Blog Post
Joe Kubert, world-renowned cartoonist and graphic artists, has died
by sernabad
Joe Kubert, known throughout the world as a cartoonist and graphic artist extraordinaire, died yesterday.
Kubert was born to draw. By the time he was 12 in 1938, he was selling his work for $5 a page ($79.80 in 2012 dollars) and he was an informal apprentice for the MLJ Studio, the forerunner for Archie Comics.
In the fall of 1943, he began his lifelong association with DC Comics, serving as it's Director of Publications from 1967 to 1976.
Among his large body of work which built his fame are Yossel: April 19, 1943 in which he imagined what his family life would have been like if the Kuberts had stayed in Poland (now Ukraine). He also drew Sgt. Rock: Between Hell and a Hard Place, one entry in hissix-part series of the WW II adventures of Sgt. Frank Rock.
In 1973, he opened the The Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art, now called The Kubert School. The grueling three-year program has aspiring artists glued to their drawing boards eight to ten hours a day.
In 2009 the National Cartoonist Society awarded him their Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award.
Two of Kubert's sons, Andy and Adam, are popular graphic artists in their own right.
Kubert was just shy of his 86th birthday when he died.
Blog Post
David Rakoff, beloved NPR humorist and author, has died
by sernabad
David Rakoff, whose special, sweet gift for humor and sympathy, died last night at home in Manhattan.
A Canadian by birth, great friends with Amy and David Sedaris, Rakoff stole the hearts of This American Life fans on NPR / Public Radio International with his hilarious contributions, told with a calm charm that delighted.
Rakoff wrote just three collections of essays. In his first, Fraud (2001), he wrote of his first battle with cancer. His third book, Half Empty (2010), won the 2011 Thurber Prize for American Humor.
When his cancer returned, Rakoff did not go gentle into that good night. In a powerful New York Times Magazine piece published in April of 2011, Rakoff wrote about the diagnosis that his cancer was terminal: "It leaves you exposed, like grabbing onto the trunk of a tree for support in a storm only to find the wood soaked through and punky and coming apart in your hands."
The announcement on Twitter today of Mr. Rakoff's passing, saw a flood of sorrowful tweets that brought him to the top of the Trending list. He was only 47.
Blog Post
Max And Whit Alexander Discuss Their New Book "Bright Lights, No City: An African Adventure On Bad Roads With A Brother And A Very Weird Business Plan "
by hillary dorwart
Thursday August 9, 2012: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm -- Traverwood Branch: Program Room
At 47, Whit Alexander, the co-founder of the "> Cranium board game, decided to start a new business selling affordable goods and services to low-income villagers in Ghana. His brother, Max, a journalist, came along to tell the story. Neither anticipated how much of an adventure they'd find, and how many challenges they'd encounter on the path to success, from deadly insects and insane driving conditions to voodoo priests and ethnic rivalries!
Join us as Max and Whit Alexander make a special visit to Traverwood Branch to discuss their adventures and the resulting new book "Bright Lights, No City: An African Adventure On Bad Roads With A Brother And A Very Weird Business Plan."
A book signing will follow and books will be on sale at the event.
Hey! You found SOMETHING HIDDEN! And here it is: CRANIUMGERANIUM
Blog Post
The Safety Dance, Time After Time, Etc.
by jaegerla
Have you read Ready Player One yet? If you haven’t yet, you should! For everyone finished with the book, did you catch yourself humming those 80’s hits or wanting to rewatch any sweet 80’s flicks? Immerse yourself in the OASIS easter egg hunt with the help of your trusty library!
Here are lists of the Movies, Music, Anime, TV Shows, and Books referenced by Parzival and his friends.
Blog Post
"Tales of the New World"
by ErinDurrett
From time to time, the desire or the time to commit to a full length novel just isn't there; this is where short stories come in. The best selling point of short stories is that if you are not particularly interested in one story, you can move on the the next without the guilt that can come with putting an entire book to rest without consideration.
Tales of the New World is a collection of ten short stories by PEN/Faulkner Award winner Sabina Murray. Some of the stories are firsthand accounts and others outside perspectives of exploring new lands around the world. Murray delves into the complex world of writing historical fiction focused on recognized historical figures. A few well-known explorers are represented in this compilation, including Magellan and Balboa, as well as lesser known explorers, such as English-born Mary Kingsley.
While there is a definite tone of bleakness and isolation, Tales of the New World offers a fascinating glimpse into the perspective of world explorers, with fictional tales of adventure tinged with strife.
Blog Post
Action + Dystopia + Romance = "Divergent"
by annevm
Check out Divergent, Veronica Roth's first young adult book, and like me, you may find yourself staying up way too late reading it. Exciting and dystopian, this book may remind you of The Hunger Games, although it also manages to hold its own weight in the world of contemporary teen literature. Divergent was written for age 14 and up.
