Copper Queen Library: What's New?

Fiction Friday: Tucson Author Kingsolver's New Novel

2009-11-12T16:00:00.009-07:00

--by Hanje Richards

I have been a Barbara Kingsolver fan for a long time. Long before I moved to the Southwest, I was reading and enjoying her fiction, including Bean Trees, Pigs in Heaven, and Animal Dreams. The Copper Queen Library just received Kingsolver’s new novel, The Lacuna. I am looking forward to reading it, and it reminded me of all of the great fiction she has written before!

From the publisher comes this description of The Lacuna:

“Barbara Kingsolver takes us on an epic journey from the Mexico City of artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo to the America of Pearl Harbor, FDR, and J. Edgar Hoover.

The Lacuna is the story of a man pulled between two nations as they invent their modern identities. Born in the United States, reared in a series of provisional households in Mexico – from a coastal island jungle to 1930s Mexico City – Harrison Shepherd finds precarious shelter but no sense of home on his odyssey. Life is whatever he learns from housekeepers who put him to work in the kitchen, errands he runs in the streets, and one fateful day, by mixing plaster for famed Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. He discovers a passion for Aztec history and meets the exotic, imperious artist Frida Kahlo, who will become his lifelong friend.

Meanwhile, to the north, the United States will soon be caught up in the internationalist goodwill of World War II. There in the land of his birth, Shepherd believes he might remake himself in America's hopeful image and claim a voice of his own. Through darkening years, political winds continue to toss him between north and south in a plot that turns many times on the unspeakable breach – the lacuna – between truth and public presumption.

With deeply compelling characters, a vivid sense of place, and a clear grasp of how history and public opinion can shape a life, Barbara Kingsolver has created an unforgettable portrait of the artist – and of art itself. The Lacuna is a rich and daring work of literature, establishing its author as one of the most provocative and important of her time.”

Bean Trees: Taylor Greer grew up poor in rural Kentucky with the goals of avoiding pregnancy and getting away. But when she heads west with high hopes and a barely functional car, she meets the human condition head-on. By the time Taylor arrives in Tucson, she has acquired a completely unexpected child – a three-year-old American Indian girl named Turtle – and must somehow come to terms with both motherhood and the necessity for putting down roots.

Animal Dreams: Dreamless and at the end of her rope, Codi comes back to Grace, Arizona to confront her past and face her ailing, distant father. What she finds is a town threatened by a silent environmental catastrophe, some startling clues to her own identity, and a man whose view of the world could change the course of her life.

Pigs in Heaven: The main characters in Bean Trees - Taylor Greer and her adopted daughter, Turtle - flee their home when a Cherokee attorney questions the legality of Turtle's adoption.

..Homeland and Other Stories: In this collection of 12 stories, Kingsolver spreads her memorable characters over landscapes ranging from northern California to the hills of eastern Kentucky and the Caribbean island of St. Lucia and tells stories of hope, momentary joy, and powerful endurance. In every setting, Kingsolver's distinctive voice – at times comic, but often heartrending – rings true as she explores the twin themes of family ties and the life choices one must ultimately make alone.

Poisonwood Bible: Intense family drama set in an Africa on the verge of independence and upheaval. In 1959, evangelical preacher Nathan Price moves his wife and four daughters from Georgia to a village in the Belgian Congo, later Zaire. Their dysfunction and cultural arrogance proves disastrous as the family is nearly destroyed by war, Nathan's tyranny, and Africa itself. Told in the voices of the mother and daughters, the novel spans 30 years as the women seek to understand each other and the continent that tore them apart.

Prodigal Summer: This novel weaves together three stories of human love within a larger tapestry of lives amid the mountains and farms of southern Appalachia. Over the course of one humid summer, Summer's intriguing protagonists face disparate predicaments but find connections to one another and to the flora and fauna with which they necessarily share a place.

Since Kingsolver is also well-known for her non-fiction work, you can also find Small Wonder: Essays; Animal Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life; and High Tide in Tucson: Essays from Now or Never in the Copper Queen Library's collection.

As always, if the book you are looking for is checked out, the staff will be happy to put a hold on it so when it does become available, you will be notified. Enjoy!

Spotlight on Biographies: Writers

2009-11-10T20:48:00.008-07:00

--by Hanje Richards & Peg White

If anything fascinates readers more than reading the latest novel by a favorite writer, it is reading about that writer’s life. Whether shedding light on the meaning of a novel or illuminating the darker corners of a writer’s creative process, literary biography is one of any library’s most popular genres.

This week, to highlight some of the Copper Queen’s holdings in literary biography, our Circulation Desk Display Area is populated with biographies, autobiographies and memoirs of writers. And, there are lots more of them up in the Biography Section, which is the area closest to the public computers on the third floor. Some highlights of our collection:

Isabelle Allende
..My Invented Country: A Nostalgic Journey Through Chile: Isabel Allende evokes the magnificent landscapes of her country; a charming, idiosyncratic Chilean people with a violent history and an indomitable spirit, and the politics, religion, myth, and magic of her homeland that she carries with her even today.

..Paula: When Isabel Allende's daughter, Paula, became gravely ill and fell into a coma, the author began to write the story of her family for her unconscious child. In the telling, bizarre ancestors appear before our eyes; we hear both delightful and bitter childhood memories, amazing anecdotes of youthful years, the most intimate secrets passed along in whispers.

Maya Angelou
..The Heart Of A Woman: Maya Angelou leaves California with her son, Guy, to move to New York. There she enters the society and world of black artists and writers, reads her work at the Harlem Writers Guild, and begins to take part in the struggle of black Americans for their rightful place in the world.

..I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings: In the first volume of an extraordinary autobiographical series, one of the most inspiring authors of our time recalls--with candor, humor, poignancy and grace--how her journey began....

..Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas: Maya struggles to support herself and her son through a series of odd jobs and weathers a failed marriage to a white man before landing a gig singing in one of the most popular nightclubs on the San Francisco coast. From there, she is called to New York to join the cast of Porgy and Bess. Maya soon finds herself on a joyous and dramatic adventure, touring abroad through Italy, France, Greece, Yugoslavia, and Egypt with spirited cast members, and performing for large, enthusiastic audiences.

..A Song Flung Up To Heaven: Following the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King and the riots in Watts, Maya Angelou completely withdraws from the world. Finally, James Baldwin forces her out of isolation and insists that she accompany him to a dinner party—where the idea for writing I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is born. In fact, A Song Flung Up to Heaven ends as Maya Angelou begins to write the first sentences of Caged Bird.

Margaret Atwood

..Margaret Atwood: A Biography (by Nathalie Cooke): This is the first biography of the celebrated author, poet, critic, and social activist. The Atwood who emerges in these pages is an intense and driven woman, struggling daily to balance the demands of her own artistic perfectionism with her commitment to enjoying a rich and varied private life.

Samuel Beckett
..Damned To Fame: The Life Of Samuel Beckett (by James Knowlson): Portrait of Nobel Prize-winning author Samuel Beckett, mysterious and reclusive master of twentieth-century literature. Professor James Knowlson, Beckett's chosen biographer and a leading authority on Beckett, vividly re-creates Beckett's life from his birth in a rural suburb of Dublin in 1906 to his death in Paris in 1989, revealing the real man behind the literary giant.

