Commercial sellout or exciting new kind of teen read?

Mon, 10/09/2006 - 8:38am by K.C.

Cathy's Book: If Found Call 650-266-8233 has been panned by the publishing world for its ties with Proctor & Gamble. The story includes mention of various Cover Girl products. In addition Proctor & Gamble is helping to promote the book.

The book’s main character, Cathy, is searching for her boyfriend who disappears shortly after breaking up with her. As she turns up clues (phone numbers or a company name) she calls the numbers or Googles the company name. You, the reader, can too. By dialing the phone numbers and searching the web you can glean additional information.

Intrigued or turned off? We haven’t ordered this book yet. Should we?

Buck O'Neil, A Baseball Legend Dies

Sat, 10/07/2006 - 1:52pm by K.C.

John "Buck" O'Neil, age 94, passed away in a Kansas City hospital Friday night. A player and manager for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues as well as the first black baseball coach when hired in 1962 by the Chicago Cubs, O'Neil was known not only for his love of baseball but also for life.

Buck was a fabulous storyteller and was "discovered" in his 80's when he appeared in Ken Burns series, Baseball. Read some of those stories like why baseball great, Satchel Paige called him "Nancy" in the Kansas City Star.

WAH with slim lead heading into Round 3

Fri, 10/06/2006 - 11:53pm by eli

With all Clan Bonuses awarded, we have an incredibly tight race for the top of the Clan Standings, as Clan We Are Hard comes from nowhere to take a miniscule 8-point lead over Turtle Clan. WAH's meteoric rise was the big story of round 2, as [gtplayer:504] shot up to 2nd place on the Leaderboard, still almost 400 points behind [gtplayer:143]. However, it was WAH's savvy acquisition of emerging Melee titans The Royster Brothers (#5 [gtplayer:614] and #6 [gtplayer:606]), and their 5850 points, that enabled WAH to catapult into first place after winning the Round 2 Clan Battle with a somewhat anticlimactic match of F-Zero GX. Read on for the full (and belated) details...

Funke Fans--Have Heart!

Fri, 10/06/2006 - 12:52pm by Sancho Panza

Fans of Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart will have to wait a little longer to get their hands on the final installment of the trilogy. According to Funke, the “working title is Inkdeath,” and it could be released some time in 2007. While you’re waiting, check out Funke’s new series for younger readers, Ghosthunters, or one of her fantastic novels for older kids, like The Thief Lord—I’m currently listening to the audio book, and it’s so good that I make excuses to get back into the car and listen to another chapter. Finally, if you’re especially patient, start counting the days until the Inkheart movie is released in 2008!

October New and Noteworthy

Thu, 10/05/2006 - 4:04pm by muffy

You don’t need me to harp on about the mega-bestsellers but I would like to bring you each month, some of the easy-to-miss new fiction titles. They might be mainstream or quirky; unusual and trend setting; from a newcomer worth watching or a little-known foreign powerhouse who nevertheless deserves a closer look. Some are personal favorites (you can probably tell) but many are exciting new finds.

One Good Turn* by Kate Atkinson.
The story continues from Case Histories. Crackling one-liners, spot-on set pieces and full-blooded cameos make for another absorbing character study.

Spring and Fall by Nicholas Delbanco.
Sweetly satisfying tale of college lovers reunite after 40 years.

The Uses of Enchantment* by Heidi Julavits
The mystery of what did happened to Mary Veal, a 16 year-old abducted from a New England prep-school. Enthralling, atmospheric tale of "sick twisted love".

American Cookery by Laura Kalpakian
A versatile writer serves up tradition and innovation in a saga based on the joy of cooking, complete with 27 recipes.

The Other Side of the Bridge* by Mary Lawson.
Follow up to her much acclaimed debut novel Crow Lake. Moral quandaries and human drama in the Canadian North.

Bliss by O.Z. Livaneli.
Gripping contemporary story of three travelers who change each other, by an eminent Turkish writer.

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
Much awaited sequel to her teen/vampire FFF Twilight* (See blog). Don’t miss this one!

The End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas.
“(F)ast-paced mix of popular culture, love, mystery, and irresistible philosophical adventure” by a genre-blending young British writer and the author of PopCo. Edgy and worth a try.

* = Starred review(s)

Pinhole Photography Exhibition @ Malletts thru October 30

Wed, 10/04/2006 - 5:57pm by K.C.

Stop by Malletts Creek Branch to see some great photos taken this summer by teens who made their own camera out of a paint can. Yes, paint cans! Drop in and learn what pinhole photography is all about.

Yes. Scientists can laugh at themselves.

Wed, 10/04/2006 - 11:22am by Maxine

You've heard of the Nobel Prize awards. In fact, the 2006 awards for chemistry, medicine and physics have already been announced. But this Thursday, October 5th, the Annals of Improbable Research Magazine will present the 2006 Ig Nobel Prize winners at the 16th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony at Harvard's Sanders Theater. The prizes are awarded by Nobel laureates to scientists whose research "makes people laugh." Examples of past winners' papers include: for economics in 2005, the invention of an alarm clock that runs away and hides so that people have to get out of bed. For chemistry, the award was given for research to determine whether people swim faster in syrup or in water. And my favorite for that year, an experiment begun in 1927 in which a glob of black tar has been dripping through a funnel, a drop every nine years.

For two enjoyable if not outrageous books on science, try 101 things you don't know about science and no one else does either by James Trefil or The Pleasure of Finding Things Out by Richard Feynman.

2nd Tuesday Book Discussion Downtown October 9

Mon, 10/02/2006 - 7:14pm by K.C.

Join the next 2nd Tuesday book group and read the short stories of Jeff Parker, writer and Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Eastern Michigan University. Register and pick up your packet of short stories through the Youth Department Downtown (327-8301). The group will meet 6:30-8 p.m. on Monday, October 9. Refreshments will be served.

Birthdays of two literary giants

Mon, 10/02/2006 - 10:55am by Maxine

Today, October 2, is the birthday of both Wallace Stevens, born in Reading, Pa. in 1879 and of Graham Greene, born in Hertfordshire, England in 1904.

Stevens was one of the few writers who kept his job after becoming a successful writer. He woke early every day and composed his poems in his head while walking to and from work at the Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company. Most people he worked with didn't know he was a poet and he preferred his anonymity. His first book, Harmonium, was published when he was 45. It contained some of his most famous poems including "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" whose first stanza contains a striking visual image:

"Among twenty snowy mountains,
The only moving thing
Was the eye of the blackbird."

Greene was a shy child who in his teens attempted suicide several times. At the urging of his therapist, he began to write. He spent much of his life in Vietnam where one of his most famous books, The Quiet American takes place. He published more than thirty books.

BNL In town and for Free

Fri, 09/29/2006 - 6:37pm by Bertha

This five piece band from Toronto will be in Ann Arbor at Borders downtown on October 4th at noon for a short, but FREE concert. Martin Bandyke, from 107one, will interview the band. BNL's now have their own label, Desperation Records, with Barenaked Ladies Are Me recently released.