and YouTube Channels.

As with all of the For Dummies series, the books lead the users step by step from the most basic interactions to the more advanced.  There are also videos and more step by step examples available by visiting Dummies.com.

New Cozy Mysteries You May Enjoy...

     I've read two new cozy mysteries in the past couple of weeks. Each one is part of an on-going series, but I think that both can be read out-of-order and the reader will be able to follow along with what is going on in the story.

 

   First, we have Books of a Feather: a Bibliophile Mystery by Kate Carlisle. This is the first book I've read from this series, but I did enjoy it and I've thought about going back and reading some of the other titles. Our protagonist, Brooklyn is a bookbinder by trade. She and her hunky and all-too-perfect security specialist fiance have just returned to their recently renovated San Francisco loft. When Brooklyn's friend and director of the Covington Library, Ian, invites her to a gala celebrating an exhibit of a copy of Birds of North America by John James Audubon, she has no idea the world of problems that are about to fall in her lap. The president of the local chapter of the National Birdwatcher's Society, Jared Mulrooney, approaches Brooklyn with a problem. It seems that Jared has spilled wine on a beautiful book of bird illustrations thought to also be an Audubon title. He wants her to clean it up and restore it the best she can before anyone at the birdwatcher's society can find out. Unfortunately, Jared turns up dead in a back room of the Covington shortly after handing Brooklyn the book. It's Brooklyn who finds the body. There is also the matter of the thief who keeps steeling rare and expensive books from her best friend's bookshop and the divorce proceedings in which Brooklyn must give expert testimony on an old book owned by a feuding couple. To top it all off, a homeless man thought to be her parents' friend gets murdered in Brooklyn's loft while the couple is out getting breakfast. What is a bibliophile to do? How about try to stay alive!

     The second book I've read lately is Survivors Will Be Shot Again: a Sheriff Dan Rhodes mystery by Bill Crider. I've read several books in this series and I've enjoyed each one. Crider populates this small Texas town with a number of characters that could be your own friends and neighbors. The book begins with Sheriff Rhodes contemplating whether or not to buy a Dr. Pepper on his afternoon off. He has boycotted the company ever since they decided to discontinue his beloved Dublin Dr. Pepper made with "real sugar." Just as he has decided not to break his boycott, a masked gunman enters the convenience store and demands money from the clerk. Rhodes has his Kal-Tec in his ankle holster, but opts to toss a loaf of bread at the would-be robber; distracting the man long enough to get him to the ground. So much for a break from police work! He then gets a call from the ornery dispatcher telling him that a local man has found a body in his barn. Rhodes goes out to investigate and thinks the man's death may be linked to a series of thefts in that part of Blacklin County. During the course of his investigations, Rhodes also finds several patches of marijuana, an alligator,another body, an alligator snapping turtle, and the usual line-up of suspicious characters. If her can just keep local professor Seepy Benton and Jennifer Loam, journalist and founder of the local news blog, out of the way long enough for him to do some proper investigation. I did happen to figure out who done it a little faster than usual, but, if you enjoy cozies, this is a definite must read series.

For Animal Lovers

Whether you prefer dogs or cats, we have you covered in the New Adult Nonfiction.

Dog Gone by Pauls Toutonghi is the story of the Marshall family and, in particular, Fielding Marshall and his beloved pet, a six year old Golden Retriever mix named Gonker.  When he bolts away from his owner while hiking on the Appalachian Trial, the Marshall family is under a time limit.  Gonker has Addison's Disease and must be found within 23 days to get his monthly injection of the medicine that keeps him alive.

The story follows the Marshalls and their other dog, Uli, as they pull together not only themselves, but also their community, to bring Gonker home.

The other book is The True Tales of Baker and Taylor by Jan Louch with Lisa Rogak.

In 1982, the brand-new Douglas County library in Nebraska had a problem:  mice.  The new building was built on an alfalfa field and where there's alfalfa, there's an abundance of mice.  Because mice have an unfortunate love  for the taste of bookbinding glue, the librarians had to take steps to protect the new library's books. This included a pair of Scottish Fold cats brought in as mousers - and named after the library wholesaler, Baker & Taylor.