Augusten Burroughs
..Running With Scissors: A Memoir: The true story of a boy whose mother (a poet with delusions of Anne Sexton) gave him away to be raised by her unorthodox psychiatrist who bore a striking resemblance to Santa Claus. So at the age of twelve, Burroughs found himself amidst Victorian squalor living with the doctor’s bizarre family, and befriending a pedophile who resided in the backyard shed.

..A Wolf At The Table: A Memoir Of My Father: When Augusten Burroughs was small, his father was a shadowy presence in his life: a form on the stairs, a cough from the basement, a silent figure smoking a cigarette in the dark. As Augusten grew older, something sinister within his father began to unfurl. Something dark and secretive that could not be named. It’s a memoir of stunning psychological cruelty and the redemptive power of hope.

Lewis Carroll
..Lewis Carroll: A Biography (by Morton N. Cohen): Under the pen name Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson became a legend for his children's books, which broke the constraints of Victorian moralism. Thirty years in the writing and drawn from a voluminous fund of letters and diaries, this exemplary biography conveys both the imaginative fancy and human complexity of the creator of Alice in Wonderland. Photos.

Allen Ginsberg
..Ginsberg: A Biography (by Barry Miles): Authoritative and immensely readable account of the life of one of the twentieth-century's most extraordinary poets. Drawing on his long friendship and literary association with Ginsberg, as well as on the poet's journals and correspondence, Barry Miles presents a compelling account of a controversial life. Miles also offers a sensitive and illuminating critical appreciation of Ginsberg's poetry, ultimately painting an exhaustive and intimate portrait of this colorful man, whose experiences reflect the developments and changes in larger society.

John Irving
..The Imaginary Girlfriend: A Memoir: A miniature autobiography detailing Irving’s parallel careers of writing and wrestling. Tales of encounters with writers (John Cheever, Nelson Algren, Kurt Vonnegut) are intertwined with those about his wrestling teammates and coaches. With humor and compassion, Irving details the few truly important lessons he learned about writing.
John Keats

..Posthumous Keats: A Personal Biography (by Stanley Plumly): An ode to an unsuspecting young poet — a man who, against the odds of his culture and critics, managed to achieve the unthinkable: the elevation of the lyric poem to sublime and tragic status.

Bobbie Ann Mason
..Clear Springs: A Memoir: This dazzling memoir is the saga of three generations. Spanning decades, Clear Springs gracefully weaves together the stories of Mason's grandparents, parents, and her own generation. The narrative moves from the sober industriousness of a Kentucky farm to the lifestyle of the countercultural 1960s; from a New York fan magazine to the shock-therapy ward of a mental institution; from a county poorhouse to the set of a Hollywood movie; from a small rustic schoolhouse to glittering pop music concerts. In the process of recounting her own odyssey Mason depicts the changes that have come to family, to women, and to heartland America in the twentieth century. Clear Springs is a heartfelt portrait of an extended family, and a profound affirmation of the importance of family love.

Joyce Maynard

..At Home In The World: A Memoir: Breaking a twenty-five year silence, Joyce Maynard addresses her relationship with J.D. Salinger for the first time, as well as the complicated , troubled and yet creative nature of her youth and family. She vividly describes the details of the times and her life with the finesse of a natural storyteller.

Mary McCarthy
..Writing Dangerously: Mary McCarthy and Her World: Winner of the 1993 National Book Critics Circle Award in biography, this sparklingly written, exhaustively researched, and richly detailed biography of America's feisty, free-thinking "first lady of letters" is an engrossing portrait of the American Left from the 1930s through the 1980s.

Joyce Carol Oates
..The Journal Of Joyce Carol Oates: 1973-1982: Offers a rare glimpse into the private thoughts of this extraordinary writer, focusing on excerpts written during one of the most productive decades of Oates' long career. Far more than just a daily account of a writer's writing life, these intimate, unrevised pages candidly explore her friendships with other writers, including John Updike, Donald Barthelme, Susan Sontag, Gail Godwin, and Philip Roth. It presents a fascinating portrait of the artist as a young woman, fully engaged with her world and her culture, on her way to becoming one of the most respected, honored, discussed, and controversial figures in American letters.

J.D. Salinger
..Dreamcatcher: A Memoir (by Margaret A. Salinger): Margaret Salinger writes about life with her famously reclusive father, J.D. Salinger -- offering a rare look into the man and the myth, what it is like to be his daughter, and the effect of such a charismatic figure on the girls and women closest to him.

With generosity and insight, Ms. Salinger has written a book that is eloquent, spellbinding, and wise, yet at the same time retains the intimacy of a novel. Her story chronicles an almost cult-like environment of extreme isolation and early neglect interwoven with times of laughter, joy, and dazzling beauty.

Ms. Salinger compassionately explores the complex dynamics of family relationships. Her story is one that seeks to come to terms with the dark parts of her life that, quite literally, nearly killed her, and to pass on a life-affirming heritage to her own child.

..In Search of J.D. Salinger (by Ian Hamilton): In trying to research the details of J.D. Salinger's life for this book, Ian Hamilton forced the writer out of his reclusive hideaway to challenge his discoveries in an American court of law. This text is the story of that quest, a literary detective story which ends in court with a bitter and protracted lawsuit in which Salinger sought to restrict the use Hamilton could make of his letters.

William Shakespeare
..Will In The World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare (by Stephen Greenblatt): A biography that enables us to see, hear, and feel how an acutely sensitive and talented boy, surrounded by the rich tapestry of Elizabethan life; full of drama and pageantry, and also cruelty and danger, could have become the world's greatest playwright. Bringing together little-known historical facts and little-noticed elements of Shakespeare's plays, Greenblatt makes inspired connections between the life and the works and delivers "a dazzling and subtle biography."

Amy Tan
..The Opposite Of Fate: A Book Of Musings: Amy Tan shares her insight into her own life and how she escaped the curses of her past to make a future of her own. She takes us on a journey from her childhood of tragedy and comedy to the present day and her arrival as one of the world’s best-loved novelists. Whether recalling arguments with her mother in suburban California or introducing us to the ghosts that inhabit her computer, The Opposite of Fate offers vivid portraits of choices, attitudes, charms, and luck in action.

Comic and tragic, serious and scandalous, present and past... this is just a sample of the literary biographies at the Copper Queen Library. If any of these titles pique your interest, come browse our Biography Section and check out the Circulation Desk display for wonderful words about writers of all genres and eras.

Fiction Friday: Jess Walter...

2009-11-06T13:39:00.005-07:00

... An Author I Just Rediscovered In The Fiction Section

--by Hanje Richards

I was first exposed to Jess Walter several years ago when I read his non-fiction book on the incident at Ruby Ridge. Every Knee Shall Bow: The Truth and Tragedy of Ruby Ridge and the Randy Weaver Family (979.6 WALTER). This was a serious, well written, journalistic book about an American tragedy.

So, I was very surprised to open a box of books by this author which were all in the fiction and mystery genres. Jess Walter, who lives with his family in Spokane, Washington has used his true crime background to write some pretty entertaining and interesting fiction.

The Financial Lives of Poets (FIC WALTER FINANCIAL), Walter’s most recent novel, offers a story as real as our own lives: a tale of overstretched accounts, misbegotten schemes, and domestic dreams deferred.

