We are less than a week away from Thanksgiving Day so I thought I would count down 10 things I am thankful for about my library.

10. The Twitter feed that gives me interesting quotes, facts and heads up on library events.

9. The variety of programs that I can attend. (I personally like the musical programs, the new movie series and that the teens are developing some of their own programs.)

8. The DCPL Facebook page (I feel more connected to my community and love seeing some of the dialogue.)

7. The downloadable eAudiobooks some of which can be found in MP3 format. (Check out NetLibrary using GALILEO).  eAudiobooks are only available from outside the library buildings.

6. The number of electronic resources that are available to me for free as a member of the Library. (Check out the Reference Database page.)

5. The e-mail pre-notification that I get when my material is almost due.

4. The variety of movies that are available on DVD.

3. The hold request system. It is great to think of a book, go to the computer, place a request and have the item sent to my current branch. (It usually takes very little time if the item is in. My home library-not this county- takes usually several weeks even with the book on the shelf.)

2.  The wi-fi that is becoming available to more branches. (It works perfectly with my iPod touch and I can surf on my lunch hour.)

1. The variety of books available for my reading pleasure. If the library does not have it, I can suggest that they consider buying a copy for the system or I can use the Interlibrary Loan service to borrow the book from another library system.

What are you thankful about your library? Would you rank my top ten list differently?

I have always been intrigued by the way people lived back in the “olden” days since I read the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. In fact, when I go away for vacation, often it is to an area in the Southeast that offers a look into the “pioneer days”.

If you were around in the 1970’s, you might remember the Foxfire books. There have been twelve volumes that detail all kinds of things that people used to do to survive or live in the past, specifically in the Appalachian range. The books cover subjects from making lye soap to ghost stories, to making jams and jellies.  As a youngster, I remember reading these books. I was fascinated with how they used to do things. (I even talked my mom into making candles and lye soap one time.)  The library has quite a few of these volumes as well as other books about the Appalachian lifestyle.

If  you would like to see live demonstrations on how people in the Southern Appalachian lived, you do not have to drive far to visit a demonstration museum. The Foxfire organization has a demonstration museum located in Rabun County. For more information about the museum and heritage center visit their website.

On a side note, I recently discovered that they have made the Little House on the Prairie books into a musical. It is a traveling show but, unfortunately, the closest it is coming to Atlanta is to Nashville at the end of October.

As I was searching for something to post about on this first day of June, I discovered that I can be healthy or not depending on what I want to celebrate this month. June is Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month but it also National Candy Month.  So I’m asking you, do you want to be healthy or not?

If you want to be healthy here are some books that we have on fresh fruits a vegetables.

How to Pick a Peach: the search for flavor from farm to table

The Farmers’  Market Guide to Fruit

Outstanding in the Field: A Farm to Table Cookbook

The Produce Bible: essential ingredient information and more than 200 receipes for fruits, vegetables, herbs and nuts

If you do not want to be healthy, try these books about candy:

Chocolate: a healthy passion

The Ultimate Candy Book

Candy and Me: a love story

For now, I am choosing to be healthy maybe in the middle of the month, I will be bad!

The long-awaited sequel to The Da Vinci Code will be published on September 15, 2009 with an initial print run of five million copies, which is allegedly the largest initial print run in Random House history.  The book is titled The Lost Symbol (formerly titled The Solomon’s Key), and the plot of the story takes place within a twelve hour period of time.

Five million is a lot, but keep in mind that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows had an initial print run of twelve million  in 2007.

Last week as I was clicking through news articles online, I came across an interesting one on Reuters.  The article presents a study done by World Book Day, which found that “two out of three Britons have lied about reading books that they haven’t.”

According to the study, the most frequently mentioned titles people have said they have read  (but really have not) are 1984 by George Orwell, War and peace by Leo Tolstoy and Ulysses by James Joyce.

I will admit that I am one of those that have lied about reading certain books.  How else do you think I survived my high school literature classes?  As a sophomore in high school, I had no desire to read 1984 and Portrait of an artist as a young man.  Thankfully, I was smart enough to use Masterplots to pass the test.  If only I had J’Nai’s recommendation, I would have perhaps done better on my essays.  And, please do not judge me harshly or follow my lead;  I have reformed and can now honestly admit what I have and have not read!

Are you an honest reader?  Any books that you say you’ve read, but haven’t?

