Staff Choices
Posted by annetteb on 05/06/16
Are you looking to create a great new video with exciting special effects? Consider using our portable green screen to incorporate exciting backdrops into your project. The green screen is available for check out from the library at this link. If you have any questions, feel free to stop by the Tech Help Desk.
Posted by jdunc on 05/02/16
Do we really need another retelling of Pride and Prejudice? If it is Curtis Sittenfeld, then yes! I absolutely loved this version. Sittenfeld does a wonderful job of updating the classic story to incorporate modern changes including, cross fit, babies before marriage, and sex (oh my!).
Liz Bennett is a writer who lives in New York City with her sister Jane, a yoga instructor. They return home to the Cincinnati suburbs after their father's health scare. Mrs. Bennett, as insufferable as ever, is obsessed with her daughters finding good matches. The prime “eligible” bachelor is Chip Bingley, who participated on a Bachelor like television show.
Sittenfeld’s provides creative, updated versions of the characters. Fans of the original story will appreciate that she maintains all of the original character’s names and personalities. No one can top Austen’s original, but Sittenfeld provides a light, quick read with the wit we all love about Austen’s work.
Eligible is part of a series in which modern authors retell Austen’s six novels. The others include works by Alexander McCall Smith, Joanna Trollope and Val McDermid.
If you enjoy Eligible, I would highly recommend American Wife, by Sittenfeld. Another retelling of sorts, a fictional account of the life of former first lady, Laura Bush.
Posted by meyoung on 04/08/16
I'm not going to lie to you. When I picked up this book, I wasn't expecting to like it at all. The cover looks like a light, fluffy, love story. The description on the back makes it seem like love ever-lasting. Basically, it looks like something that would make me barf. After sitting down for more than an hour with it, I realized that I just couldn't put it down. A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True by Brigid Pasulka is a beautifully crafted book following two time periods.
While the story does, in fact, include love, it is so much more than that. One story gives us the worries, horrors, and anxiety of WWII. One story gives us a coming-of-age tale in New Poland almost 50 years later. Pasulka examines how the past shapes who we are today by gracing us with the life of grandparents and the life of a granddaughter.
Pasulka does a wonderful job creating characters that are so tangible, so real. Her description of setting is deep without it masking the story line. The addition of Polish words is a nice reminder that the characters speak Polish - and a great additive to their personalities.
Brigid Pasulka is a local author and will be visiting the library on April 26 from 7-8:30PM for an author panel discussion.
Posted by jdunc on 04/01/16
I recently binge watched the first two seasons of this incredibly addictive BBC show. The Peaky Blinders are a criminal gang family in early 1920s Birmingham, England. Cillian Murphy is perfectly cast as the handsome, but troubled Thomas Shelby who leads the family business. As Thomas tries to expand the family’s reach, he and his brothers struggle with post-traumatic stress from the trenches of World War I. Thomas’s desire for power brings him head to head with a detective obsessed with bringing down the family. There is also a star-crossed love story that reveals a softer side of Thomas Shelby, but also showcases that no one can be trusted. Don’t worry if you finish the two seasons in a weekend, Season 3 is now in production and expected to air in the UK in April!
Posted by bweiner on 03/20/16
Breathe: Respire, the 2014 film by acclaimed actress-director Mélanie Laurent, confronts the issue of bullying in a credible and terrifying way.
Enter Sarah, the new student with the rebellious attitude and free spirit. Charlie is drawn to her total lack of social constraint and allows Sarah to influence her actions and behavior. The consequences of this shatter the lives of all involved…
No more reveals, for there are some interesting twists and turns in this well-acted, absorbing film. In French with English subtitles.
Charlie is your average high school student, endearingly sweet and alternately willful. She fights with her family, laughs with her friends and makes tentative steps into adulthood with the opposite sex.
Enter Sarah, the new student with the rebellious attitude and free spirit. Charlie is drawn to her total lack of social constraint and allows Sarah to influence her actions and behavior. The consequences of this shatter the lives of all involved…
No more reveals, for there are some interesting twists and turns in this well-acted, absorbing film. In French with English subtitles.
