Blog Post
eMedia @ AADL
by Stewart
Wednesday January 2, 2013: 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm -- Downtown Library: Training Center
Come learn how to:
- Log in and search for ebooks and audiobooks using the Midwest Collaborative for Library Services,
- Use Adobe Digital Editions and the Overdrive Media Console,
- Get library books for your Kindle, Nook, or iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch,
- Listen to AADL Podcasts and download music, and
- Watch AADL Video on Demand.
Please bring your library card, laptop, smartphone, tablet, or other device. Registration is not required. Classes are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Go to aadl.org/classes for the complete schedule.
See you in class!
Blog Post
On This Day in History--January 3rd: J.R.R. Tolkien was born in 1892
by nicole
Author of the incredibly popular Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien was born on January 3rd, 1892 in Bloemfontein, South Africa. He died in Bournemouth, England on September 2nd, 1973.
While many other authors had published works of fantasy before Tolkien, the great success of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings led directly to a popular resurgence of the genre. Tolkien's works painted detailed, colorful images for his readers and his dedication to detailed imagery and his extensive imagination led him to create an entirely new world, now famously known as Middle-Earth. He also constructed fictional histories, detailed legends and intricate languages for his world.Tolkien, who has won countless awards throughout and after his lifetime, was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 1972. In 2008, The Times newspaper ranked him sixth on a list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945" and Forbes magazine ranked him the 5th top-earning dead celebrity in 2009.
Tolkien Week, an annual event that celebrates the works and legacy of J.R.R. Tolkien, will take place from September 22nd to September 28th in 2013. The Lord of the Rings series was later adapted into three popular films: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of The King. More recently, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, was released as the first of a new three-part film trilogy. Follow the links, and you'll find many of Tolkien's books and films in AADL's collection!
Related Posts:
Tolkien and Dickens Join Forces for New Books
The Hobbit Is Back Again
Locus Magazine Announces Winners of Poll for Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels
Blog Post
Wonderful New Picture Book: 'Waking Dragons'
by annevm
When illustrator-author Derek Anderson visited the Malletts Creek Branch of the AADL in October, I watched as Ann Arbor children and adults fell under his spell. Sketching shapes looked like such fun! Anderson even talked a bit about his life and career. Afterwards I was drawn to buy his book, Waking Dragons and to have it signed for my son. I took the book home, read it, and stole it back for myself.
This picture book, written by master storyteller Jane Yolen, is beautiful and magical, and brought to life by Anderson's gold-washed paintings. After the dragons "bumble" and "tumble" out of bed, the determined boy-knight who is in charge of them prepares a delicious breakfast of waffles -- served from a catapult -- in time for the dragons to fly the boy off to Knight School. As you read the rhymes, don't miss the humor, such as the sign on the fire extinguisher, "In Case of Dragon Breath."
Anderson probably is best known for his Little Quack books, but I'm also a fan of Gladys Goes Out to Lunch. For more good reading for adults, go to Derek's web page, and read "In the Studio: A Creative Journal." Fascinating.
Blog Post
Michigan Notable Books 2012
by prlhw
Looking for some local reads? Look no further than these books, hot off the press and certified fresh!
From absolutemichigan.com: "Each year, the Michigan Notable Books list features 20 books published during the previous calendar year that are about, or set in, Michigan or the Great Lakes region or are written by a native or resident of Michigan.
'This year's Michigan Notable Books bring to life the Michigan experience through vivid storytelling that creates portraits of the people and places that make Michigan great,' State Librarian Nancy Robertson said. 'Addressing Michigan's natural beauty, its innovative leaders or the faith of its people, these books celebrate Michigan as a place and a people that even in the most trying of times find transformation.'"
The AADL has most of these books in our catalog! Among some of the most popular include:
Non-fiction:
- Once Upon A Car, "the story of the rise, fall, and rebirth of the Big Three U.S. automakers, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler," by Bill Vlasic, the Detroit bureau chief for the New York Times.
- Ghost Writers, a chilling collection of fantastical ghost stories written by Michigan authors.
- Vintage Views along the West Michigan Pike features beautiful "vintage postcards, photographs, maps, and ephemera" that give readers a glimpse into the history of Michigan's famous road, US-31.
