Read it or Weep

Play Ball! April 1, 2011

Just a reminder that Major League Baseball officially kicked off its season yesterday. And for all of you Cleveland Indians’ fans out there, I’ll see you at the home opener today!

Don’t know a ‘ribbie’ from a ‘tater?’  Brush up on your baseball lingo at http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/baseball_basics/lingo.jsp

Oh, and don’t forget to follow the Indians at: http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=cle

Want books? We’ve got “Baseball for Dummies” by Joe Morgan and many, many more books about baseball and other sports, right here at the library.

They’re waiting here for you to enjoy before or after the game.  

Go Tribe!         ~Carol

Oh and What an Adventure It Was! November 2, 2010

Adventure books are not my natural go-to entertainment reading, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t found some really enjoyable books in this category. Sometimes you just want to get caught up in the chase between the good guys and the bad guys, right? And where better to find fast-paced action, heroes bigger than life, or an exotic locale as the backdrop than in an adventure book? This is what everyone had to say about the books they found this time around:

Janet: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins was the third and final book in The Hunger Games trilogy. Panem (formerly America) is on the verge of war. The rebels are hoping that Katniss Everdeen will become their Mockingjay to represent the revolution of the people. It is the rebels versus the dictatorship of President Snow. The author portrays war very realistically as each character hopes for the survival of their family and friends. The amount of loss of human life touches everyone. Suzanne Collins writes a plot full of action with interesting twists and turns. Character development is a little flat but there are no loose ends. All in all Mockingjay is a worthy conclusion to an intriguing trilogy.

Carol: My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time by Liz Jensen takes readers from nineteenth century Copenhagen to twentieth century London at lightning speed. This bawdy romp is part time-traveling adventure tale and part love story. Charlotte, the novel’s heroine who is living in Copenhagen and working as a prostitute, sees an opportunity for room and board when she and her sidekick, Fru Schleswig become a maids to Fru Krak, the wife of a missing professor whose inventions, including a time machine, lie in their house’s basement workshop. Along with the “decrepit old crone” Fru Schleswig, who Charlotte insists is “not her mother”, Charlotte investigates the workshop and soon, the two find themselves whisked away to modern-day London, where they encounter a strange new world. There, Charlotte meets intrepid archeologist Fergus McCrombie, a twenty-first century man whom she falls in love with. But should Charlotte stay in a world that is not hers, simply for love? Or will the fates conspire against her? This novel has plenty of action, time traveling and a host of characters that readers will cheer for—in other words, the perfect escape read.

Emma: Night Probe by Clive Cussler finds American agent Dirk Pitt and British agent Brian Shaw searching for copies of a long forgotten 1914 treaty between the United States and England. One copy is in the hands of the Canadian Prime Minister, and the other copies are at the bottom of the Hudson and St. Lawrence rivers lost in tragic accidents coincidentally on the same night in 1914. In the treaty England sold Canada to the United States for a billion dollars. In 1989 the United States and England both have vested interests in finding the documents. Offering plenty of action, I recommend reading this book.

Evelyn: The Wrecker by Clive Cussler and Justin Scott. Hired by the Southern Pacific Railroad, detective Isaac Bell of the famed Van Dorn agency travels the country trying to apprehend a saboteur nicknamed “The Wrecker” who is trying to stop the railroad from completing a shortcut through the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. This entertaining and lightning-paced historical adventure set in 1907 is the second in a series, but can stand alone.

Rosemary: Double Eagle by James Twining. FBI Agent Agnes Browne hopes to redeem her tarnished reputation within the FBI by finding the five rare Double Eagle gold coins stolen from Fort Knox. Her international search leads her to Tom Kirk, an ex-CIA agent and jewel thief with many secrets of his own. They form an uneasy and dangerous alliance while uncovering the multiple layers of deceit involved with the case. A very promising debut novel.

Megan: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan is the first book in a new series featuring the demigods of Camp Half-Blood. The last Percy Jackson adventure had the heroes of Camp Half-Blood defeating the Titans and saving Olympus but the celebrating is short-lived. Just months after their victory a hero is missing and a new threat is rising. Three new and mysterious demigods arrive at camp, each keeping a secret. Jason has no memories before arriving at camp, Piper has a painful choice to make, and Leo is running from his past. These three misfits set off on an adventure filled quest that is the first step in fulfilling a brand new prophecy. With their metal dragon, Festus, they encounter angry gods, undead villains, and some really nasty weather. The cliffhanger ending promises more adventures to come. Percy Jackson and mythology fans of all ages will love this new adventure series.

Chris: The Road by Cormac McCarthy. A father and son, two survivors of a nuclear war (we think, the author never says), take to the road in search of food, shelter and safety. They head south to escape the cold and grey snow in hopes of finding life and nature as they knew it, but instead are confronted with land on which nothing grows and people who have become cannibals in order to survive. They have a cart to hold anything of value they find along the way; and a gun with two bullets. Should something happen to the father, the young son has been instructed to put the gun to the roof of his mouth and pull the trigger. They trudge on.

Stacey: Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz is a novel written for teens but would appeal to anyone who likes a classic James Bond sort of adventure. Fourteen-year-old Alex Rider’s parents are gone and left his uncle as his guardian, but his uncle is always away on business. It turns out that his uncle was working in the business of spying and he’s just disappeared. When Alex is approached to work for his government and maybe find some clues about what happened to his uncle, how can he say no?

Next time? We’ll be reading books with a Holiday theme! You could choose to read about any holiday really, but I’m guessing we’ll mostly have wintery stories to share. How about you?

— Stacey

Latest Additions October 18, 2010

Have you ever heard someone say how you won’t miss something until it’s gone? And maybe it sounds true, but you don’t think about it too hard because you have everything you need? Then something happens, like you get a toothache and it forces you to realize how much you took being able to eat your meals -or snacks- for granted? Well. Every once in a while -to0 frequently for my liking but not frequent enough that I don’t become forgetful again- I realize how much I take a good night’s sleep for granted. And then I remember how much I don’t enjoy not sleeping. I also remember that it seems to take waaayyy too long to get back my zzzz’s. Sigh. So. I hope this explains why I might seem a little more scattered at times? Anyway. On to bigger and better things! Like The Latest Additions!

Dark Road to Darjeeling by Deanna Raybourn
Savages by Don Winslow
Ape House by Sara Gruen
To Fetch a Thief by Spencer Quinn
Under the Dome by Stephen King

And you? What is it that you haven’t missed until it’s been gone? (I hope it’s never been a book!)

— Stacey