What you don’t read

Reading is a gamble.

Anyone who has suffered through the plodding romance novel or the muddled mystery knows not all books are a good fit to their reader. What you don’t read in your limited leisure time is as important as what you do.

One website literally lets you ask the question, “What should I read next?” Put in a book you loved, and it gives you a list of rcommended titled. Here’s a list based on Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises and another based on Tatiana de Rosnay’s Sarah’s Key.

Slightly more complex are Your Next Read, which lets you add your own recommendations, and Whichbook, which gives you choices: “happy” versus “sad,” “easy” versus “demanding,” and “no sex” versus “lots of sex,” for example.  Some of theses services connect to social media sites, including Facebook or book-specific Goodreads. (Goodreads, which connects your profile to other readers, offers recommendations and lets you recommend books to people on your friends list.)

Immensely popular Amazon.com, like other web-based shopping services for books and ebooks, offers recommendations. Of course, services that use an algorithm based on a customer’s buying history require some maintenance; that romance novel you bought for your mother’s Christmas stocking or that cookbook you bought for your brother could throw everything off, unless you venture into your browsing history and delete them.

The world of new media offers other, slightly less expected sources of quality suggestions. Its fast pace suggests otherwise, but Twitter is a great place for quality suggestions. Explore hashtags, such as #fridayreads or #bookrec. Following the feeds of libraries, publishing houses, and authors can also yield interesting and diverse recommendations. Popular reviewers share their lists, too: The New York Times, The New Yorker, and NPR, for example.

Of course, the human element remains an enduring source of discovery. When in doubt, ask a librarian!

 

Come To The Art Show

The artists have submitted their work for the Friends of the Library Art Show, and it will be available for viewing starting Friday, May 17, throughout the library campus during library hours. Join us this Friday as the art show kicks off with an opening reception and awards presentation. The art show ends Tuesday, May 28, so hurry in to see it soon!

For a preview of this year’s show, check out this slide show of submissions for the Teen Art Show at the Teen Library.

Blurring the Lines: Ellen Hopkins

Does the name Ellen Hopkins sound familiar? How about book titles like Crank? Glass? Impulse? Burned?

Ellen Hopkins is best known for writing novels-in-verse.

Crank is one of Hopkins’ most well-known books. In this novel, Hopkins writes about a character based on her own daughter who becomes addicted to meth, causing her to go from a good girl on a bright path to a girl headed in the opposite direction.

Another of Hopkins’ “Teen” books that adults and teens will enjoy is Impulse.

A very different read from Crank, Impulse follows three teenagers and tells about: Vanessa, who cuts herself to relieve other pains; Tony, who takes pills and tries to forget his past; and Conner, who seems to have a perfect life until you scratch the surface. These three teenagers are residents at Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital. Vanessa, Tony, and Conner have each tried to commit suicide. This book is emotional and keeps you reading to find out what will happen next. Having read this book both as a teen and as an adult, I felt different things through multiple readings.

I’ve said a little about Hopkins’ works in the Library’s Teen collection. Ellen Hopkins also has a couple of books in the Adult collection.

Many people have friends and family who are serving in the military or may have even served in the military. In her novel Collateral Hopkins writes about the relationship between Ashley, a civilian college student, and Cole, a man in the military. Follow their relationship and see what these two characters go through.

Hopkins’ other adult novel is Triangles. Triangles is a companion to her teen novel Tilt.

In Triangles you follow the story of three adult women and the people around them. There’s Andrea, a single mother who watches as her friend Holly hits a life crisis and throws away everything Andrea has searched for — a committed relationship with a good man — and there’s also Marissa, who faces her own challenges with a rebellious son and terminally ill daughter and a husband who would rather work than spend time with his family. What will happen to these people? How will their lives connect? Interested in what the kids of these adults go through during all this?

Read Tilt to find out how the choices the parents make affect what happens to their kids and what decisions the kids must face as they get older. Does ill daughter Shelby understand what’s happening around her? Does Shane risk shortening his life for love? How long can Mikayla keep a secret from her parents before it’s obvious to everyone? what happens to friendships when it’s not just kids keeping secrets, but parents as well?