Memoir:
- Magic trash: a Story of Tyree Guyton and His Art, reflects on Guyton's influence on the city of Detroit, and his arguably most inspiring and popular project, The Heidelberg Project.
- Here Comes Trouble: Stories from My Life by Michael Moore, a Flint, Michigan native who is best known for his unique humor and politically-themed documentaries.
- Elly Peterson: "Mother" of the Moderates, an inspiring story about Elly Peterson's journey as a woman heavily involved in politics during the 1970s; she was the first woman to serve as chair of the Michigan Republican Party.
Fiction:
- Once Upon A River, by Bonnie Jo Campbell, is a soul-searching tale about sixteen-year-old Margo Crane's adventures through rural Michigan as she searches for her long lost mother.
- Motor City Shakedown, by D.E. Johnson, tells a murder mystery set in 1911 about Detroit's first mob-wars.
- Misery Bay by Steve Hamilton is yet another in his series of mystery books set in Michigan's upper peninsula.
Poetry:
- Songs of Unreason, a book of poetry inspired by Michigan people and places, by Michigan native, author and poet Jim Harrison.
Click here for the full list of Michigan's Notable Books of 2012.
Blog Post
Small Gems - Short Story Collections
by muffy
Shorter days, short on time, short attention span? We've got you covered. Take a look at these fabulous short-story collections on our New Book shelves.
Award-winning, Ann Arbor's homegrown Steven Gillis gives us The Law of Strings and Other Stories which fellow author Michael Griffith called "a revelation - strange, barbed and original" - an existential yelp examining individual choices and our all-too-human response to unexpected events. Will please fans of Aimee Bender and George Saunders (BTW, don't miss his brand new SS collection coming out in January - blew me away! and that MacArthur grant is so well-deserved).
The Lives of Things : short stories collects Nobel laureate José Saramago's early short stories, infused with satire and fantastical elements and showcasing his efforts to expose the tyranny of the Salazar regime in his native Portugal.
Karen Brown leads off her SS collection (a FFF) with the titular Little Sinners - stories that capture the domestic world in all its blighted promises, a world where women's roles in housekeeping, marriage, childbirth, and sex have been all too well defined, and where the characters fashion, recklessly and passionately, their own methods of escape. This winner of the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Fiction will appeal to fans of Lucia Perillo's fabulous Happiness is a Chemical in the Brain (also a FFF, see blog).
This Will be Difficult to Explain : and other stories by Scotiabank Giller Prize winning author Johanna Skibsrud, is 9 loosely connected stories with an unforgettable cast of characters. A young maid at a hotel in France encounters a man who asks to paint her portrait, only to find out later that he is someone other than who she thinks. A divorced father, fearing estrangement from his thirteen-year-old daughter, allows her to take the wheel of his car before he realizes that being a grave mistake.
Blog Post
Parent's Corner: Kids + Technology
by manz
The Downtown library has a shelf in the Youth Department known as the Parent Shelf. On this shelf you’ll find a variety of parent-child related books on a multitude of topics- including everything from language to tantrums to potty training to homework. These books are available for checkout, and can be found in the catalog when searching “parent shelf,” if you’d like to have one sent to a branch of your choice.
The parent shelf features a few helpful books with information on kids and technology, which is a hot topic, as technolgoy is everwhere, with new devices being released constantly. We have a few titles dealing with cyber safety, such as: Cyber-safe kids, cyber-savvy teens: Helping young people learn to use the Internet safely and responsibly. It might also be worth checking out books on social media, such as Talking back to Facebook: A common sense guide to raising kids in the digital age and CyberSafe: Protecting and empowering kids in the digital world of texting, gaming, and social media. See here for additional items on similar topics.
Blog Post
The Hobbit Is Back Again
by manz
Are you ready?! J.R.R. Tolkein’s epic tale of The Hobbit is being released as a feature film trilogy, and this Friday the first part, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, opens in theaters. It’s amazing to think that The Hobbit was released in book form in 1937!
