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One Streetcar at least still exists

by Maxine

Today, December 3, is the 60th anniversary of Tennessee William's play, A Streetcar Named Desire. The play opened on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on this day in 1947. Jessica Tandy played Blanche Du Bois and newcomer Marlon Brando played Stanley. Streetcar was as successful as his previous play, The Glass Menagerie. It ran for two years and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Brando was an overnight sensation and the play's first performance received a twenty minute standing ovation.

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Doctor Zhivago

by french_film_grl

This time of year always makes me think of the film Doctor Zhivago. The winter comes, and I have visions of fur bearing Omar Sharif standing alone with Julie Christie in a beautiful abandoned ice house.

This epic movie, based on the novel by Boris Pasternak, was origianlly released in 1965.

Doctor Yuri Zhivago, played by Omar Sharif, is a man torn between two women. Although married, Yuri meets nurse Lara, played by Julie Christie, and falls in love with her. The chaos and inhumanity of the Russian revolution add a tragic feel to this movie.

Doctor Zhivago was update in 2003 as a miniseries, starring Sam MacLintock as Yuri, and Keira Knightley as Lara. Check out this version as an updated alternative to the original.

Once banned in the Soviet Union, this film is undoubtedly one of the world’s most famous love stories. It is a must see for your winter movie watching!

The official FFG rating of this film is a 10.

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History Bits - After Pearl Harbor

by ryanikoglu

Miss Breed was the first Children's Librarian in San Diego Public Library. Dear Miss Breed is the story of "quiet acts of courage" following The bombing of Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. "Her children" were American citizens of Japanese ancestry. As families were sent away to internment camps, Miss Breed handed them penny postcards printed with her return address. She sent books, letters, paper dolls, and small packages of "treasure" to the children in Poston Camp III. Her acts touched the lives of dozens of children for the rest of their lives. Her letters are lost, but she saved the children's letters. They and tell this Hero story !

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New DVD's

by Maxine

Following are a few of Amazon's new releases on dvd that we have at the Library: (Descriptions are from Amazon.com)

Ocean's Thirteen:
"It's bolder. Riskier. The most dazzling heist yet. George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and more reteam with director Steven Soderbergh for a split-second caper that stacks the deck with wit, style and cool."

Amazing Grace:
"From the makers of Ray, AMAZING GRACE tells the inspiring story of William Wilberforce and his passion and perseverance to pass a law ending the slave trade in the late 18th century. Several friends, including Wilberforce's minister, a reformed slave ship captain who penned the beloved hymn Amazing Grace, urge him to see the cause through."

La Vie en Rose:
"Picturehouse and HBO Films present a critically-acclaimed biopic about the legendary international singing icon Edith Piaf, whose voice and talent captivated the world. Starring award-winner Marion Cotillard...in an astonishing performance, the film is a portrait of a remarkable artist born into poverty who survived using the only gift she had ? her voice. Piaf?s tragic life was a constant battle to sing and survive, to live and love, with no regrets."

Paris Je t'aime:
"Walter Salles, Alexander Payne and Olivier Assayas, have come together to portray Paris in a way never before imagined. Made by a team of contributors as cosmopolitan as the city itself, this portrait of the city is as diverse as its creators' backgrounds and nationalities. With each director telling the story of an unusual encounter in oe of the city's neighborhoods, the vignettes go beyond the 'postcard' view of Paris to portray aspects of the city rarely seen on the big screen."

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A St. Paul girl

by Maxine

Patricia Hampl is a master of the memoir. Her latest, The Florist's Daughter traces her life growing up in in what she calls "old" St. Paul, Minnesota. Her Czech father is the florist of the title, one from whom she drew artistic inspiration because he was an artist with flowers. But it was her well-read Irish mother who was also a natural storyteller who gave Hampl a model for the literary life. Hampl's tribute to them attests to the need for beauty and purpose in one's life. You can listen to an interview with Hampl about her memoir on the Diane Rehm Show.

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Get into the Holiday Spirit at the State Theater

by lola

Take a break from holiday shopping and take advantage of the Twisted Christmas series at the State Theater. Every Sunday in December at 3:30 PM, starting December 2, relax with popcorn while watching Christmas classics and not-so Christmas classics.
The twisted line-up includes:
December 2 How the Grinch Stole Christmas
December 9 Die Hard
December 16 Bad Santa
December 23 Scrooged

For more traditional Christmas cheer, visit the Michigan Theater on December 9 and take part in the Christmas Sing-Along and watch A Muppet Christmas Carol.

Stop by the library on your way downtown and pick up good reading material. We've got a great holiday collection in the Downtown Youth Department that will get you in the mood for Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.

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Mr. BROOKS

by tonyabreu

A psychological thriller about "Mr. Earl Brooks" (Kevin Costner) who received a “Man of the Year” award and seems like a nice enough guy, except sometimes he becomes possessed by his psychotic alter ego "Marshall" (William Hurt) and goes on bloody murderous rampages. Hot on his trail is a sexy police detective "Tracy Atwood" (Demi Moore) who develops an unusual bond with the slippery, split-personality serial killer. Watch (Mr. Brooks) Trailer.

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Fabulous Fiction First #92

by muffy

I have been saving this for a leisurely read and I was not disappointed.

Princeton professor Sophie Gee's lively, highly literate debut Scandal of the Season* provides the backstory to Alexander Pope’s famous poem "The Rape of the Lock".

1711, London. The anti-Catholic sentiments and secretive Jacobite plots to overthrow the Protestant queen makes for an uneasy social season. Pope’s growing literary reputation allows him entry into high society where he watches with interest the courtship and secret affair between beautiful Arabella Fermor and Robert, Lord Petre.

When Robert is forced to offer marriage to a wealthier heiress, Arabella’s disappointment and humiliation brings on the scandalous event that inspires the famous poem and launches Pope's career.

“Delightfully gossipy, psychologically insightful and historically fascinating”, this novel is "sprinkled with literary cameos, ...crackling verbal one-upmanship and crude double entendres...". For readers of Mary Balogh and regency romance.

* = Starred Review

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New Fiction on the New York Times Best Sellers List (12/2/07)

by Mazie

James Patterson is back for the seventh or eighth time this year with Double Cross. How does he do it? The only other new book is Confessor by Terry Goodkind. This is the eleventh and last book in the Sword of Truth series.

The whole list can be viewed online by clicking here.

Off the List, I highly recommend this past year's winner of the Costa (formerly the Whitbread) Award. Last weekend just as the arctic winds started blowing here, I finished Tenderness of Wolves which is set on the frozen Canadian frontier . This first novel by Stef Penney is an enthralling blend of historical fiction wrapped around a mysterious murder. The complications of love in its various guises only add to the suspenseful hunt for the killer.

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Kolla & Brock: Great Police Procedurals

by Van

Sergeant Kathy Kolla and Detective Chief Inspector David Brock of Scotland Yard are the backbone of a fantastic police procedural series set in London and the surrounding area. Barry Maitland’s stories are nuanced, detailed, and fascinating. Plots can involve you with Marx and his descendants, stamp collecting, shopping malls, Jamaican immigrants, or Islamic terrorism. Kolla and Brock have strong investigative skills and are committed to discovering and uncovering the truth, despite administrative or political impediments. I have three more to go. It is a comfort to know that if I am struggling to make headway in How to Read the Bible or Hunger’s Bride that I have an involving good read as a break.

Read them all and read them in order:

The Marx Sisters
The Malcontenta
The Chalon Heads
Silvermeadow
Babel
The Verge Practice
No Trace
Spider Trap