Posted by jfreier on 03/20/16
A casino robbery in Atlantic City goes horribly awry and a mysterious man named Jack A.K.A. the ghostman is called in to clean up the mess. Jack or who ever he really is must fulfill a favor from his handler due to a mess up in Kuala Lumpur 5 years earlier.
Jack uses his many skills to find out what happened and who set up who and using his ability to remain off the grid and virtually invisble cleans up the mess.
This is Roger Hobbs debut novel and is a great thriller and very different because of the Ghostman's skill set. he has a new book called Vanishing Games.
Posted by lsears on 03/19/16
Zee and Doug are a married couple who move into Zee’s wealthy mother’s carriage house and must share quarters with Zee’s stepfather’s unemployed son, Case, and his wife, Miriam. Several things take place at the same time. Zee is angling to get her husband a job at the university where she works and tries to discredit one her colleagues. Doug is trying to write a monograph about his favorite poet who once visited this same property where Doug now lives when it was an artist’s colony decades ago but is secretly writing for a popular tween girls’ book series. Doug and Miriam plot to get into the attic of the main house. Unusual bad luck happens to Case and is it related to the backstory of the house being haunted by one of its original owners?
Working backward in time from 1999 to 1955 to 1929 to 1900, each time frame distinctly introduces us to new characters and a different tone to the story. As the story goes back in time, the significance of the characters and seemingly mundane objects becomes clear. However, just like in real life, the people in the present never really know all that happened in the past. There are several ah-ha moments that I really enjoyed discovering, no spoilers here, even though I sometimes needed to reread certain sections to really understand what I had just read.
Be prepared to work hard to keep track of this story and the details will be revealed. The story contains elements of mystery, some lighthearted humor, has a complex way of building on the story and is richly detailed.
Rebecca Makkai is a local author who has written novels and short stories. She will visit the library on April 26 from 7-8:30pm for an author panel discussion.
Posted by MammarappallilBoys. on 03/12/16
Do you plan to shoot and edit a video, record music, or do some graphic design?
Stop by at the Tech Help Desk and ask for equipment newly available for checkout outside the library, such as the Green Screen, HD Camcorder, Zoom H4N Recorder, Wacom Tablet, Recording Kits and more...
Posted by bweiner on 02/14/16
The Daughters by Adrienne Celt explores the complex dynamic between mothers and daughters in a dramatic, unflinching and uncompromising way. The maternal presence in this story is represented by four successive generations in one family, and their fierce love mixed with struggles for power is a familiar scenario.
Woven into the fabric of this story are bits of Polish mythology, and this influences the fates of the women involved. Lulu is an opera singer who has trouble with her voice following the difficult birth of her daughter, an event that has extracted a personal cost to her family. When a daughter is born, someone must be held accountable…
Adrienne Celt does a magnificent job creating mood and atmosphere in this story. You can feel the darkness descend and the moments of tension between the women are tangible. The passion of these mothers is transcendent, and to be in their inner circle is fascinating. As an added bonus, most of the action takes place in Chicago. This is a very interesting read, and a wonderful exploration of the powers of motherhood.
Posted by lsears on 02/09/16
Lily and Ted meet in a London airport bar during a flight delay. Some small talk, an attraction, too many gin and tonics, too many personal details shared and the conversation takes a dark turn. Ted reveals that his wife is involved with another man so his emotions are highly charged and he is feeling vengeful. Lily seems reasonable in a cold, calculating way and encourages him to act on his wronged point of view. They make plans to meet in a few days’ time. If neither shows up, no harm was done. Except that they do meet and make a plan for murder.
These characters play by a different set of self-serving rules; morality is not a characteristic they possess. And yet I wanted to find out what happens next and enjoyed being surprised by the plot twists. Others may be able to anticipate them but I did not see them coming. Will they get away with murder? Will anyone be punished? What kind of person would dare to make a determination that someone is “the kind worth killing”?
The beginning of this story is reminiscent of Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train and, in a nod to this author, Lily is reading one of her novels when she meets Ted. Readers who enjoy suspenseful novels with plenty of twists and turns might like to read Peter Swanson’s novel The Kind Worth Killing.
Want recommendations on what to read next? Email advisory@ahml.info and we will be happy to assist you in finding a great book to read.
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