For some this means preparing by rereading the book, or watching film versions of the 3 books that followed The Hobbit known as The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, which includes The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and Return of the King. Those 3 films were directed by Peter Jackson, and he’s back to direct The Hobbit Trilogy as well. It’s been a decade since Jackson last had us watching Tolkein on the big screen, so the new films have been highly anticipated. This film also features new technology! Films have been shot at 24 frames per second for 90 years, and now we have a mainstream film that at select theaters will be shown at the high frame rate (HFR) of 48 frames per second, and in 3D. There's debate over the quality of this format and as to whether or not it is actually a more complete film experience. I personally plan to see it the plain old-fashioned way of 24fps and in 2D.
What are we talking about? The Hobbit, Or There and Back Again is the story of a conservative hobbit named Bilbo Baggins who heads off on an epic quest to reclaim Lonely Mountain and its treasure from the dragon Smaug. Along the way is high adventure and many encounters with other creatures, namely the band of dwarves that he travels with. It is on this journey that Bilbo meets the creature Gollum, and where he first lays hands on “the one ring” that changes his life, and that of Middle Earth, for all time.
For the super fans there are some new informational books that accompany the film, including:
The hobbit: An unexpected journey : official movie guide
The hobbit : An unexpected journey : the movie storybook
The hobbit: The unexpected journey : the world of the hobbits
The hobbit: An unexpected journey : visual companion
Blog Post
The Best of 2012
by muffy
If you have read all of the New York Times 10 Best Books of 2012, you could certainly find something on 100 Notable Books of 2012.
Here is the NPR Complete List of Best Books of 2012 which includes Graphic Novels That Flew Under The Radar, Nancy Pearl's Picks For The Omnivorous Reader.
As the days get shorter and there is just too much to do, try Jane Ciabattari's picks of Short Stories To Savor On A Winter Weekend. For a bit of seasonal reading, there is A Wintry Mix: Alan Cheuse Selects The Season's Best.
The thoughtful and expert picks in Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2012, and the Library Journal 2012 Best of Genre Fiction are always right on. Bear in mind also, The Guardian(UK) Best Books of the Year for some adventurous reading.
On the road this holiday season? Track down one of these Top 10 Crime Fiction Audiobooks, or the The Washington Post Best Audio Books of 2012.
For the ebook readers on your list, here are the current hot titles. They are always available and no gift wrapping necessary.
FOR THE YOUNG READERS IN YOUR LIFE :
Worth another look is NPR's 100 Best-Ever Teen Novels.
American Library Association's 2012 Best Fiction for Young Adults and Top 10 List, the complete list of 2012 Notable Children's Books
The New York Times 100 Notable Children's books covers titles for young adults to picture books.
And who could blame them if they want TOYS? Check out Parenting magazine's Best New Toys 2012 and the Best Wii games for kids.
Blog Post
A New Literary Landmark
by Grace22
On Thursday, November 29th, the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in New York City will celebrate author and longtime Cathedral librarian Madeleine L'Engle with the dedication of the Diocesan House library as a Literary Landmark. L'Engle's books for readers of all ages were profoundly influenced by her Episcopal faith, belief in science, and strong appreciation for the inner lives of children. This year marks the 50th publishing anniversary of her Newbery Medal-winning book A Wrinkle in Time.
November 29th would have been L’Engle’s 94th birthday. During the dedication, Leonard S. Marcus, children’s literature historian and author of Listening for Madeleine: A Portrait of Madeleine L’Engle in Many Voices, will speak about L’Engle and her connection to the Cathedral.
Blog Post
Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage
by Caser
Three Times Lucky is one Philip Marlowe away from being a full-fledged crime noir for young readers. Miss Mo LoBeau is a quick tongued, rising sixth grade orphan living in tiny modern-day southern town, Tupelo Landing, with her adopted parents, The Colonel and Miss Lana, who own and operate a cafe attached to their home. When big-city Detective Starr comes to Tupelo investigating a murder, secrets about everyone's past begin to surface, and Mo and her best friend Dale race against time to solve the mystery and save the only family Mo has ever known.
This debut novel from Sheila Turnage is packed with humor, deception, wit, and colorful characters, and it's buzzing on many year-end must-read lists.