Sunday, September 30, 2012

What's new in Fiction and Mystery for October?

What are the new titles in fiction and mystery for October?  Here are a few:




Live by Night by Dennis Lehane
Lehane's latest is set in the 1920s in Boston, Florida, and Cuba.

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
More historical fiction from Morton, this time involving three strangers in wartime London.

The Round House by Louise Erdrich
The trilogy begun with The Plague of Doves continues with the story of an Ojibwe woman named Geraldine Coutts. 

maf

Monday, September 24, 2012

Millionshort



Why, it's it's it's scandalous, outrageous, unspeakable. Mice chasing cats. Clocks running counter-clockwise. Librarians bending the corners of pages. Yet here it is: an Internet search engine that proudly eliminates the first million (popular) results. As counter-intuitive as it sounds, Millionshort actually does work. To prove it to you, they feature a blind test: Millionshort vs Google. You supply the search terms and you'll see the two sets of results side by side, with no indication which is which. Then vote for the one you prefer. [In my own tests, it was Google 1, Millionshort 1 and one draw.] If you want to hedge your bets, the search engine also offers to remove  the top 100, 1000, 10,000 or 100,000 hits. Not a search engine for everybody, but if you're feeling like you keep getting the same boring results, and want to give the old search box a kick in the pants, Millionshort is a good place to start. Thanks (once again) to Phil Bradley for the tip.
--RL

Saturday, September 22, 2012


Featured Online Resources for September

Salem Health, Salem History, Salem Science , and Salem Literature may make you think about the town of Salem but the names refer to a very well respected publisher. 

These resources contain great information regarding:
  • Medicine,

  • World and American History 
  • Environmental Science
  • Book Reviews from Magill’s Literary Annual.   

Have your library card and click on the links above to see what you have been missing!


SH

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Banned Books Week (Sept 30-Oct 6)

 Banned Books Week highlights the importance of free and open access to information. During this   30th anniversary of  Banned Books Week, we librarians strive to draw attention to the harms of censorship.  In recognition of the American Library Association's annual celebration of our freedom to read, come in and browse our collection of banned books on audio. Following are a few suggestions:



The Map of Time

The Map of Time
     by Félix J.
Palma

     Published to massive acclaim in Spain, Set in Victorian London, FÉlix J. Palma's rollicking page-turner boasts a cast of real and imagined literary characters and cunning intertwined plots. To save innocent lives--including that of his own wife, H. G. Wells the author of The Time Machine must discover the truth about purported incidents of time travel. The mysteries involve an aristocrat in love with a murdered prostitute from the past; a woman bent on fleeing the strictures of Victorian society by searching for her lover somewhere in the future; and a fourth-dimensional plot to murder celebrated authors in order to steal their fictional creations. Awarded the 2008 XL Ateneo de Sevilla Novela Prize the Map of Time is an audacious historical fantasy executed with uncommon skill. It is a story full of love, adventure, and extraordinary imagination.

The Map of Time is really three interconnected stories which build on each other.  There is a little more romance in this book, than you will find in many time travel stories.  Although slow at times, the author had some interesting ideas and the chapter with the elephant man I found quite moving.  

Tyson

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Online Signup for Study Rooms Now Available



We were listening when you asked to be able to request a study room online rather than calling the Reference Desk.  Now available on the right side of the library homepage is a link to the signup.

These are the guidelines:


1.  Rooms are designed for quiet work and study for 1 or 2 people.

2.  WIFI Internet access is available. 
3.  A study room may be reserved up to 1 day in advance.
4.  Each group or entity may reserve the room for no longer than 1, two hour block per day.
5.  Your reservation will be held for 15 minutes.
6.  For more information call 781-235-1610, ext. 1118. 
7.  If you need to cancel your reservation, please call 781-235-1610 x 1118 or email us so the room may be made available for other users.

SH

Friday, September 14, 2012


Have you ever brought a laptop to the library and wished you could have printed without having to save your file or email your document to print it out at the public computers?

We have great news for you!  Now you can do just that.  Stop by the Reference Desk and find out how you too can enjoy the ease of printing from any wireless device!


SH

Friday Five: YA Series to Watch

It seems like after the success of Harry Potter, every YA book title promotes itself as a "The first book in the ____ series." As a YA junkie, I am okay with this. As a buyer of books, I say "Enough!" And as a lover of books, I would rather see them stop at one book rather than pumping out two more books of low quality just to market the series as the next Hunger Games. In the hope of highlighting some quality up and coming series, I present to you todays "Friday Five: YA Series to Watch" with my reviews:

Series: Divergent
Author: Roth, Veronica
Book Title(s): Divergent, Insurgent
My thoughts: I am very excited about this series and this author. Veronica Roth is in her early twenties and already pumping out some quality work. Her characters are very human and I cannot wait to see what she gives us in the future. For now we have this YA Dystopian Novel about a teenage girl who must choose between staying with her family and being who she really is
, as well as the repercussions of that decision. Divergent is definitely one to watch. While it has not hit Hunger Games or Twilight fandom, it does have a large following and a movie adaptation to be released March 21, 2014.

