Ages 18+.
Blog Post
A Home I Can Afford
by MarilynG
With the cost of living going up, finding affordable housing is a real challenge. If you are looking for someone to share your home with in order to cut down on expenses, multi-generational living might be the right answer for you. Check out Together Again to get some pointers on making this approach work.
Are you are interested in contributing to the decision making process of affordable housing standards in Ann Arbor? Then consider giving input at one of the public meetings being held this month about the Affordable Housing Needs Assessment in Washtenaw County by the Office of Community Development.
Blog Post
If you loved "To Kill a Mockingbird"......
by Maxine
Carrie Brown's second novel, The Rope Walk is a stirring, atmospheric coming of age story of ten year old Alice Macauley who is the youngest child of five and the only daughter of Archie MacCauley, Shakespeare scholar, professor and widower. They live in a small town outside the college town of Brattleboro, Vermont. Alice grows up rough-housing with her older brothers who she adores but is anticipating a lonely summer as they all return to work and school after her birthday celebration. But into her life comes Theo, a bi-racial boy and an adventurer like her. They are both invited to come and read to Kenneth Fitzgerald, an artist dying of AIDS who has come to live with his sister. Themes of prejudice, friendship and tolerance pervade this novel whose luminous prose takes us all back to those long idle summers when, as children, days of lying in a hammock climbing trees or building forts in a stream were enough to make us happy.
Blog Post
Amazon's Bestselling DVDs
by manz
Amazon.com’s most recent bestselling DVD list includes many movie titles available at the AADL. Fun youth flicks include The Jungle Book, Ratatouille, and Transformers. Adults might want to check out Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Ken Burns’ The War, or Grindhouse Presents, Planet Terror. It's nice to see movies, rather than just boxed sets from Television shows, selling at Amazon for a change.
Blog Post
Anne Enright wins the 2007 Man Booker Prize
by sernabad
Last night, Anne Enright became the second Irish woman (Iris Murdoch was the first) to win the much coveted Man Booker Prize.
Ms. Enright, 45, won for The Gathering, her fourth novel, which follows the lives of Veronica Hegarty and her nine siblings, one of whom has recently died tragically. Ms. Enright leaves no family dysfunction unturned in this family saga, praised by one reviewer for its ‘exhilarating bleakness.’ In a radio interview in the UK yesterday, Ms. Enright described her winner as “…the intellectual equivalent of a Hollywood weepie.”
The Man Booker Prize comes with a £50,000 ($101,874) purse.
Blog Post
Found in Heeb Magazine: Davy Rothbart
by Beth Manuel
Local media icon and
Found Magazine creator was pictured as one of the top 20 people to watch (who happen to be Jewish) in the fall issue of Heeb Magazine. The magazine paired the individuals with their favorite photographer. Davy’s cheesy snapshot was taken by Sears Portrait Studio, reminiscent of a 3rd grade school photo. Oy vey!
Blog Post
Before Night Falls
by french_film_grl
Before Night Falls is a wonderful film based on the life of Cuban writer and poet, Reinaldo Arenas. Arenas is played by the Oscar Nominated Javier Bardem. The movie spans the whole of Arenas' life. The film begins by showing us the Cuban village where Reinaldo Arenas was born. We bear witness to the intense poverty he lives in while growing up, and the unusually distant relationship he has with his mother. As he becomes a young man in the 1950's, he falls victim to the oppressive Cuban government. He is persecuted for his writing and for being homosexual. He remains courageous against the oppression, and continues writing even while he is imprisoned. The Cuban government finally releases him, and allows him to emigrate to New York City in 1980. There he lives and writes until he loses his battle with AIDS. Sean Penn has a cameo appearance in this movie as a peasant, and Johnny Depp adds a couple cameo appearances as well. He plays a military officer, and a drag queen. This is definitely a movie to add to your "must see" list! The official FFG rating of this film is a 9.
Blog Post
Blog Action Day
by manz
October 15 is Blog Action Day. Where the question asked is: “What would happen if every blog published posts discussing the same issue, on the same day?” The issue this year is the environment. It is encouraged for everyone with a blog to post something about the environment relating it to their own topic.
The library has many great books about the environment, both fact and opinion based. One of my favorite authors to tackle environmental issues is Derrick Jensen. He does it in such a personal way and his books really punch you in the gut and make you think about the world around you and your existence in it. Here are a few of his books that we have at the AADL: A Language Older Than Words, The Culture of Make Believe, Endgame Volume I, The problem of civilization, and Endgame Volume II, Resistance. Log into your own blog and get posting!
Blog Post
What is a Slan?
by RiponGood
A Slan is a highly evolved human, discovered by Samuel Lann. The legend says Lann exposed his wife to a mutation machine, producing three mutated offspring, two girls and a boy. Over a period of 1500 years, more Slans appeared. During that time, mankind and Slans fought a bitter war, in which the humans triumphed. It is not the human policy to hunt down and kill any Slan. So goes Slan by A. E. van Vogt, written in 1946. We also have an audio version.
Blog Post
Two literary heavyweights up for the Giller
by sernabad
In this season of major literary prizes, the Scotiabank Giller Prize shortlist includes two names familiar to US readers.
Michael Ondaatje has been nominated for Divisadero, his novella-within-a-novel, which moves back and forth in time between three Californians in the 70s (and beyond) and a French turn-of-the-century author. Ondaatje previously won the Giller in 2000.
Two-time Giller recipient (1994 and 2003) M.G. Vassanji was tapped for Assassin’s Song. A 13th century holy shrine is at the center of this family saga that follows a rebellious son who flees his tradition-bound family for Harvard.
The winner will be named on November 6, 2007.
Blog Post
Doris Lessing wins the Nobel Prize for Literature
by sernabad
Doris Lessing, prolific writer who now lives in London, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature this morning in Sweden.
Ms. Lessing was born in Persia (now Iran) and dropped out of school at 13. Known for her strong feminist opinions which were ahead of her time (in 1956 both Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and South Africa labeled her a “prohibited alien”), Ms. Lessing’s body of work includes the multi-volume Children of Violence series, The Golden Notebook, A Proper Marriage. Her latest novel, Cleft, was published in July of this year.