A few years ago, small-time finance journalist Matthew Prior quit his day job to gamble everything on a quixotic notion: a Web site devoted to financial journalism in the form of blank verse. When his big idea — and his wife's eBay resale business — ends with a whimper (and a garage full of unwanted figurines), they borrow and borrow, whistling past the graveyard of their uncertain dreams. One morning, Matt wakes up to find himself jobless, hobbled with debt, spying on his wife's online flirtation, and six days away from losing his home.

Following Matt in his weeklong quest to save his marriage, his sanity, and his dreams, The Financial Lives of the Poets is a hysterical, heartfelt novel about how we can reach the edge of ruin — and how we can begin to make our way back.

Citizen Vince (MYS FIC WALTER CITIZEN): At 1:59 a.m. in Spokane, Washington — eight days before the 1980 presidential election — Vince Camden pockets his stash of stolen credit cards and drops by an all-night poker game before heading to his witness-protection job dusting crullers at "Donut Make You Hungry." Along with a neurotic hooker girlfriend, this is the total sum of Vince's new life. But when a familiar face shows up in town, Vince realizes his sordid past is still too close behind him. During the next unforgettable week, he'll negotiate a coast-to-coast maze of obsessive cops, eager politicians, and assorted mobsters — only to find that redemption might exist, of all places, in the voting booth.

Land of the Blind (MYS FIC WALTER LAND): While working the weekend night shift, Caroline Mabry, a weary Spokane police detective, encounters a seemingly unstable but charming derelict who tells her, "I'd like to confess." But he insists on writing out his statement in longhand. In the forty-eight hours that follow, the stranger confesses to not just a crime but an entire life — spinning a wry and haunting tale of youth and adulthood, of obsession and revenge, and of two men's intertwined lives.

Over Tumbled Graves (MYS FIC WALTER OVER): During a routine drug bust, on a narrow bridge over white-water falls in the center of town, Spokane detective Caroline Mabry finds herself face-to-face with a brutal murderer. Within hours, the body of a young prostitute is found on the riverbank nearby. What follows confronts our fascination with pathology and murder and stares it down, as Caroline and her cynical partner, Alan Dupree — thrown headlong into the search for a serial murderer who communicates by killing women — uncover some hard truths about their profession . . . and each other.

The Zero (FIC WALTER ZERO): From its opening pages — when hero cop Brian Remy wakes up to find he's shot himself in the head — novelist Jess Walter takes us on a harrowing tour of a city and a country shuddering through the aftershocks of a devastating terrorist attack.

As the smoke slowly clears, Remy finds that his memory is skipping, lurching between moments of lucidity and days when he doesn't seem to be living his own life at all. The landscape around him is at once fractured and oddly familiar: a world dominated by a Machiavellian mayor known as "The Boss" and peopled by gawking celebrities, anguished policemen peddling "First Responder" cereal, and pink real estate divas hyping the spoils of tragedy. Remy himself has a new girlfriend he doesn't know, a son who pretends he's dead, and an unsettling new job chasing a trail of paper scraps for a shadowy intelligence agency known as the Department of Documentation.

Whether that trail will lead Remy to an elusive terror cell — or send him circling back to himself — is only one of the questions posed by this provocative yet deeply human novel.

Check our Adult New Fiction section for these books and other newly-acquired fiction. And be sure to check our fiction stacks on the third floor for fiction from many other great authors.

As always, if the book you are looking for is checked out, the staff will be happy to put a hold on it so when it does become available, you will be notified.

Enjoy!

I Just Listened To…

2009-11-05T06:51:00.003-07:00

...Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal by Ben Mezrich.

Are you a Facebook fan or completely befuddled by social networking? Either way, the story of how Facebook started is pretty fascinating. I love to listen to audiobooks in my car. This one kept me interested from beginning to end. Relatively short, as audiobooks go (it runs 7 hours and 19 minutes, unabridged), it starts with a couple of Harvard undergraduates of the somewhat geeky variety, one of whom is now (less than 5 years later) a billionaire many times over.

Some other recently acquired audiobooks now available at Copper Queen Library on CD are The Somnambulist*by Jonathan Barnes (10 hours 30 minutes), Neon Rain* by James Lee Burke (8 hours 30 minutes) and Life Sentences* by Laura Lippman (10 hours).

As always, if the audio book you are looking for is checked out, the staff will be happy to put a hold on it so when it does become available you will be notified.

* The Copper Queen Library has these titles available in book format as well.

--by Hanje Richards

Fiction Friday: Time Travel With an Arizona Author

2009-10-30T06:26:00.003-07:00

--by Hanje Richards

Diana Jean Gabaldon Watkins (b 1952 in Arizona) is the author of the best-selling "Outlander" series. Her books are difficult to classify by genre, since they contain elements of romantic fiction, historical fiction, and science fiction (in the form of time travel). For your convience, we have shelved her books in our general adult fiction section; however, the newest title, An Echo in the Bone, is available on the New Fiction shelf on the main floor of the library.

Gabaldon grew up in Flagstaff, Arizona. She has received three degrees from two different institutions: B.S. in Zoology from Northern Arizona University (1970-1973); M.S. in Marine Biology from the University of California, San Diego, Scripps Institute of Oceanography (1973-1975); and a Ph.D. in Ecology from Northern Arizona University (1975-1978).

She also received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Northern Arizona University in 2007. In addition, Gabaldon Hall, a dormitory on the campus of Northern Arizona University, is named after her father, Tony Gabaldon. Gabaldon currently lives in Scottsdale, Arizona with her husband, Doug Watkins; they have three adult children.

There are presently seven novels in the main "Outlander" series, including An Echo In The Bone, released on Sept. 22, 2009. The stories center around a time-travelling 20th-century English nurse (Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser) and her 18th-century Scottish husband (James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser) and are located in Scotland, France, the West Indies, England, and America.

If you would like to take a trip through time and space look for these titles by Diana Gabaldon in the fiction section at the Copper Queen Library.

Outlander (1991) A 600-page time-travel romance, in which strong-willed and sensual Claire Randall leads a double life with a husband in one century, and a lover in another. Torn between fidelity and desire, she struggles to understand the pure intent of her heart. But don't let the number of pages and the Scottish dialect scare you. It's one of the fastest reads you'll have in your library.

While on her second honeymoon in the British Isles, Claire touches a boulder that hurls her back in time to the forbidden Castle Leoch with the MacKenzie clan. Not understanding the forces that brought her there, she becomes ensnared in life-threatening situations with a Scots warrior named James Fraser. But it isn't all spies and drudgery that she must endure. For amid her new surroundings and the terrors she faces, she is lured into love and passion like she's never known before.

Dragonfly in Amber (1992) The second book in the series takes readers along on Randall's quest, as she hopes to find a state or time (like that of the title's dragonfly suspended in a piece of amber) where Fraser still exists.

Voyager (1994) Sweeping us from the battlefields of eighteenth-century Scotland to the exotic West Indies, Diana Gabaldon weaves magic once again in an exhilarating and utterly unforgettable novel.

Drums of Autumn (1997) A Scottish couple travels back in time to Charleston on the eve of the American revolution and seeks peace and freedom in the mountain wilderness.

The Fiery Cross (2001) In this pre-Revolutionary War period, Claire Fraser and her husband, Jamie, have crossed oceans and centuries to build a life together in the bucolic beauty of North Carolina. But tensions both ancient and recent threaten not only Claire and James, but their daughter, Brianna, her new husband, Roger, and their infant son, Jemmy, as well as members of their clan.