Series: Unwind
Author: Shusterman, Neal
Book Title(s): Unwind, UnWholly
My thoughts: Rather than a discussion on war or love, this book series takes on the concept of abortion. In the future, abortion is illegal. However, at 16 parents can choose to have their unruly child “unwound.” Instead of dying, the teen lives on with his heart in a man who needed one, his skin as a graft for a burn victim. The story in Unwind has 3 main narrators and was a great read. UnWholly came out recently and I am trying to get to it this weekend.

 
Series: Graceling
Author: Cashore, Kristin
Book Title(s): Graceling, Bitteblue
My thoughts: Graceling contained a quality of writing you rarely see in debut novels. This idea centers in a world where some people are born with “graces” or amazing skill sets that can range from excellent culinary skills to a killing “grace.” We meet our young female hero (surprise!) who has a killing grace and has become somewhat of personal thug to the king she serves, who happens to be her uncle. It is a very fun read and I cannot wait to finally read Bitterblue, the second book in the series.

Series: Legend
Author: Lu, Marie
Book Title(s): Legend, Prodigy (tbr 2013)
My thoughts: I will say I was annoyed that there are two different fonts in this book to show which of the two narrators are talking. I find it offensive to all readers that whoever made that decision thought the average reader could not see the difference in narrators. Once I got past my annoyance with the font, I was immensely impressed with the descriptions of action sequences in this book. The story focuses around two teenage military geniuses who are on different sides of the current military regime. I am excited to see where Prodigy, due out 2013, picks up.


 
Series: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Series title unknown)
Author: Riggs, Ransom
My thoughts: The sequel to this book was just announced this past week. I loved the book but I do not know if I can be truly excited about the sequel. The book took such an interesting turn of events from start to finish that I do not know what to expect from the sequel.


Are there any series you are excited about?
~Jason

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

ARRRRRR I'm geARRRing up for talk like a Pirate Day


http://www.talklikeapirate.com/partykit/tlapdbanner2.gif
Argggggg September 19 is International Talk Like a Pirate Day (no, really it is - check the website.) Still not convinced? check their Flickr photostream!

Ever since I saw the movie Hook, I have always had a soft spot for pirates. I watched that VHS so many times the tape ripped. I am fairly certain I quote this movie 2+ times a week. In honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day, I thought I would share some of the more jovial pirate/pirate related items that we have here at the Wellesley Free Library.

Books:
The pirate queen : Queen Elizabeth I, her pirate adventurers, and the dawn of empire
The pirate wars
Pirate: a novel
search through our catalog for more books on pirates and pirate related fiction

Movies:
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Pirates of the Caribbean Movies:
    Curse of the Black Pearl  
    Dead Man's Chest
    At World's End
    On Stranger Tides
and many more, check our catalog and search by material type: DVD

Children's:
Your life as a cabin boy on a pirate ship
Pirate boy
Jake and the Never Land Pirates. Peter Pan returns
and many more! Head to the Children's room to find more pirate related books and DVDs!

Want to really get into the spirit? Switch your Facebook language to Pirate by going to:
Account Settings > Language > English (Pirate)and therrrrrrre ya have it Matey!



Find your Inner Pirate with the Official Talk Like a Pirate Personality Inventory

!!!***UPDATE***!!!
As I am new here, I am learning new things every day. I JUST learned the online language resource Mango, provided by the Wellesley Free Library, has pirate lessons. Check them out yourself! Head to http://www.wellesleyfreelibrary.org/ on the left hand menu choose Online Resources Scroll down to M - or use M navigation on the right hand side - to Mango

 
Have a great International Talk Like a Pirate Day buccaneers!

~Jason 

Monday, September 10, 2012

What's New in Mystery and Fiction?

Here are a few upcoming titles in mystery and fiction:



The Panther by Nelson DeMille
John Corey, the popular hero of The Lion is back -- now working in anti-terrorist capacity with his  FBI agent wife.

Astray by Emma Donoghue
A new story collection from the author of Room.

Back to Blood by Tom Wolfe
Wolfe again writes a novel attempting to sum up America's zeitgeist.  This time the location is Miami.   


maf

Wednesday, September 5, 2012