The Vanishing Point by Louise Hawes is the story of Lavinia Fontana, daughter of painter Prospero Fontana. In sixteenth century Bologna, it was difficult for a woman painter to be trained and receive recognition. Lavinia finds a way with the help of Paolo, an apprentice of her father's, who passes off her paintings as his own. When her father learns what's happened, he allows her to train with him. Mixed in with this story is a budding romance with Paolo and Lavinia's intervention in a family conflict. A great read for historical fiction fans.

Eve thinks you should read Toni Morrison's Bluest Eye while Jay-Z recommends "Keep Ya Head Up" by Tupac. You can find these recommendations and more on The Hip Hop Reader, an "interactive website created to increase and enhance the reading habits, Internet usage, and civic engagement of urban high school students." Funded by Verizon, the first Hip Hop reader program is being tested in NYC right now, and features a point system (for students in public NYC high schools), where they can purchase prizes after reading from the Leadership Council's selections. The council includes Jay-Z, Russell Simmons, Eve and others. Check out the reading lists, too.

He's Rex Libris, the new superhero librarian!

This a public service announcement for anyone worried about Black Helicopters and Roswell, among other things: throw out your tinfoil helmets.

It has long been suspected that the government has been using satellites to read and control the minds of certain citizens. The use of aluminum helmets has been a common guerrilla tactic against the government's invasive tactics [1]. Surprisingly, these helmets can in fact help the government spy on citizens by amplifying certain key frequency ranges reserved for government use. In addition, none of the three helmets we analyzed provided significant attenuation to most frequency bands.

Study in full.

I love it when a book sucks you in with the first line. That happened when
I opened Quicksilver by Stephanie Spinner. Hermes, a lesser god from Greek
mythology and one of Zeus' sons, kicks off this rollicking story with this line,

"It's dark and gloomy, and it smells like dead sheep, but when Zeus says go to Hell, I go."

What's your favorite first line?

AADL-GT: Ann Arbor District Library Game Tournaments

We've got 4 videogame tournaments coming up Thanksgiving weekend, and registration is now open. To register, first login or create an account if you haven't already, then go here to preregister for events. Depending on turnout, latecomers who haven't preregistered may be turned away, so be sure to get registered, and be on time to get your spot in the brackets! Click read more for more details about next weekend's tournaments.

On Confessions of a Dance Floor, Madonna returns unapologetically to her roots. A stunning blend of musical styles with one foot in early disco and the other pointed toward the future, Confessions On A Dance Floor "is all about having a good time straight through and non-stop," says the Material Mom, who co-wrote and co-produced every track. For Madonna and music fans everywhere, the all-dance, no-ballad Confessions on a Dance Floor is a welcome guilty pleasure. Now let's see if there is any truth to the rumors that she may play the halftime show during the Superbowl next February.

If it appears that life is imitating HBO - well, maybe it is. In a news item similar to the storyline of last seasons Entourage actors with "incredible swimmer's bod[ies]" are encouraged to apply. So goes a current casting notice for a possible WB series about underwater overachiever Aquaman, according to the fan site AquamanTV.com. Aquaman debuted in DC Comics in 1941--the adopted son (in some versions of the origin) of a lighthouse keeper who grows to learn his birthright lies in the submerged island of Atlantis. Befitting his name, Aquaman is at his best in the water, where he telepathically talks to fish, plays mind games with whales and spends time with a young charge called Aqualad. Smallville's Alfred Gough and Miles Millar will executive produce. Like their current WB series, the duo's Aquaman pilot will not be rife with capes, tights and codpiece accoutrements. Rather, the show will be a "grounded version of the Aquaman mythology," Gough told Daily Variety.

How many of you can name 5 westerns written for teens in the past five years? 3 westerns?? 1 western??? Finally, there is someone brave enough to tackle this genre for a teenage audience, and do a pretty darn good job at the same time. David Ives writes about Scrib, a 16-year-old boy who ran away from home to the Wild West in order to write letters for people who can’t do it themselves. Sound a little far-fetched? Just wait, as Scrib’s chosen occupation leads to him nearly getting killed, being jailed as a criminal, joining up with the notorious Crazy James Kincaid, and delivering a letter from President Abraham Lincoln to a Paiute Indian.

Batman Begins, starring Christian Bale and Mrs. Cruise, is now available on DVD at the library. Could this be the best movie based off a comicbook ever made? Maybe, but here are some others that were pretty good too: Spider-man, Spider-man 2, The X-men, Hellboy, and The Crow. Of course, the best ever might be the man in blue tights, who'll return in 2006.

AADL-GT: Ann Arbor District Library Game Tournaments

"Why, oh why", you ask, "would we shut down the library for a full day?"

The answer is simple. So Eli and Eric could throw down the gauntlet and finally find out who the real DDR champion is (I'm not gonna tell you.. you have to judge for yourself).

Of course, the victor got to sing his own praises, Karaoke-Revolution style, later.