A Breath of Snow and Ashes (2005) Set during the three years leading up to the American Revolution, this compulsively readable mix of authentically set historical fiction and completely satisfying romance maps both violent loss and strong family ties. On the eve of war much is changing on Fraser's Ridge, and Jamie and Claire encounter much harm. This vivid and haunting novel, therefore, brings an aching sadness, but it is balanced with sheer joy, revelation, and solace.

An Echo in the Bone (2009) While Jacobite Jamie Fraser reluctantly participates in the American rebellion with a foreknowledge of the fledgling country's victory, his time-traveling wife, Claire, worries about the ultimate price of the war while struggling to safeguard her family.

Scary Movies For Hallowe'en... or Anytime!

2009-10-27T06:43:00.005-07:00

--by Hanje Richards

Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was a British filmmaker and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in his native United Kingdom, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood. In 1956, he became an American citizen while retaining his British citizenship.

Hitchcock directed more than fifty feature films in a career spanning six decades. He remains one of the most popular and most recognized filmmakers, and his works are still popular today. Often regarded as the greatest British filmmaker of all time, in 2007 Hitchcock was ranked #1 by film critics in The Telegraph's list of 21 greatest British directors, which writes:

"Unquestionably the greatest filmmaker to emerge from these islands, Hitchcock did more than any director to shape modern cinema, which would be utterly different without him. His flair was for narrative, cruelly withholding crucial information (from his characters and from us) and engaging the emotions of the audience like no one else." (With thanks and apologies to Wikipedia)

The Copper Queen Library has a large selection of Hitchcock favorites. We invite you to check them out during this Hallowe’en season... or any time at all. Here is a list of some of the movies we have in DVD format. (Hint: Check under "Hitchcock" and then under the title in our alphabetical files of movie slips.)

The Birds Thousands of birds descend upon the town, attacking and terrorizing its residents.

Dial M For Murder A man devises a plan to murder his wife, not only because he wants her money, but because she is in love with another man.

Family Plot In his final picture, Hitchcock weaves together suspense and humor in this tongue-in-cheek thriller about a wealthy woman who innocently hires a phony psychic to find her missing heir.

Foreign Correspondent A reporter sent to Europe to cover a peace conference falls in love with a diplomat's daughter, but discovers that her father is the head of a Nazi spy ring.

Frenzy The Necktie Murderer has the London police on red alert and an innocent man is on a desperate quest to find the real sex criminal and clear his name.

I Confess A priest hears a murderer's confession and then becomes the murder suspect himself.

Jamaica Inn An undercover officer joins a band of smugglers and cutthroats with hopes of thwarting them, but they soon discover his real identity.

Lady Vanishes A young woman on a train, to England from Switzerland, meets a charming older lady who promptly disappears.

Man Who Knew Too Much A thrilling tale of international espionage, assassinations and terror.

Marnie Marnie is a compulsive thief who attempts to rob her boss, Mark Rutland, but instead ends up marrying him.

Psycho Norman Bates is a troubled son who believes "a boy's best friend is his mother." Marion Crane is an ill-fated traveler who checks into the eerie Bates Motel wanting only a hot shower and a warm bed. Her journey ends sooner than she planned in the shocking scene that has haunted generations of movie-watchers.

Rear Window It only takes one witness to spoil the perfect crime in one of the most acclaimed suspense films of all time. Professional photographer L.B. "Jeff" Jeffries becomes obsessed with watching the private dramas of his neighbors while confined to a wheelchair with a broken leg.

Rope Two thrill-seeking friends strangle a classmate and then hold a party for their victim's family and friends, serving refreshments on a buffet table fashioned from a trunk containing the lifeless body.

Saboteur Barry Kane is a Los Angeles aircraft factory worker who witnesses a Nazi agent firebombing his plant. However, it is Barry who is accused of the fiery sabotage, and to clear his name he sets off on a desperate, action-packed cross-country chase.

Shadow of a Doubt Uncle Charlie is a seemingly charming man visiting his relatives in their small and peaceful hometown. But his niece suspects that he may in fact be the psychopathic Merry Widow killer and Uncle Charlie must plot the death of his favorite relation in order to remain one step ahead of the law.

39 Steps Follows the escapades of Richard Hanney, who stumbles into a conspiracy that involves him in a hectic chase across the Scottish moors.

Topaz An American CIA agent hires a French operative to travel to Cuba and investigate rumors of Russian missiles and Topaz, a NATO spy. The inquiry soon spins into a life-threatening escapade of espionage, betrayal and murder.

Torn Curtain An edge-of-your-seat Cold War thriller set behind the Iron Curtain.

Trouble With Harry The trouble with Harry is that he's dead, and while no one really minds, everyone feels responsible. Shirley Maclaine makes her screen debut in this New England romp.

Vertigo When tragedy strikes, Scottie must overcome the vertigo that haunts his dreams in order to unravel the secrets of the past and find the key to his future.

Friday Fiction

2009-10-26T14:16:00.002-07:00

--by Hanje Richards

The Copper Queen Library collects all kinds of materials in all kinds of genres and formats. We have movies and children’s books and books of art, photography, and biography. We have board books and pop-up books and some really big “oversize” books. We have books on tape and books on disc.

In this blog, we try to talk about all different kinds of materials and collections, but with so many things to cover, sometimes it is a bit daunting. In an effort to highlight one area of interest, I will be writing a "Friday Fiction" blog post on Fridays, in which I will highlight one author and cover both the new titles and backlist from this author.

Check back on Friday to see who I have chosen for my first "Friday Fiction" post!

Update: Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series

2009-10-22T07:29:00.003-07:00

--by Hanje Richards

If you or your kids have been following this fun series that I blogged about a few weeks ago, then you will be happy to know that the latest title in the series has arrived on our shelves. Dog Days follows the earlier titles: the original Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Roderick Rules, and The Last Straw.

In this latest addition to the line-up, it’s summer vacation, the weather’s great, and all the kids are having fun outside. So where’s Greg Heffley? Inside his house, playing video game with the shades drawn. Greg, a self-confessed “indoor person,” is living out his ultimate summer fantasy: no responsibilities and no rules. But Greg’s mom has a different vision for an ideal summer . . . one packed with outdoor activities and “family togetherness.” Whose vision will win out? Or will a new addition to the Heffley family change everything?

Find out now! Borrow Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days at the Copper Queen Library today!

Caldecott Medal Winners

2009-10-17T08:59:00.004-07:00

--by Hanje Richards

The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published that year. It was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. Together with the Newbery Medal, it is the most prestigious American children's book award.

Criteria for the award:

--The book must be published in English in the United States during the preceding year.

--The illustrations must be original work.

--The artist must be a citizen or resident of the United States.

--The book must be considered for the artistic technique employed; pictorial interpretation of story; appropriateness of style of illustration to the story; delineation of plot, theme, characters, setting mood or information through the pictures; and recognition of a child audience.

--The book must display respect for children's understandings, abilities, and appreciations.

--The book must be a self-contained entity, not dependent on other media for its enjoyment.

The Copper Queen Library now has a section comprised of the Caldecott Medal Winners we own. Any library employee will be happy to show you where it is.

Some of the titles that we have in our Caldecott Medal Winners Collection include Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey, Madeline’s Rescue by Ludwig Bmelmans, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, and The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.