The novel is set in Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago, where sadly, Lake Michigan has become a swamp, but some trains are still running. Society is divided into five factions: Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). All sixteen-year-olds, including Beatrice, must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. In the vicious initiation process for her selected faction, Beatrice struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out choices. Everyone undergoes extreme physical and psychological tests, including disorienting computer simulations. "Tris" -- her new name -- is small but mighty, as she decides who her friends are and tries to save her family. Her love interest, Tobias, is fascinating and mysterious. Readers will be left wondering where this relationship can possibly lead in such a dangerous world.
This is the first book in the “Divergent” series. The next installment is Insurgent, in which, according to Publishers Weekly, "the novel's love story, intricate plot, and unforgettable setting work in concert to deliver a novel that will rivet fans of the first book."
Blog Post
Coney Detroit
by manz
It’s summer and things are hot and busy. Time to grab a dog, a Coke, and head to the beach. Perhaps a coney dog has your number, and if so, you aren’t alone. Apparently no one in the world is as crazy about coney dogs as metro Detroit is. Have you ever thought about the sheer amount Coney Island restaurants? Ever thought about the technique of what constitutes a great coney dog, or perhaps a coney pizza, coney omelette, or coney wrap?
The book Coney Detroit talks about the lore, the history, and the business of all things coney. It focuses on some establishments in Flint, Jackson, Port Huron, Kalamazoo, and Traverse City. It’s a fun little book, chock full of photos, for those interested in all things local.
The book is a collaboration of twenty, and was written by Katherine Yung (Detroit Free Press reporter) and Joe Grimm. It was photographed by EXPOSURE.Detroit and printed in Detroit. Interestingly, all proceeds from the book go to the Gleaners Community Food Bank.
Blog Post
AADL Talks to Local Author Fritz Freiheit
by sherlonya
Fritz Freiheit has been writing science fiction for years. For most of those years, he was working toward an end goal of getting his book published in the traditional manner. He was shopping for agents and dreaming of seeing his book in bookstores. Then Borders closed, and he began to think of things differently. Here, Fritz talks about his decision to self-publish, and introduces us to Dispensing Justice, his alternate-world, coming of age, novel.
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| AADL_Talks_To-Fritz_Freiheit.mp3 | 48.78 MB |
Blog Post
Video of Delia Ephron's Visit
by hillary dorwart
This past May, the AADL hosted author and screenwriter Delia Ephron as she was promoting her new novel, The Lion Is In. If you missed her visit or want to review her talk, watch the video of her visit!
On June 26, her sister and renowned writer and filmmaker, Nora Ephron, passed away from leukemia. Nora and Delia worked on projects together such as the movie You've Got Mail and the play Love, Loss, and What I Wore.
You can also listen to our podcast with Delia.
Blog Post
Nora Ephron, screenwriter, author, director, and funnywoman, has died
by sernabad
Nora Ephron, known for her sweetly funny romantic comedies and wryly humorous essays about issues that didn't used to be amusing, died last night in Manhattan.
Ms. Ephron came from a family of writers. Her parents were both screenwriters. All three sisters -- Delia, Amy, and Hallie -- are authors. She took her familial destiny and ran with it, to the delight of her fans, friends, and loved ones.
Ironically, her first script to bring her fame was the serious film, Silkwood (1983), a devastating look at the life and death of Karen Silkwood. The film starred Meryl Streep and Kurt Russell.
That same year, Ms. Ephron turned the agony of the adultery of her second husband, Carl Bernstein into Heartburn, a very successful, very funny book and, three years later, movie.
In 1989, America couldn't get enough of Ephron's hilarious romcom, When Harry Met Sally, in which Meg Ryan's public display of noisy fake bliss is forever immortalized in the line delivered by director Rob Reiner's mother, Estelle Reiner, who muttered, "I'll have what she's having."
Two more romcoms were huge box office successes. Sleepless in Seattle (1993) and You've Got Mail (1998) both starred Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks.
Women of a certain age hailed Ms. Ephron's chuckly outing of formerly tabboo topics -- wrinkles, small cup size, memory all received the Ephron treatment, especially in I Feel Bad about My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman.
The online blog Huffington Post paid enormous tribute to Ms. Ephron, who was one of their top-tier bloggers.
Ms. Ephron, who was 71, died of acute myelodysplastic syndrome, a blood disorder which can be an offshoot of chemotherapy. MDS entered the public awareness a few weeks ago when Robin Roberts, beloved co-host of Good Morning America, went public with her diagnosis of this disease. According to Be the Match, THE place to go to register to be a bone marrow donor, registrations have more than doubled since Ms. Roberts' announcement.