Carol Burnett Looks Back

A recent addition to our New Adult Nonfiction, In Such Good Company, is a memoir by legendary comedienne, Carol Burnett.

To research for her book, she rewatched all 276 episodes of 'The Carol Burnett Show'.  The book covers the show from first concepts (the network was initial opposed to a female led variety show, considering that to be a male-only field and wanted her to star in a situation comedy instead) to pulling together her supporting cast, writers, stage crew and other behind-the-scenes people, such as costume designer Bob Mackie, whose curtain-gown that he created for Carol to wear as Starlett O'Hara is now part of the Smithsonian collection.

Other sections cover recurring characters/sketches such as 'As the Stomach Turns', 'Mrs. Wiggins', the Charwoman, and 'The Old Folks'.  She also covers the many movie parodies, her favorite guest stars and also pays tribute to the unscripted, embarrassing moments that happen when working in front of a live audience.

For anyone that remembers watching the show, this book is a wonderful look back at some of the best comedy moments made for television.

Come Check Out Our Huge Selection of Large Print Titles!

Our library has a huge selection of Large Print titles for your reading pleasure - over fifteen thousand titles to choose from.  Biographies, romances, westerns, comedies, mysteries, action, thriller - both older favorites and brand new titles to enjoy.


We've already added thirty-seven new titles this month :

As Sure as the Dawn by Francine Rivers

By Your Side by Candace Calvert

The Cavendon Women by Barbara Taylor Bradford

Daughter of the Regiment by Stephanie Grace Whitson

The Dead Play On by Heather Graham

Don't Go Home by Carolyn Hart

Eeny Meeny by M. J. Arlidge

Emma's Secret by Barbara Taylor Bradford

Endangered by C. J. Box

Every Fifteen Minutes by Lisa Scottoline

A Faith of Her Own by Kathleen Fuller

The Fall by John Lescroart

The Favorite Son by Tiffany Warren

Finding Jake by Bryan Reardon

Finding Me by Kathryn Cushman

The First Wife by Erica Spindler

The Fixer by Joseph Finder

The Forever Bridge by T. Greenwood

Home of Our Hearts by Robin Jones Gunn

The Icing on the Corpse by Liz Mugavero

The Invention of Fire by Bruce Holsinger

Kickback by Ace Atkins

Mademoiselle Chanel by C. W. Gortner

One True Heart by Jodi Thomas

Playing with Fire by Deborah Mello

Pride V. Prejudice by Joan Hess

Puzzled Indemnity by Parnell Hall

The Rebellion of Miss Lucy Ann Lobdell by William Klaber

Reservations for Two by Hillary Lodge

Secrets of a Charmed Life by Susan Meissner

A Sparrow in Terezin by Kristy Cambron

A Stitch in Crime by Cathy Elliott

A Stranger's Secret by Laurie Alice Eakes

The Ultimate Betrayal by Kimberla Lawson Roby

Vines of Entanglement by Lisa Carter

The Wedding Circle by Ashton Lee

Wilderness Rising by A. L. Shields

These and the rest of our newest Large Print titles can be found on the white shelves near the elevator on the top floor.  Happy reading!

New Additions to our Adult Non-Fiction

We've had several interesting books added to our New Adult Non-Fiction section.  Here is a selection of four of the ones available.



In The Book of Joan, Joan Rivers' daughter and co-star of 'Fashion Police' Melissa Rivers shares some of her memories and many stories about her mother,

Beginning and ending with speaking about her late mother's passing in September of last year, the book is a tribute, a memorial and an inside look at the private side of the public mother-daughter relationship that they shared.

A companion volume to the Fox News historical docudrama series, Bill O'Reilly's Legends & Lies looks behind the tall tales and fables that have been told over the years about many of the colorful characters from the westward expansion of America.

The truth behind many of the figures was sometimes brutal, but in many cases, the true stories are more interesting than the legends that have been retold over the years.





Oscar nominated actress/singer/comedian Madeline Kahn, who passed away in 1999, is remember and saluted in Madeline Kahn : Being the Music, A Life by William Madison.

Through interviews with her friends, family and colleagues, Madison covers both the highs and lows of her career and focuses on her love of music and the importance that it played in her life.

Filmmaker Judd Apatow (The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, etc) is a self-confessed comedy nerd and has been since his youth when he took a dish-washing job in a comedy club so that he could watch the comedians for free.

In his new book, Sick in the Head, he shares some of the interviews he's done with some of the greatest comics of our times.  Starting back in 1983, he's spoken with comic legends like Mel Brooks and Steve Allen as well as newer comic stars such as Amy Schumer.  It's an entertaining as well as insightful look into some of the funniest brains in the business.


All of these books can be found in our New Adult Non-Fiction section along with many others.  Look over our selection - we have something for nearly everyone's reading preference.