These and many other beautifully illustrated children’s books can be found by browsing the Caldecott Medal Winners section at the Copper Queen Library or by doing a search for "Caldecott" under “words or phrase” in the Copper Queen Library database.

Newbery Award Winners At the Library

2009-10-13T14:01:00.004-07:00

--by Hanje Richards

The John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The award is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

The award, given since 1922, is named for John Newbery, an 18th century English publisher of juvenile books. Together with the Caldecott Medal, the Newbery is considered one of the two most prestigious awards for children's literature in the United States. The winner is announced each January.

The criteria for the award:

--The book must be published in English in the United States the previous year.
--The author must be a citizen or resident of the United States.
--The book must be considered for its theme, presentation (clarity, accuracy and organization), plot, characters, setting, and style.
--The book must relate to a child audience.
--The book must contribute to literature.
--The book must stand alone and not as a part of a multimedia presentation.

The Copper Queen Library now features a section comprised of the Newbery Medal Winners. Any library employee will be happy to show you where it is.

Some of our Newbery titles include Holes by Louis Sachar, King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry, Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien, as well as the 2009 winner, Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book.

We invite you to come browse the section or do an online catalog search under “words or phrase” for “Newbery” in the Copper Queen Library.

Calling All Wimpy Kids!

2009-10-06T03:25:00.004-07:00

--by Hanje Richards

If you are between ages 8 and 13 and haven’t discovered Greg Heffley and his diaries yet, you are in for a treat! Author and illustrator Jeff Kinney does a masterful job of making the mundane life of boys on the brink of adolescence hilarious. Greg is a conflicted soul (and what middle-schooler isn’t): he wants to do the right thing, but the constant quest for status and girls seems to undermine his every effort.

Jeff Kinney recalls the growing pains of school life and introduces a new kind of hero who epitomizes the challenges of being a kid. As Greg says in his diary, “Just don’t expect me to be all ‘Dear Diary’ this and ‘Dear Diary' that.” Greg also wants to make one thing clear: this is NOT a diary—it’s a journal. And it’s his mother’s idea for him to chronicle his life as a tortured sixth-grader, not his.

The pages look like they were written and drawn by a middle school student and the angst with which our hero approaches his life and his daily adventures is all part of the charm of this series.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley’s Journal (J FIC KINNEY DIARY GREG) - It’s a new school year, and Greg Heffley finds himself thrust into middle school, where undersized weaklings share the hallways with kids who are taller, meaner, and already shaving. The hazards of growing up before you’re ready are uniquely revealed through words and drawings as Greg records them in his diary.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (J FIC KINNEY DIARY RODRICK) - Secrets have a way of getting out, especially when a diary is involved. As Greg enters the new school year, he’s eager to put the past three months behind him . . . and one event in particular. Unfortunately for Greg, his older brother, Rodrick, knows all about the incident Greg wants to keep under wraps.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw (J FIC KINNEY LAST) - This time, Greg starts off on New Year's Day (he resolves to "help other people improve," telling his mother, "I think you should work on chewing your potato chips more quietly") and ends with summer vacation.

I Just Read…

2009-10-02T11:06:00.003-07:00

… Homer & Langley by E.L. Doctorow. This is a fictionalized account of the very real lives of the infamous Collyer brothers. The novel details the lives of the Collyer brothers, notorious for their eccentricities as well as for their habit of compulsively hoarding a plethora of various bric-a-brac.

Doctorow very gently leads us through not only the rooms of the Fifth Avenue home that became first a prison of, and then the tomb for, these brothers – but also through the minds that created this havoc. According to all accounts, Doctorow has taken liberties with many things, including the birth dates and birth order of Homer and Langely, but it appears that he remains true to the essence of what was discovered at the end of their lives in April 1947. (Doctorow has in fact extended their lives so that that they live into the late 1970s.)

If you are interested in more about hoarding, you may find the documentary film Grey Gardens (DVD BIO GREY) of interest. This documentary is a portrait of the relationship between Edith Bouvier Beale and her grown daughter, Little Edie, once an aspiring actress in New York who left her career to care for her aging mother in their East Hampton home and never left again. The aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis feed their cats and raccoons and rehash their pasts behind the walls of their decaying mansion, Grey Gardens.

If you are interested in more by E.L.Doctorow, the Copper Queen Library owns the following titles:

Loon Lake – It is the Great Depression of the 1930s, and a passionate young man from Paterson, New Jersey, leaves home to find his fortune. What he finds, on a cold and lonely night in the Adirondack Mountains, is a vision of life so different from his own that it changes his destiny, leading him from the side of a railroad track to a magical place called Loon Lake.

World’s Fair – The novel of a young boy's life in the New York City of the 1930s, a stunning recreation of the sights, sounds, aromas and emotions of a time when the streets were safe, families stuck together through thick and thin, and all the promises of a generation culminate in a single great World's Fair.

Billy Bathgate – Doctorow's mesmerizing odyssey about a teenage, fatherless street kid adopted by mobsters.

Waterworks – A newspaper editor investigates the disappearance of freelance journalist Martin Pemberton and uncovers a macabre scientific experiment that involves Pemberton's supposedly dead father and several other wealthy old men. Doctorow's presentation of New York in 1871 as impacted by the Industrial Revolution and the corruption of Boss Tweed's government is the true story behind the story.

City of God – New York at the end of the 20th century – hardly St. Augustine's City of God – is the canvas on which Doctorow paints an impressionistic portrait of man's frail moral nature and the possibilities of redemption.

The March – As the Civil War was moving toward its inevitable conclusion, General William Tecumseh Sherman marched 60,000 Union troops through Georgia and the Carolinas, leaving a 60-mile-wide trail of death, destruction, looting, thievery, and chaos. Doctorow has put his unique stamp on these events by staying close to historical fact, naming real people and places and then imagining the rest.

--by Hanje Richards

Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds: Lucy’s Legacy

2009-09-30T07:36:00.003-07:00

--by Hanje Richards

I have long been fascinated with anthropology and archaeology. When I have had the opportunity I have taken classes and have read many books on a variety of subjects that are encompassed by these sciences. One of the most interesting to me is paleoanthropology, which is the study of the origins and predecessors of the present human species, using fossils and other remains.

Renowned paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson (with Kate Wong) has recently published a new book, Lucy’s Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins. “This book takes readers on a fascinating tour through the last three decades of study — the most exciting period of paleoanthropologic study so far. In that time, since the discovery of Lucy in 1974, Johanson and his colleagues have uncovered a total of 363 specimens of Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy’s species, a transitional creature between apes and humans), spanning 400,000 years.”

Donald S. Johanson founded the Institute of Human Origins in 1981, now located at Arizona State University in Tempe. Kate Wong has been covering human evolution for Scientific American for more than a decade.

In Lucy’s Legacy, the authors attempt to answer questions such as "How did Homo sapiens evolve? When and where did our species originate? What separates hominids from the apes? What was the nature of Neandertal and modern human encounters? What mysteries about human evolution remain to be solved?"

If these questions and other like them intrigue you, it may interest you to know that the Copper Queen Library has four other Donald Johanson titles in addition to Lucy’s Legacy (2009) (currently shelved on New Adult Non-Fiction at 569.9 JOHANSON). Three titles are upstairs in Non-Fiction: Lucy, The Beginnings of Humankind (1981) is shelved at 569 JOH; Journey From the Dawn: Life With the World’s First Family (1990) is at 573.3 JOH; Ancestors: In Search of Human Origins (1994) can be found at 573.30 JOH; and one title, From Lucy to Language (1996), is located on the Oversize shelves at 537.2 JOH.