Triangles and Collateral are the only adult novels Hopkins has out now, but if you want to read her work, don’t limit yourself to just her adult or teen books. Click here to access the catalog for more novels written in verse!

Heather: I started reading novels-in-verse when I found Hopkins’ work. They’re quick reads and my personal copy of Impulse is very well-loved. Having known people who  have committed suicide and people who have attempted or thought about it, this book hits close to home for me. I recommend reading both Impulse and the book that follows it, Perfect.

A public space

Seattle Public Library. Photo: http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/escape/7-coolest-libraries-world-934450

Charlie Chat has explored the link between a library’s physical appeal and its role in patrons’ lives. CNN has a list of seven libraries that take architecture seriously. Which one is your favorite? Visiting a library in a new city, state, or country is a great way to get a feel for the culture when traveling. Where have you encountered libraries that left an impression? Top of the CNN list is the glittering glass Seattle Public Library.

The public library in Linton, Ind., that served as a model for Auburn’s Eckhart Public Library. Photo: www.lintonpl.lib.in.us

 

Eckhart Public Library was modeled after the public Carnegie library in Linton, Ind. It was designed by Patton & Miller, a Chicago firm that shaped many Midwestern cities and towns in the early 20th century.

Photo: www.epl.lib.in.us

Linton built a new library in 2007, while Eckhart Public Library was expanded and renovated in a way that preserved its historic facade and continues operating today.

The original Linton library has been renovated and is now the Carnegie Heritage and Arts Center of Greene County.

Blurring the Lines: Gayle Forman

Gayle Forman is the author of three books: If I Stay, Where She Went and Just One Day. Her books have a very poetic feel to them, even though they’re not written in verse. They wind and twist taking the reader along for the journey.  I really appreciate an author who knows when to stop writing. Forman is such an author. She doesn’t continue writing about the same characters long after the reader’s interest in them has waned.

   

If I Stay begins with the story of a family; mom, dad, Teddy,  Mia and her boyfriend Adam. Each chapter of the book has a time stamp, which brings with it a sense of foreboding, like something momentous is about to happen, but we don’t know what. Something  does happen and Mia is caught between life and death.  She has to make a choice, knowing her life will be forever changed. There is an unexpected twist at the end that will stay with you for a while. The follow-up, Where She Went, is every bit as gripping as the first book. It’s set a few years later and tells the story of Adam.

Since I work at a library I very rarely go out and purchase a book when its first published. But when “Just One Day” came out I promptly went to a book store and picked up my own copy. It’s about a girl named Allyson who has lived a safe, tame life. She goes on a school trip to England where she makes an impulsive decision that changes her life. The sequel Just One Year comes out October 15, 2013.

I highly recommend that you read some books by Gayle Forman. Her stories stay with you long after they’ve been read.

Gatsby

Baz Luhrmann’s much anticipated The Great Gatsby hits theaters on May 10th. This film, featuring Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby, is done in Luhrmann’s trademark style and shimmers with the fashion of the jazz age and modern zest.  His previous films include Moulin Rouge and Romeo + Juliet. Take a look at some of the film’s gorgeous sets featured in Architectural Digest.   Get a taste of Gatsby now by previewing the soundtrack, or jump into the Roaring 20s with some other titles that are just swell.

The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York

The Diviners

This Side of Paradise

Straight from the Fridge, Dad: A Dictionary of Hipster Slang

Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition

1920′s Fashions from B. Altman & Company

 

May Movies!

The month has begun and new movies are here! Come check out some of these awesome DVDs or put one on hold.

Cabin in the Woods

Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away

Django Unchained

Downton Abbey Season 2

Flight

Kangaroo Jack

Lake House

Parental Guidance

Secret World of Arrietty

Based on The Borrowers by Mary Norton

There is another DVD (live action) of The Borrowers also based on the book by Mary Norton.

Strawberry Shortcake: Sweet Dreams Movie

This movie is neither a 3 Day rental nor on the new movie spindle. If you have any trouble finding it please ask a staff member for assistance.

Heather: I have seen Cabin in the Woods, Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away, and Secret World of Arrietty. I loved all three. One is a horror movie, one is acrobatic performance with music, and one is a movie that families would love. Don’t limit yourself to just one genre. There are treasures you will miss if you do.