Blog Post
"I saw the best minds of my generation...."
by Maxine
Today, June 3, is the birthday of beat poet, Allen Ginsberg who was born in 1926 in Newark, New Jersey. Known as the founder of the Beat Generation, Ginsberg wrote his first major poem, "Howl" and tilted the windmill that blew in the political unrest of the 1960's. It covered not only the anger he felt for an intolerant society but introduced new unconventional forms that reflected his embrace of experimentation. Ginsberg was a champion of the unrepresented in society, whether disenfranchised African-Americans or closeted homosexuals. With fellow beat writers, Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, he birthed a generation of artists who were not afraid to question the status quo.
Blog Post
Benny and Penny: Just Pretend
by manz
Benny and Penny: Just Pretend, by best-selling children's book author Geoffrey Hayes, is an adorably illustrated graphic novel that features a day in the life of a sister and brother mouse duo. Benny is having fun playing pirates and Penny wants to join the fun. But big brother Benny will not be found playing with his pesky little sister. He tries to make her hide so good in hide and seek that she won’t find him again and then he’ll get to play all by himself. He soon finds out that maybe playing with someone, even your annoying crybaby little sister, is more fun than playing pretend by yourself. Hayes learned a similar lesson in his youth thanks to his tag-along little brother.
Blog Post
Aerosmith
by jaegerla
People... Guitar Hero 4 is coming out later this month! Offically titled Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, this game is sure to be just as fun (if not moreso) than the rest in this game series. In my opinion the Aerosmith songs are the most fun to play in the previous releases; an entire disc of their songs is going to rock our socks off. If you would like to familiarize yourself with the band's work, the library holds their albums as well as literature based on their history. Additionally, we also carry a wealth of information on learning to play the guitar for those of you that want to move beyond the plastic guitar.
Blog Post
2007 Mitten Award Winner is Announced!
by kidlit
The Children's Services Division of the Michigan Library Association has announced that A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban is the winner of the 2007 Mitten Award.
The Mitten Award honors the best children's book of a calendar year as chosen by a committee of librarians from all over Michigan.
This charming chapter book is about a ten-year-old girl who learns that the perfection she yearns for comes in all different forms. The story takes place in Michigan.
Four titles were chosen as honor books. They are No Talking by Andrew Clements, Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos by R.L. LaFevers, The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt and The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. All of these titles are available at the Library. Place those holds and enjoy some great summer reading.
Blog Post
Robert Asprin, Science Fiction and Fantasy giant, has died
by sernabad
Robert Asprin, best known for his MYTH Adventure and PHULE science fiction series, died Thursday, May 29, at his home in New Orleans.
Asprin, who had ties to Ann Arbor (he was a student at The University of Michigan and worked at University Microfilm), saw his career take off with his second novel, Another Fine Myth, the first in his 18-part humorous fantasy series. Number eighteen, MYTH-Chief (on order), was published earlier this year.
Asprin, who was married to fellow author Lynn Abbey, was 61.
Blog Post
The Princess Diaries: Audiobooks
by Cherie Lee
When Mia Thermopolis learns she's a princess her world changes--for the worse! This story turns most little girls' dream into a nightmare for one New York teen. In The Princess Diaries Meg Cabot imagines the hijinks, antics, and neurotic wonderings of a modern unwilling royal.
Two different voice actors read these books but they have similar styles, so if I hadn't checked the back, I might not have noticed. Anne Hathaway, who plays Mia in the movie, reads some while the rest are read by Clea Lewis who has acted in several TV shows as well as done voices for cartoons. Some of the boys sound different with the different readers, but Mia sounds pretty much the same throughout. They also start with beautiful classical music over the Little Princess quotes at the beginning of each book which are probably the most moving things in the entire series.
I listened to seven of these which might lead one to believe that I like them, and I suppose I would have to confess I didn't hate them as much as I initially wanted to, but I still think the movie version is better. The reason being is that in the movie you can imagine that Mia is smart which makes her easier to sympathize with. In the book you can't hold onto any such delusions since you can see her every inane thought. Admittedly her father and grandmother are far more comical in the books, but the movie (while not the most profound) is definitely more profound than these books.
Blog Post
Insight into Amish Culture
by ecria7
Although it is an older release, Randy-Michael Testa's After the Fire: Destruction of the Lancaster County Amish (1992) is an interesting read which provides insight into the lifestyles of the Amish. The book can be easily paired with the movie Witness (1985), yet another older release showcasing Harrison Ford. Both pieces are good for illustrating a picture of Amish living; however, Testa's book is the product of his thesis work and can be somewhat statistical at times. The book was written while Testa lived within the Lancaster community, among one of the Amish families, and it is helpful to read the book's forward. For more information on one of the major issues discussed in the book, feel free to also check out this website http://www.stoltzfusfarmrestaurant.com/, but read the book first!
Blog Post
Fire destroys Delta Upsilon fraternity
by amy
A Friday morning fire raced through the historic Delta Upsilon fraternity at 1331 Hill St. Read the story on mlive. The fraternity was designed in 1903 and restored more recently by U of M alumni who valued the house and its history. You can read about the building in Historic Buildings, Ann Arbor, MI, by Marjorie Reade and Susan Wineberg, and zoom in for a closer view through its accompanying image database. (The text and images are available to search and browse online; the book is also available for checkout.)
Blog Post
Fantasy author and former Ann Arborite Robert Asprin dies at 61
by amy
Robert Asprin was reportedly reading a novel by British fantasy writer Terry Pratchett when he died in bed last week at the age of 61. Asprin, author of the Thieves' World and Myth Adventure series, and the 1990 bestseller , is said to have effectively invented the humor fantasy genre back in the 1970s. Local historian Wystan Stevens recalls: "Asprin wrote many of his books in longhand, on legal pads, while nursing cups of coffee at the Brown Jug on South University Avenue."
Read more about Asprin in wikipedia.
Asprin's obituary.
Blog Post
Walt Whitman's Birthday May 31st
by Caser
Beat poet Allen Ginsberg called him "dear father, graybeard, lonely old courage-teacher", and Ralph Waldo Emerson found "incomparable things said incomparably well" in his magnum opus, Leaves of Grass. For the last 150 years, Walt Whitman has been embraced as America's Poet, and Saturday, May 31st, poetry enthusiasts and scholars throughout the world celebrate his birthday.
A former teacher and newspaper editor, Walt Whitman (1819-1892) developed a poetic style most succinctly (and perhaps paradoxically) described as lyrical free verse. His themes of the common experience of mankind, and the tragedy of love and death resonated with soldiers and veterans of the Civil War, and they continue to speak to modern readers. Be sure to check out the poems "O Captain! My Captain!", "Song of Myself," and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd." Note: poetry best when read aloud with friends and family.