If human origins fascinate you, reading our collection of Donald Johanson books would be a great place to start.

I Just Read…

2009-09-28T12:58:00.003-07:00

…The Neighbor by Lisa Gardner (FIC GARDNER NEIGHBOR) currently on the New Adult Fiction shelf. For me this book is the definition of a “page-turner.” It kept me guessing (and therefore, turning and reading pages) until the very end of the book.

Lisa Gardner writes very dark, suspenseful novels, and this latest one is no exception! The book jacket says: “It was a case guaranteed to spark a media feeding frenzy—a young mother, blond and pretty, disappears without a trace from her South Boston home, leaving behind her four-year-old daughter as the only witness and her handsome, secretive husband as the prime suspect.” The twists and turns start there and don’t let up until the end of the book.

As time passes without a resolution to the mysteries that have developed, the book jacket says: “ With the clock ticking on the life of a missing woman and the media firestorm building, Jason Jones seems more intent on destroying evidence and isolating his daughter than on searching for his “beloved” wife. Is the perfect husband trying to hide his guilt—or just trying to hide? And will the only witness to the crime be the killer’s next victim?

What role does the neighbor, who is a registered sex offender, play? How about the young student with a serious crush on Mrs. Jones? And, why does her father mysteriously appear on the scene after years of silence?

If you enjoy suspense fiction like The Neighbor, the Copper Queen Library has several other books by Lisa Gardner. Check our fiction shelves under Gardner for The Other Daughter, The Next Accident, The Killing Hour, Gone, Hide, and Say Goodbye.

--by Hanje Richards

Al Franken: The Freshest Freshman Senator in the Senate and the Jokes that Got Him There

2009-09-21T14:55:00.003-07:00

--by Hanje Richards

Whatever you may think of Al Franken’s politics, there is no doubt that he made a lot of commotion last Fall and Winter…and Spring, when Minnesota was unable to tally the votes and Al Franken had to wait until April to take his Senate seat.

Depending upon your age and inclinations, you may remember Franken from his time as a writer and comedian on Saturday Night Live, back in the day. Or you may remember him as a commentator on then-fledgling Air America Radio. He has also written several books combining his politics and his wit.

Most recently we have added The Truth (with Jokes) to our collection at the Copper Queen Library. It can be found on the New Non-Fiction shelf right now (973.931 FRANKEN) and will eventually move upstairs to the Adult Non-Fiction stacks. Franken tackles Iraq, gay marriage, moral values, the social security crisis and more.

The Copper Queen Library also carries two other Al Franken titles. The first one is Lies (And The Lying Liars Who Tell Them): A Fair And Balanced Look At The Right (973.931 FRANKEN). The publisher says of this best selling book: “No one is spared as Al uses the Right's own words against them. Not the Bush administration. Not Ann Coulter. Not the new generation of talk-radio hosts, and not Bill O'Reilly, Roger Ailes, and the entire Fox network. Lies… is sure to become the most talked about book of political humor in 2003 and beyond.”

The other Franken title CQL owns is Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot And Other Observations (973.9 FRA). The publisher says this one is “[a] wickedly funny collection of essays that takes a hard-edged, insightful look into the wonderful, terrible, complicated world of American politics.”

Call the library if you're interested in reading up on Franken. We'll pull the book and have it waiting for you at the Circulation Desk the next time you visit.

A Boy Named Shel

2009-09-19T08:37:00.004-07:00

--by Hanje Richards

Anyone who knows anything about children’s books probably is aware of Shel Silverstein. He wrote The Giving Tree (J FIC SIL), A Light in the Attic (J 811 SIL) and Where the Sidewalk Ends (J 811.54 SIL), which we have in our collection at the Copper Queen Library.

These are perennial favorites of children, teachers, and librarians, but what do we actually know about Shel Silverstein the man?

I, for one, knew absolutely nothing about the author/illustrator of these wonderfully popular children’s books. Well, at last there is an opportunity to find out through a recently acquired biography of Silverstein, A Boy Named Shel: The Life and Times of Shel Silverstein, by Lisa Rogak. This book is currently on the New Non-Fiction shelf and will soon be moved upstairs to the Biography Section.

Besides the children’s books he wrote and illustrated, which have sold millions, Silverstein wrote songs like A Boy Named Sue and The Unicorn, drew cartoons for Stars and Stripes, and wrote experimental plays and collaborated on scripts with David Mamet.

Shel Silverstein, born in 1930, lived until 1999. He lived a life of travel and adventure, enthusiasm and vitality and had a rich imagination that created the poems, songs, and drawings that have touched the lives of so many children and adults.

Enjoy the biography of this modern Renaissance man, and share his poems and stories with your children or grandchildren.

I Like Bones!

2009-09-15T05:46:00.003-07:00

--by Hanje Richards

This summer, I started watching the TV series Bones. The series is based on novels by Kathy Reichs (photo at left) and her character Temperance Brennan. Since I have long been a fan of Reichs' fiction, is it not surprising that I really am enjoying Bones. Perhaps you have watched the TV series, but are not aware of her novels.

The Copper Queen Library has seven Kathy Reichs titles in the stacks, which you may enjoy as well if you are intrigued with books by and about forensic anthropologists. In chronological order (publication date), the books we have at Copper Queen Library are:

Deja Dead (1997), Death du Jour (1999), Deadly Decisions (2000), Fatal Voyage (2001), Grave Secrets (2002), Bare Bones (2003), and Monday Mourning (2004).

The main character in both the TV show Bones and in the mystery novels is Dr. Temperance Brennan, but they are not the same stories and, interestingly, on the TV show, Dr. Brennan, played by Emily Deschanel (photo at left), is also the author of best-selling novels about forensic anthropology.

All of these novels can be found in our mystery section on the top floor of the library. And, if any of them are checked out when you look for them, we will be happy to hold them and contact you when they become available.

Questions? Call the Library Circulation Desk.

I Just Read…

2009-09-12T09:28:00.002-07:00

…Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, which the publisher say is “at once a murder mystery, family saga, love story, and tale of financial intrigue wrapped into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel.’

I couldn’t agree with this description more; however, I will add that it took me about 35 pages to really get lost in it, and after that, I stayed up late nights because I was so engrossed. It is absolutely worth making it through the first 35 pages.

This novel, set in Sweden, at first seemed a little foreign, and in fact a bit distant, but as I got further into the story, all of the distance vanished and I was right there in the middle of it.

A journalist, a computer hacker with a photographic memory, and an elderly business tycoon become caught up in finding the answer to a decades old mystery involving the disappearance of a young woman that occurred decades ago. The story proceeds through twists and turns that are unimaginable at the start.

I highly recommend this one and you can find it shelved under FIC LARSSON GIRL. If our copy is currently checked out, you can put a hold on it and we will notify you when it becomes available.

--By Hanje Richards

Like History & Genealogy? You'll Love HeritageQuest

2009-09-03T07:17:00.003-07:00

If you are a fan of history or genealogy, you'll want to know about the new HeritageQuest Online database. Produced by UMI, and containing over 20 million images, it's an online resource that will let you search for people, places, publications, and events in books, magazines, and census and other records dating back to 1700.