I Saw Zombies Eating Santa Claus

Have you performed the not-so-fun task of de-decorating the house?  Have you thrown away all the leftover Christmas food because you just can't face looking at it anymore?  If so, then I have found the perfect book for you!  It combines two of my favorite subjects---zombies and Christmas! S. G. Browne's I Saw Zombies Eating Santa Claus is the second "romantic, zombie, comedy" that the author has written.  This book does not have much romance, but it is another zany adventure in the (reanimated) life of Andy Warner, zombie extraordinaire.  The book opens with Andy and his fellow zombies escaping from a research facility in Portland, OR, where he has been subjected to experimental testing for the past year.  The zombies are treated like lab rats, and are forced to endure some pretty horrific things.  Andy escapes into a neighborhood and decides that "borrowing" the Santa Claus costume from a mannequin in someone's front yard is the perfect disguise to throw his captors off his track.  Andy's plan works until he stumbles upon a sweet, lonely, 9 year old girl who reminds him of his own daughter that he's lost, and who believes he is the real Santa.  When a group of rogue zombies recognizes Andy and adopts him as their mentor, Andy hatches a plan with his "zombie crew" to free the rest of his buddies from the research facility.  This is a zany holiday tale that will show you the true meaning of Christmas...zombie style!  If you want to follow Andy Warner's undead life from the beginning, read Breathers first. S. G. Browne lives in San Francisco and can be followed on Facebook and Twitter or visited at www.sgbrowne.com.

A Beginner's Guide to Endings...

I stumbled across a very entertaining movie that I had to watch!  It is a quirky comedy with some very memorable characters and is hilarious.  A Beginner's Guide to Endings stars Harvey Keitel as Duke White, a man who has not been a good example of a father to his five sons (from three different moms).  After Duke learns that a foolish action of his youth has endangered the lives of his three eldest sons, he sets about trying to kill himself.  Thinking that they only have a few weeks to live, the three eldest boys create their own "bucket lists" and set out to accomplish all of the risky things they have wanted to do, before they die.  The result is a zany, madcap adventure full of twists, turns and unlikely circumstances.  All five boys characters' are wonderfully acted and Harvey Keitel is the perfect grizzled, remorseful dad.  This movie is rated R (for language and some sexual references) and won the Jury Award for Best Feature Film, Cinematographer and Screenplay at the Newport Beach Film Festival in 2011.  Funny and sensitive, this movie will make you think twice about living every one of your days to its fullest capacity.

Sacre' Bleu

The one word I can say about Christopher Moore's new novel, Sacre' Bleu is...phenomenal!  If you are a fan of Moore's work (Bite Me, Fool, Practical Demonkeeping) you are very familiar with his brand of biting, sarcastic, off-beat humor and just plain weird books.  I am always greatly amused by his stories and Sacre' Bleu does not disappoint.  Christopher Moore's latest intrigued me because it is set in France during the time that the Impressionist movement was in full swing and stars some of my favorite art characters.  I love Degas, Manet, Cezanne and other Impressionists so this book thrilled me because it stars many artists I'd have loved to have met.  Moore's book brings these artitsts to life, and you can picture them on the streets of Paris, drinking and carousing and trying to make a living by painting.  The premise of Sacre' Bleu is that there is a twisted, bent Colorman who wanders around Paris with his partner, a beautiful lady, trying to sell paint colors (and especially the very expensive ultramarine blue) to painters.  The Colorman has a special relationship with the sacre' bleu color and needs artists to buy the color and paint pictures with it in order for him to keep living.  The Colorman and his partner inspire artists to paint brilliant canvases by preying on their emotions, stopping time and inhabiting other people's bodies.  I don't want to give away too much of the story, but I promise you it is a tangled web of events right up until the very last pages. This book is beautiful, haunting and perfect for the art fan---especially if you enjoy imagining the lives of the great Impressionist painters!  Read this book, and then check out other Christopher Moore books---you won't be disappointed!  Interact with Christopher Moore by e-mail at theauthorguy@gmail.com, on Twitter@theauthorguy or on Facebook.com/theauthorguy. 

Humor in the Movies

I've spent some time recently watching movies, and watched two really funny ones that I wanted to share with you. The first one is 17 Again, starring Zac Efron (the really cute guy that stars in the "High School Musical" series) and Matthew Perry (from the "Friends" television show). The basis of the story is that Mike O'Donnell (Matthew Perry) is getting a divorce, because he's bitter and angry and has blamed his wife for his really unlucky life that he's had for the past eighteen years. The reason why O'Donnell has had such a bad life is that on the day that he, a huge basketball star, had a scout visit him during the game of his life, his girlfriend revealed a huge secret and he "gave up" his chance to be a college athlete in order to help her out. O'Donnell is musing on his past when he receives a chance to be "17 again" and he goes back to High School to try and change the outcome of his life. Zac Efron plays the 17-year-old Mike O'Donnell and Matthew Perry plays the 35-year-old Mike O'Donnell--both men are great actors and there are many humorous scenes. If you've ever wanted to go back to high school and re-live your stellar moments, this is the perfect movie for you! The movie is rated PG-13, and it would be a good movie to share with your kids.

Another humorous movie I've watched lately is Applause for Miss E, a stage play filmed live and produced on DVD. The play stars Vanessa Bell Calloway, Jazsmin Lewis, Gina Torres and Roger Guenveur Smith, in a funny but poignant family drama. Miss E (played by Calloway) walked away from a promising career as a comedienne to save her marriage and raise her daughter. Years later, Miss E has another chance to fulfill her dreams but she has to first rely on her sleazy ex-manager (Roger Smith) who's sudden appearance leads to the hysterical revelation of some long-held family secrets. Miss E's interactions with her friends are funny and the filming is superb. The play was filmed with a live audience in attendance, so the watcher is treated to a fine "laugh track" while watching the DVD. There is some strong language in the film, and it is not rated, so mature audiences might enjoy this film more than kids would.