Neither the humans nor the cats had any idea where the need for mouse control would take them. This photogenic pair of cats first gained notice on a poster advertising their library before reaching a world-wide audience on the posters and ads of the same company for which they were named.

Musical Biographies and Memoirs

     “Waylon: Tales of My Outlaw Dad” is a biography of the late Waylon Jennings written by his son, Terry Jennings, with David Thomas. Terry was born when Waylon was only nineteen years old, so he was coming of age when his father’s career began its meteoric rise with hits like “I’ve Always Been Crazy” and “Good Hearted Woman”—one of Waylon’s most popular duets with Willie Nelson. Terry dropped out of high school to join his father on the road and the two became more like brothers than father and son. As a result, Terry spent formative years with legends like Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and Jessi Colter—Waylon’s fourth and final wife. There was also a lot of hard partying, women, and drugs. Even as his father’s success grew with his critical acclaim, bestselling albums, sold-out tours, and even TV stardom with The Dukes of Hazzard, Waylon suffered from a myriad of demons. He went through three divorces, crippling debt, and bouts of depression that Terry believes traces back to the premature death of Buddy Holly. (Waylon was supposed to be on that doomed flight.) Terry debunks myths and shares never-before-told stories of his father with the great love and honesty.

     “Un-Ashamed” is an autobiography of rap artist Lecrae with Johnathan Merritt. This two–time Grammy winning artist has been through his share of adversity. He suffered through childhood abuse, drugs and alcoholism with a stint in rehab, an abortion, and an unsuccessful suicide attempt. Somewhere along the way, however, Lecrae found an unshakeable faith in Jesus and began turning to God for affirmation. He learned the lesson, “if you live for people’s acceptance, you’ll die from their rejection.” Now, he ignores the haters and makes peace with his craft. Lecrae holds nothing back as he reveals the most intimate details of his life as well as sharing handwritten journal entries and models how to be a Christian in a secular world.

     “Porcelain: A Memoir” is by DJ and musician Moby. There are many reasons why Moby should not have been as hugely popular in the unchecked, drug fueled, hedonism of the pumping underground dance clubs of NYC in the late 1980s and 1990s. First, he was a poor skinny white kid from Connecticut, but he was also a devout Christian, a vegan, and a teetotaler. He learned what it meant to be spat upon and to live on almost nothing. With the rise of AIDS and crack, it was a tough time for an artist to live on almost nothing in New York City, but it was also the time of a defiantly festive underworld culture. Moby managed to make his way, but he prepared to put his career behind him and poured all of his emotion into what he thought would be his swan song. Instead, it was the beginning of a surprisingly new phase in his life: the multimillion-selling album Play. This sincere portrait of a man with a passion for making music that steadied him in rough seas will inspire anyone pursuing a dream.

     “Kill ‘Em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul” is a biography written by James McBride. For the author, this book is about more than James Brown. It is a metaphor for American life: the tension between North and South, black and white, rich and poor. McBride’s travels take him to the country town where Brown’s family and thousands of others were displaced by America’s largest nuclear power bomb-making facility; a South Carolina field where a long-forgotten cousin recounts, in the dead of night, a richer history of Brown’s sharecropping childhood—which had always been shrouded in mystery. He also seeks out the American expat in England who co-created the James Brown sound, visits the trusted manager who was Brown’s right hand for forty-one years, and relates the visit of Michael Jackson to the Augusta, Georgia funeral home where he sat all night with his musical godfather. Finally, McBride discusses the monster legal battles fought over Brown’s estate which prevented money from reaching the poor schoolchildren in Georgia and South Carolina, cost the estate millions in legal fees, and left James Brown’s body to lie in a gilded coffin in his daughter’s yard in South Carolina for more than eight years.

Back To School Time - Don't Forget Our Links For Homework Help!

School is back in session!

Don't forget there is plenty of help for homework woes available online to our patrons regardless of the level of class :

• MAGNOLIA - A database of scholarly journals, newspaper archives and literary critiques.