I love a good quote.  I heard one earlier today and thought I’d share.

“Every little pot has to stand on its own bottom.”

Of course I wanted to hear more neat quotes and I went bugging my co-workers for interesting quotes.  At some point my boss turns to me and said “You know there are books of quotes, go check one out.”  I knew this, really.  So, just to share, here are few of the quotes my co-workers and patrons of the library shared with me:

“You’re closer to the ground, you pick it up.” (as said to a child.)

“Slicker than snot on a doorknob.” (pertaining to icy weather)

“Close the refrigerator door, you’re letting out the penguins.”

“If frogs had wings they wouldn’t hit their butts when they jumped.”

“Close your mouth, you’re catching flies.”

“Don’t cross your eyes, flies will pitch in.” (Jamaican)

“If you point at the stars, you’ll get warts on your figures.” (Brazilian)

And here are some books we have in the library system:

Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations: A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources in Ancient and Modern Literature

(This is one of the most famous books of quotes and the one my boss ended up getting me.  But it is a reference book, so I could only read it at the library–when I went on break, of course.)

Complete Idiot’s Guide to Great Quotes for All Occasions compiled by Elaine Berstein Partnow

Oxford Dictionary of Phrase, Saying, and Quotation edited by Susan Ratcliffe

Lima Beans Would be Illegal: Children’s Ideas of a Perfect World compiled and illustrated by Robert Bender (a children’s book)

And we have many more similar books; you can quote me on that!

Halloween is Friday, and the spooky creatures will be creeping out!  Zombies have been spotted at the library lurking on several shelves.  If you want to try and catch sight of one, I have spotted them between the pages of:

·         The boy who couldn’t die by William Sleator

·         The death collector by Justin Richards

·         Generation dead by Daniel Waters

·         World war Z by Max Brooks

·         Zombie Blondes by Brian James

Fandango has created a list of their favorite zombie film stars; the library has a few films from their Countdown to the Dead list, so be on the lookout for: 

·         #7 – Shaun of the Dead (2004)

·         #6 – 28 Days Later (2002)

·         #5 – Dawn of the Dead (2004)

·         #1 – Night of the Living Dead (1968)

I will be watching out for these frightening creatures on Friday as I tiptoe around the library stacks.  What do you most fear finding at the library?  Ghosts?  Ghouls?  Goblins?  Happy Halloween!

With the financial crisis making headlines every day, children are naturally wondering what to make of it.  Slate had a great article a couple of weeks ago called Great Kids’ Books About Financial Ruin.  The author lists several childrens books dealing with money (or the lack of) and recessions.  All of the books (except one title, which is on order) are available in our system.  They won’t necessarily explain the current crisis, but they’ll provide a solid background for understanding what’s happening.

One of my favorite books ever was also a very controversial one.  It has been frequently challenged and banned, and yet it has also become one of the most studied books in high school classrooms across the country.  If you really want to hear about it, the first thing the bookseller told me when I took my used copy of The Catcher in the Rye up to the counter was “Hope you’re not thinking about becoming a mass murderer!” followed by an uncomfortable chuckle at his own joke.

Indeed, this book has earned quite a reputation.  In addition to having profanity and sexual content, it was also the book that Mark David Chapman was sporting when he was arrested after assassinating John Lennon.  John Hinckley, Jr., the attempted assassinator of Ronald Reagan, was also obsessed with the book.

But when I read this book, I don’t see any of that.  Just a warning, spoilers follow:

Read the rest of this entry »

The previous posts this week have talked about Banned Books Week and mentioned some of the books that are among the most frequently banned or challenged.  (For the difference between a banned book and a challenged book, see here.)  ALA has several good lists of challenged books, both for this year and going back to 1990.

Did you look at any of those lists?  If you did, what did you notice?  If you’re like me, you noticed that a lot of them are children’s books.  Authors like Judy Blume, Barbara Park, J.K. Rowling, and Shel Silverstein all have books on these lists.

Books on these lists can also be good discussion starters with your child.  If you or your child has read any of the challenged or banned books, talk about why someone might have wanted it removed from the library.  Discuss the character’s actions and what you hope your child would do in a similar situation.  (Please remember that not all of the books on the list are appropriate for all children or for all ages.  Preview the books first to decide if it’s something you want your child to read.)