Having entered semi-retirement recently, I’ve been spending some of my spare time working for Mid-Continent Public Library. Being surrounded by books on a regular basis has given me the opportunity reread books I enjoyed as a child. One of the books of that I have fond memories is titled Jexium Island by the French author Madeleine Grattan. I checked MCPL's catalog to see if any of the thirty MCPL branches had a copy of the book. Unfortunately, this book was published back in 1957, and none of them had a copy.
Paul Is Dead!? Proceed with Caution on the Superhighway
In 1969, rumors began circulating that Paul McCartney, of the famed rock band The Beatles, was dead. Not only had he supposedly died, but it had happened way back in 1966. The band, according to the rumor, had covered up his death and had been slowly leaking clues to his demise in their songs and on their album covers. The whole thing was simply a hoax, but it became so worrying to fans that McCartney eventually had to appear on the cover of Life magazine in order to finally debunk it.
If you’re already a fan of the author Jodi Picoult and her numerous books, or even if you’ve never read anything written by her, you might be pleasantly surprised at her present offering, Between the Lines. Though written for the teen audience, this is a book which will appeal to teens and adults alike. The book is co-authored with none other than Ms. Picoult’s own teenage daughter, Samantha Van Leer. Actually, the idea which grew into this book was originally conceived by "Sam," as she is known to her friends.
Curl Up With a Cozy Mystery Featuring Granny Apples
I have never really been a fan of mystery books. Sure, an occasional Sherlock Holmes was fine. And if a mystery was contained within a broader story (usually a science fiction one), I could usually get into it. But the contemporary mysteries that a lot of people seem to find enjoyable, I just could never get interested in. However, my resolution this year is to expand my reading horizons. So, I recently picked one up and was pleasantly surprised. I actually loved it!
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - More Than Just "A Dream"
On Monday, January 21st, MCPL will be closed for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. On that day, his speech, "I Have a Dream," will be repeated many times. One of the most famous and inspiring orations in all of history, it has come to define Dr. King’s legacy. Its impact cannot be underestimated. However, because of the tremendous focus on that one speech, many of the other contributions King made to our country have been forgotten.
In spite of saying that he is still French and that he still hopes to get a dual Belgian citizenship, French actor Gerard Depardieu received a Russian passport from the hands of the Russian president. He visited Saransk, the capital of the Russian Republic of Mordovia, where he was offered a title of Honorable Mordovian, keys to a new apartment, and was given two kittens as a present from people of Saransk.
We are creatures of habit. When we find something that we like, we have a tendency to stick with it. This is true in many areas of our lives, including our reading habits. I, myself, am someone who often stays within the same genres. Science fiction and fantasy, along with the classics, make up the bulk of my reading material. I also have certain authors that I feel compelled to check out every time they have something new on the shelves.
Are you a Downton devotee? As the new season gets ready to debut, there are a lot of Americans who are waiting anxiously for the next twists and turns in this historical soap opera. The popularity of this British import should come as no surprise to those of us who have admired the quality of their television for years. But this is one of the first times that a show made by our cousins across the Atlantic has garnered the amount of attention that Downton Abbey has. Is this the beginning of a new British Invasion?
It’s the end of 2012. And this holiday season, we can celebrate not only the beginning of a new year but our apparent survival of that devastating Mayan prophecy. So the world isn’t ending, at least not now, but it got me wondering what we would have done if some sort of disaster had actually happened.
When I was a kid, a friend of mine called me up one day and asked if I wanted to go see a movie that I had never heard of. This was one of the first times I ever went to see a film without knowing what it was about first. The movie turned out to be fantastic, but in spite of that, it vanished from theaters very quickly. I never could have guessed that years later it would become an annual television tradition.