• World Book Online - The online version of the popular encyclopedia and more.

• LearningExpress Library - Offers test prep for high school, college, and adult education.  It alos offers tutorials for some of the popular software.

• Gale Cengage - A large variety of online reference books including the Contemporary Black Biography series.  Features include allowing users to sign in with their Google account to save articles and citations to Drive, print and email (with any email account), The site also features highlighting, note-taking and audio content.

• Salem Press Online - Online reference books, specifically for high school age and up.  Users are able to set up a free account to save search information, citations, and articles.  The site also features the ability to print and email articles and citations.

For the reference services listed above, pick up the Digital References handout available at the Reference Desk for the websites, login names and passwords to use to access them.

Also, don't forget to visit our Kids Page on the library website for links to Homework Help, the AR Bookfinder, BJ Pinchback's Homework Helper, Khan Academy and World Book for Kids.

Have a great school year!

The Strong Female Lead

     This week's novels are new paperback fiction that feature strong female characters who are struggling to overcome adversity. Enjoy!

      “The Witches of Cambridge” is a novel by Menna Van Praag. Amandine Bisset has always had the ability to read the emotions of those around her. The only people she can share her secret with are the other professors—all witches—of the Cambridge University Society of Literature and Witchcraft. Amandine cherishes the meetings with her dear friends, but lately, she senses that the ties that bind them starting to unravel. If only she had her student Noa’s power to actually read people’s thoughts she is sure she could help the others heal the rifts forming in their friendships. Noa, however, is sure that her gift is a curse and jumps at the chance to be “cured” when a seductive con artist comes to town. Then, there is mathematics professor Kat and her baker sister Cosima. Kat is stewing in her unrequited love, but she refuses to cast any spells to help the process along. Cosima, on the other hand, is all too happy to sprinkle her pastries with sugar and enchantment, but when she casts a spell on Kat’s crush, she creates a dangerous love triangle.

     “No Ordinary Life” is a novel by Suzanne Redfearn. Faye Martin’s husband abandoned her and their three children and now she is struggling to make ends meet. When her four-year-old daughter is discovered through a YouTube video and offered a starring role on a television series, it seems that Faye’s prayers have been answered. The reality of this new life hits her hard and Faye realizes that fame and fortune come with a price. In this world everyone is an actor, every move is watched by millions, and knowing who to trust is absolutely impossible. Faye finds herself completely alone in her struggle to protect this precious and fragile time in her children’s lives.

     “The Restaurant Critic’s Wife” is a novel by Elizabeth LaBan. Lila Soto has a work-obsessed husband, two kids, and a master’s degree that is going to waste. She is also quite perplexed as to how she ended up in this situation. They have recently moved to Philadelphia where Lila’s husband, Sam, is taking his job of restaurant critic much too seriously. In order to protect his professional credibility, Sam is determined to remain anonymous and goes out of his way to make sure none of his family have any contact with anyone from the foodie culture. Lila craves adult conversation and some relief from her homemaker role. She can feel her patience wearing thin and she begins to question the major decisions of the past several years—her decision to get pregnant again, giving up her career, her marriage to Sam, breaking up with her ex-boyfriend. As Sam becomes more and more obsessed with his anonymity, Lila begins to wonder if her own identity has completely disappeared and she’s not sure what to do to get it back.

New Books About Being Online for the Children's Department

As part of our grant from the International Paper Foundation, we have added three new books to our Nonfiction collection in the Children's Department that deal with online safety.

In Smart Online Communication by Mary Lindeen, kids will learn about digital footprints, how what you post online is beyond your control once it is posted and how to avoid some common mistakes many people make with their online privacy.  It also discusses things like cyberbullying, phishing, spam and hacking.

Smartphone Safety by Eric Minton covers several important topics such as the importance of guarding your phone's password, when to make use of the GPS (and when to turn it off), using caution when posting pictures or videos and even what to do if you lose your phone.

Finally,  Tips for Good Social Networking by Ruth Bennett talks about what social networking is, why and how you might want to use it, how to build your network and how to maintain it.

Check out these and other books to safely get the most out of your online devices.