HeritageQuest Online™ combines digital, searchable images of U.S.federal census records with the digitized version of the popular UMI® "Genealogy & Local History" collection and other valuable content. This online database is an essential collection of unique material for both genealogical and historical researchers, with coverage dating back to the late 1700s. Researchers can use HeritageQuest Online to find their ancestors, trace their paths across America, and learn what life was like in the areas where they settled.

HeritageQuest Online includes all of the images, and extensive indexing, from the 1790 - 1930 U.S. federal censuses. It offers more than 20,000 book titles, including nearly 8,000 family histories and over 12,000 local histories. Additionally, there are more than 250 primary-source documents such as tax lists, city directories, probate records, and more.

Many other sources of information can be found within HeritageQuest Online. These include Periodical Source Index (PERSI), a widely recognized resource guide, updated annually, that covers more than 6,300 genealogy and history periodicals written in English and French (Canada) since 1800.

There are other valuable collections such as the "Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files," which identifies more than 80,000 American military, naval, and marine officers and enlisted men. The "Freedman’s Bank Records" is a database that documents more than 70,000 bank depositors and their dependants and heirs. The Freedman’s Bank Records is considered one of the most important resources for African-American genealogical research. All of these resources are fully searchable through HeritageQuest Online’s easy-to-use Web interface.

Library patrons can use HeritageQuest Online in or outside the library. If you're connecting from home, you'll need to sign in with your library card's barcode and PIN (if you don't know them, call the Circulation Desk for assistance).

Addicted to the Royals

2009-08-28T10:06:00.005-07:00

--by Hanje Richards

It all started innocently enough. I wanted some movies to watch over the weekend, so I went to the Copper Queen Library and checked out The Queen starring Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II. The action of the film takes place during the week following the death, on August 31, 1997 of Diana, Princess of Wales. One of its accomplishments is to remind viewers of the deep sadness that surrounded that event. It is also about the divergent and potentially ruinous ways the monarch and Prime Minister Tony Blair responded to the resulting torrent of national grief.

A few weeks later, I thought it would be interesting to watch Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth I, so I tried the film Elizabeth I. This film explores the intersection of the private and public life of Elizabeth I in the latter half of her reign, offering a personal look at her allies, her enemies, and her suitors as she struggles to survive in a male-dominated world.

I was hooked. I had to watch everything I could about the Royals. My journey took me next to Marie Antoinette. This movie tells the story of the 14-year-old ill-fated Archduchess of Austria and, later, Queen of France. Marie Antoinette has become one of the most misunderstood and abused women in history.

From there, it was the four-volume set which includes The Six Wives of Henry VIII (a six-part chronicle of England's early 16th century, recounting the turbulent life and times of King Henry VIII through the eyes and travails of his wives) and The Other Boleyn Girl (a modernized, dramatized retelling of Anne Boleyn’s marriage and life with Henry VIII, mixing traditional costuming and settings with contemporary language and idioms).

Next, I devoured Anne of the Thousand Days and Mary, Queen of Scots, which are packaged together in a two-DVD set. Anne of the Thousand Days follows King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn in one of history's most famous tragic love affairs in the Academy Award-winning masterpiece starring Richard Burton and Genevieve Bujold. In Mary, Queen of Scots, the battle between Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth, Queen of England comes alive in this epic film.

I followed these with The Duchess, which chronicles the life of 18th century aristocrat Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. She was reviled for her extravagant political and personal life. She was a vibrant beauty and celebrity of her time.

And, last – but certainly not least – I watched 20 episodes of the television series The Tudors in a week and a half. Tudors (Season 1) is a look at the early life of King Henry VIII, beginning after his assumption of the British throne at the age of 19.

In Tudors (Season 2), Henry -- after failing to have his marriage to Katherine annulled -- appoints himself the head of the Church of England. Anne Boleyn insists that Henry remove the Queen from the picture. A royal visit to France finally prompts Anne to consummate her relationship with Henry. After failed attempts to have his marriage annulled, Henry's patience finally wears out and he marries Anne in secret. The king and new queen are disappointed that their first child is a girl, whom they christen Elizabeth.

(Note: I must warn you that The Tudors is a Showtime television program, and there is explicit sex, language, and violence in rather great abundance.)

Okay, so you would think that would be enough of The Royals for one six-month period. But, for me it is not quite enough, so tonight I will be watching Lady Jane, the story of Lady Jane Grey, cousin to Henry VIII, who found herself Queen of England for nine days in 1553, at the age of 16.

Something Old, Something New...

2009-08-26T14:31:00.004-07:00

...Something Recycled, and Something Green

--by Hanje Richards

I have some great, fun, and useful books to share with you which deal with a greener, healthier and more economical lifestyle.

If you want the straight scoop on how to live a greener and healthier life you will find Sara Snow’s Fresh Living: The Essential Room-by-Room Guide to a Greener, Healthier Family and Home very useful. Sara Snow, green-living expert and host of TV shows Living Fresh and Get Fresh with Sara Snow, has dozens of simple, affordable ways to create a healthy, environmentally friendly home.

I love this book because some of us are not ready or able to make all the changes at once, but we can pick and choose things we can do now, and then add more things to our green repertoires as we're able.

Fresh Living is filled with lists, tips, and tricks that will make you, your family, and your home healthier and greener. The room-by-room format is a useful organizational tool and helps to make it accessible to everyone. Fresh Living can now be found on the New Non-Fiction Shelf and will soon be shelved upstairs in Adult Non-Fiction (at 648.22 SNOW).

Perhaps scavenging is your thing. Or maybe it could be. Or will be. If so, you will want to take a look at The Scavenger’s Manifesto: A Guide to Freeing Yourself from the Endless Cycle of Buying More and More New (Though Not Necessarily Improved) Stuff, and Discovering How Salvaging, Swapping, Repurposing, Reusing and Recycling Can Save the Earth, Your Money and Your Soul (you may think I made that title up, but I absolutely did not!)

Authors Anneli Rufus and Kristan Lawson invite readers to discover one of the most gratifying (and thrifty) ways to go green -- scavenging. The first chapter of the book is "Free Your Minds: The Philosophy of Scavenging." Chapter two is "In The Beginning: The Evolution of Scavenging," and the final chapter is "The Scavenger Code of Ethics: The Twelve Commandments of Scavenging."

I am not sure if I am ready for full-time scavenging, but this book is very interesting and has some excellent ideas. This book is currently shelved on the New Adult Non-Fiction Shelf and will soon be shelved upstairs in Adult Non-Fiction (at 640 RUFUS).

Finally, and possibly most intriguing of my three eco-friendly picks, is Sleeping Naked Is Green: How an Eco-Cynic Unplugged Her Fridge, Sold Her Car and Found Love in 366 Days (another great title!)

Author Vanessa Farquharson takes the reader along with her on an intense personal journey of making one green change to her lifestyle every day for a year. In twelve chapters, covering the twelve months of Farquharson’s life-changing year, we watch this woman transform her life, one day at a time. In the end she decides which of these changes she can maintain.

Great fun and very thought provoking. I wonder which of these changes I could make in my life on a permanent basis...

By the way, don’t forget that using your library is a green choice!

Fun For Foodies

2009-08-24T13:22:00.002-07:00

--by Hanje Richards

One of the joys of my job is seeing the new books as they come into the library. I love to see the new cookbooks as they arrive. One that caught my eye this spring is The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life by Ellie Krieger.

