Don’t forget to turn your clocks back one hour on Sunday October 29, 2005. It is time to fall back and take shelter with a good book.

At #1 is Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan: the many fans of the Wheel of Time series were just waiting to snap up Book 11 in the series.

At #4 is Consent to Kill by Vince Flynn: another entry in the field of spies, terrorists and international conspiracies.

At #5 is A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve: her fans will rejoice in this bittersweet tale of seven former schoolmates.

The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall is a great trip back to the past of children’s literature, and a perfect family read-aloud. It is the story of four sisters and their dog Hound, who have funny, innocent adventures on their summer vacation. The book is also a nominee for the National Book Award in Young People’s and it definitely has my vote!

Other wonderful kid adventures would include the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome, and Carol Brink’s Caddie Woodlawn and Baby Island.

Today (10-28-05) Caryl Phillips appeared as a guest today 10-28-05 on the Diane Rehm show to discuss her new book "Dancing in the Dark"
Bert Williams became one of America's first black superstars during the vaudville era. Ms Phillips fictionalized account of the life of Bert Williams explores the contradictions between the man he was and the character he played on stage. W. C. Fields, star of the silent screen, called Bert Williams "the funniest man I ever saw and the saddest."

It’s coming up fast! How time flies! Yes, Thursday, November 3 is National Men Make Dinner Day. If you’ve missed it in the past, here’s an opportunity for “non-cooking men only” to give their wives or partners a break, a chance to “whip up a culinary delight with no help from family members.” Be sure to follow the 'official' rules.

If the recipes on the web site don’t excite you, the library’s the place for cookbooks for every taste and level of sophistication. Real novices can try books listed in our catalog under Quick and Easy Cookery. And remember, if you’re really ambitious, most of the great chefs (e.g.,Jacques Pepin, Emeril, James Beard, Paul Prudhomme, Pierre Franey, Craig Claiborne, etc.) are men. Try it, you might like it, and have 365 days to bask in the afterglow.

Once again, it's that time of the year when people actually want to be frightened out their minds. As far as scary movies are concerned, none are better than the suspenseful thrillers by filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock. Known as the "Master of suspense," Hitchcock understood better than anyone how to creation tension within a story and keep the viewer completely enthralled for the duration of a film. The library has a very good collection of Hitchcock films on DVD, including personal favorites Vertigo, Rebecca, Notorious, and Strangers on a Train.

As part of his "See What You've Been Missing" campaign, Martin Scorsese has compiled a list of what he considers the Top 10 Movies Best Viewed in Widescreen Format (the preffered format of AADL DVDs): 2001: A Space Odyssey, Ben-Hur (1958), Blade Runner, East of Eden, High and Low, Lawrence of Arabia, Lola Montes (on order), Once Upon a Time in the West, Some Came Running (not yet available on DVD), and Zulu. For more on widescreen vs. fullscreen click Read More, below.

A Maasai father tells his son how much he loves him in a style similar to the classic tale The Runaway Bunny. Babara Joosse, author of the bestselling book Mama Do You Love Me?, sets this tender tale in Africa.

Here are just a few of the high points in the history of cinematic horror...

1920: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari: This German expressionist classic would go on to influence horror, science fiction, and film noir.

1922: Nosferatu: Actor Max Schrek, who took his role perhaps a little too seriously, is the creepiest vampire in film history. (Schrek's performance is memorably rendered by Willem Dafoe in Shadow of the Vampire.)

1925: Phantom of the Opera: Lon Chaney becomes the first major horror film star.

Stella, Blanche, Stanley. All Tennessee Williams' character names that we know so well. Add to list the Gentleman Caller of THE GLASS MENAGERIE, nameless but also memorable. Menagerie tells the story of the southern Wingfield family: Amanda, abandoned by her husband, son Tom, a factory worker who longs to be a poet and daughter Laura, who is painfully shy. The Purple Rose Theatre Company is staging this familiar and complex American classic through December 17.

Join Oprah and her book club tomorrow when they discuss James Frey’s explosive raunchy memoir, A Million Little Pieces, by James Frey.
Frey, now in his 30s, began his downward slide into the hellhole of multiple addictions when he was 10 and stayed there until friends and family put his bloodied filthy body on a plane to Minnesota where he cleaned up at the renowed Hazelden Clinic.
Frey’s quirky disregard for conventional writing details (punctuation, capitalization, paragraph breaks) and his blisteringly honest self-examination of his messy scramble to sobriety, has earned him comparisons to Dave Eggers, author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. His rejection of the time-tested 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous has caused deep concern among those institutions and professionals trained to help addicts.
Frey’s unapologetic tale of survival offers plenty of provocative talking points.