The cover flap explains that “it’s the food you crave—in a healthier way!” So who can argue with that! It goes without saying that we all have various dietary restrictions, self-imposed or medically determined, so every item is not going to work for every person, but there is enough selection in this beautiful book that you might find some morsels that you can enjoy in a healthier way.

One of the best things about a good cookbook is the food photographs. This one is excellent. I mean seriously, if you can get me to look twice at something called “Macaroni and Four Cheeses,” imagine what the “Steak Tacos with Cucumber-Avocado Salsa” and “Caesar Salad with Lemon Pepper Shrimp” look like!

Each recipe has the serving size, the nutritional breakdown, and the things that it supplies in abundance. For example, The “Arugula Salad with Pesto Vinaigrette” makes four servings, and each serving is 60 calories, 4 grams of fat, 3 grams of protein, 4 grams of carbohydrates, 1.5 grams of fiber, 2.5 mg cholesterol, and 73 mg of sodium. It also lets me know that it is an excellent source of Vitamin A, C, and K and a good source of folate and manganese.

Throughout the book there are tips for eating well, information on various ingredients, and very complete instructions for preparation of each dish.

Enjoy the pictures, the recipes, and the healthy eating! This book is currently on the New Non-Fiction shelf and will soon be shelved (with other cookbooks) upstairs in Adult Non-Fiction under 641.5 KREIGER.

Homage to Meryl Streep

2009-08-20T16:21:00.003-07:00

--by Hanje Richards

I always think I don’t like Meryl Streep, and in fact after watching two of her movies on two consecutive nights this week, my husband reminded me, “But, you don’t like Meryl Streep!”

And, yet, there is something about her. She is good. And I do like her, secretly. She seems to become each character she plays, so if I don’t like her, I suspect it is actually the characters she is portraying that I am not so fond of.

Last night I watched One True Thing which stars Meryl Streep, Renee Zellweger and William Hurt. It is based on the novel by Anna Quindlen (available at the Copper Queen Library in print and in audiobook format). I thought that the entire cast was excellent, and the movie dealt with some very difficult family issues, including love, loss, loss of innocence, and more.

If you are a Meryl Streep fan, or are a secret fan, like I am, you might be interested in knowing what other Streep films are available at the Copper Queen Library on DVD. Here is a listing of just some of the DVDs that we have (to find more, just search the catalog for her by name):

Cry In The Dark: Lindy lives the nightmare of seeing a wild dog carry off her infant, then endures a travesty of a trial by the courts and media.

Doubt: 1964, St. Nicholas in the Bronx. Father Flynn is a charismatic priest who is trying to upend the schools' strict customs, which have long been fiercely guarded by Sister Aloysius Beauvier.. This threatens to tear apart the community with its irrevocable consequence.

The Devil Wears Prada: Miranda is the editor of Runway magazine. She is a terror to everyone who is around. When Miranda demands that she obtain the next unpublished Harry Potter manuscript, it forces her assistant Andy to dig it up in order to please her boss. As she is whisked away to Paris with Miranda, Andy faces all of the glamour that could be hers and is forced to make a decision about what she wants from life.

The Hours: In 1929, under the care of doctors and family, Virginia Woolf is starting to write her novel, Mrs. Dalloway. In 1951, Laura Brown is planning for her husband's birthday but is preoccupied with reading Woolf's novel. In 2001, Clarrisa Vaughn is planning an award party for her friend, an author dying of AIDS. Taking place over one day, all three stories are inter-connected with the novel: one is writing it, one is reading it, and one is living it.

Kramer Vs. Kramer: When his wife walks out, Ted Kramer and his six-year-old son have a chance to really get to know each other. Then Ted's wife returns, and she wants her son back.

Mamma Mia!: After reading her mother's diary, Sophie discovers she has three possible fathers, so she secretly invites them all to her wedding at her mother's hotel on a Greek island.

Music of the Heart: A single mother with little more than talent and the determination to make a difference teaches violin to students in a tough inner-city neighborhood.

Postcards from the Edge: Suzanne Vale is a wise-cracking, vulnerable actress determined to jump start her failing career. Her mother, an aging movie star, is the definitive portrait of Hollywood's gutsy glamour queens and, of course, offers her daughter only razor sharp humor and searing honesty.

Prairie Home Companion: As if the result of some strange mass-media fluke, the popular radio program A Prairie Home Companion somehow managed to survive the television age to entertain its audience every Saturday night from the stage of the historic Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minn. There is still plenty of fun and mystery to be had at the old Fitzgerald before the final curtain falls.

If you're interested in borrowing any of these Streep films -- or other feature films -- they're filed alphabetically by title. Non-fiction (documentary) DVDs are filed using the Dewey Decimal Classification system. If you need help finding something, please feel free to ask at the Circulation Desk.

John Hodgman Makes Me Smile...

2009-08-14T06:39:00.003-07:00

--by Hanje Richards

There is something about John Hodgman that makes me smile, giggle and, yes, even laugh out loud. I first noticed Hodgman on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart where he has appeared since 2005. He plays the “Resident Expert,” a nerdy egghead know-it-all. Later, I became aware of him in the "Get A Mac" series of advertisements for Apple Macintosh. He plays the “Personal Computer,” a nerdy, blow-hard, obese person who is constantly failing.

However, before all that minor TV celebrity, John Hodgman was already a writer. He has been a contributor at the New York Times Magazine and a frequent voice on This American Life on public radio as well as a plethora of other literary and comedy venues.

Two of his books are now available at the Copper Queen Library. The Areas of My Expertise and More Information Than You Require are both currently shelved in New Adult Non-Fiction on the main floor of the library. Soon, they'll be shelved upstairs in Non-Fiction at call number "818 Hodgman."

These books are crammed with craziness and filled with fun. They cover topics from “Information You Will Find Useful In The Present” to “There Is More Past Than You Thought,” to “The Presidents of the United States: Are They the New Hoboes?” to “Gambling: The Sport of the Asthmatic Man.”

Lots of tongue in cheek, lots of satire, lots of sarcasm, lots of fun. Maybe even a few giggles! Sound fun? Come on in and check them out!

I Just Watched…

2009-08-13T09:48:00.004-07:00

...Bruce Almighty starring Jim Carrey, Jennifer Aniston, and Morgan Freeman. I found it to be an enjoyable and entertaining movie.

Jim Carrey was funny and charming and alternately angry with, disappointed in, and pleased about the world and his lot in it as the movies progresses.

Jennifer Aniston plays his girlfriend and is as sweet and lovely and supportive as she can be... until she finally has had enough.

Morgan Freeman, in the role of God, is wise and wonderful, and that oh, so smooth voice calms and irritates Carrey as he tries his hand at “running the show.”

If you enjoy Jim Carrey’s performance, The Copper Queen Library also has The Truman Show on DVD, starring Jim Carrey as Truman. This movie pre-dated and predicted reality TV by several years.

Fans of Jennifer Aniston might be interested in borrowing Rob Reiner's Rumor Has It--, and Morgan Freeman fans will find Amistad, Dark Knight, Moll Flanders, Unfinished Life, and Million Dollar Baby, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Eddie "Scrap Iron" Dupris.

Why not come in, browse the collection, and enjoy a night at the movies -- at home!

--by Hanje Richards