What we can learn from city directories

I can not imagine having this job as seen in a old city directory. A patron pointed it out to me.

This summer's reading

This summer I am helping to evaluate which books to recommend for reading discussions, so I am reading more general fiction than fantasy. I will try to read some YA or children's fantasy to keep up my fantasy quota!

Image from:

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/unicorn-mans-flight-of-fancy/2008/03/09/1204998282882.html

What's on My Desk July 2008

Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. Adult nonfiction. DONE. MOPS book discussion.

Yes. This is as funny as I had heard that it was. The author also throws in a number statistics and his opinions on the National Park Service, different states of the union, and more. I should have read this two years ago before I went to Gaitlinburg and saw the Appalachian trail there. The above photo is from my collection.

Journey to the End of the Millennium by A. B. Yehoshuah. Adult fiction. DONE

Not the 1999/2000 millennium, but the 999/1000 A. D. millennium!

This was a tough book to read because it had no dialog at all. Even when a person gave a speech, the speech was summarized and we were told what it was about. The author concentrates on describing the smells and sounds of the time, rather than exactly what was said.

This book was unlike other books I have read in subject matter as well. It discusses the cultural, religious, and ethnic differences between the European Jews and the African Jews , with reference to the Ashkenazi and Sephardi groups. It also focuses on the relationships between the Jews, Muslims, and Christians with foreshadowing that the Christians were becoming more intolerant as the millennium approached.

The plot focuses on the difference between the African Jews (and Muslims) who practiced polygamy and the European Jews who thought it was outrageous.

Random House Treasury Favorite Love Poems, 2nd Edition. Adult nonfiction. DID NOT READ after browsing the poems. When they say favorite what they mean is "favourite", pre - 20th century, mostly British poems which all use obscure language. Words like "lusteth", "thine", and "befallen" are used. I don't see giving this to a teen or adult who wants to woo a lover, unless that lover is an English professor! I did recognize one pleasant one from my high school English class, but the rest are simply too old.

Patrons are better off with the Valentine's Day issue of Ideals magazine. Some of its poems are obscure, but most are accessible. Another idea is lyrics from the folk 1960's era on to modern, 2008 songs. Some of these would be good poems to recite to your love. Maybe a nice Motown love song...

Harold and the Purple Crayon: Harold Finds a Friend by Liza Baker, Carin Greenberg Baker, and Kevin Murawski. Children's fiction. DONE.

I checked this out because I saw a Harold show on HBO that featured Harold's dog, Lilac. Ah, the sweet friendship between a child and his dog! Harold may meet other dogs, but none compares to his good friend, Lilac. I think Lilac may be a sheepdog or afghan hound. Some libraries don't have this new series of Harold books since they are not by the original author, but I think they are worth buying.

Umbrella by Taro Yashima. Children's fiction. DONE. Caldecott Honor Book.

This was an okay book about a girl who wants to use her umbrella. I had a problem reading it aloud, however, because the sound that the rain made was:

bon polo

bon polo

ponpolo ponpolo

bolo bolo ponpolo

boto boto ponpolo

and some variations on this. If you are going to read this aloud, I recommend practicing quite a bit beforehand so you don't end up tongue-tied!

It seems a bit dated (published in 1958) with the use of the words "nursery-school" instead of "day care" or "pre-school", but otherwise it is a nice book that has multicultural appeal (Japanese American girl in New York city) with a universal theme. What kid doesn't like an umbrella and splashing in puddles with boots?

Sanctified Trial : the Diary of Eliza Rhea Anderson Fain, a Confederate Woman in East Tennessee by Eliza Rhea Anderson Fain and John N. Fain. Adult Nonfiction. DONE.

This book was certainly a departure from most of the other books I have read on the Civil War. Mrs. Fain (a distant collateral line relative of mine by marriage), wife of a Confederate General, felt that the war was caused by God being angry about the way that slave owners were treating their slaves. In her eyes, one of the worst sins was the mingling of the races by masters with slave women. She did feel that slaves were inferior heathens that had to be converted to Christianity and led by whites. This is certainly not a politically correct viewpoint for today, but she was a typical woman of her time and place.

History of the Slovaks of Cleveland and Lakewood by Jan Pankuch, translated from the Slovak by Rasto Gallo. Adult Nonfiction. DONE (Actually I skim-read it).

This book was first published in Slovak in 1930 and was only recently translated into English (2001). I did not know about the great friction between the Magyars/Hungarians and the Slovaks that started in the old world and continued in the new. The Slovaks felt that the Magyars were trying to take over their churches and subjugate their businesses, even in Ohio. The author's family was Lutheran, and for my research I am more interested in the Slovak Catholic families, but many historical aspects apply to both groups. I recently visited Holy Family Church in Cleveland and saw the church where my grandparents were wed, in an historically Slovak neighborhood. Now the neighborhood it is partially black, partially Hispanic, and partially white. The neighborhood has seen better times, but was never wealthy or prosperous. The railroad tracks repeatedly cross the neighborhood and this is where the jobs were 75 years ago in Cleveland - on the railroad and in the factories that made goods to export on these rails.

Slave Dancer by Paula Fox. Young Adult Fiction. DONE. Winner of the Newbery Award in about 1974. Reading Grade Level listed in the book is 5.9.

This is a truly gruesome book. Even though it won the Newbery Award, if I were a teacher, I would be reluctant to have my students read this in my class. I understand that the slavery trade was horrible and the conditions were nasty, but children do need to be somewhat sheltered in what they read, at least in a classroom setting. Jessie, a boy of about 12, is kidnapped an put to work on a slave vessel as a fifer in 1840. It is his job to make sure the slaves get some exercise so at the end of the voyage their muscles will still be useful.

From the very beginning Jessie is opposed to his job. This is understandable since he was kidnapped, but they never say why he is already opposed to slavery. He isn't a Quaker or from an abolitionist family or anything. He didn't have much experience with it in the past, as a poor boy. Certainly, as the book progresses, we understand why many people would be opposed to the treatment of the Africans. The author does a good job in conveying the misery of the slave existence and it is historically accurate. My guess is that it won the Newbery Award because of the political climate in 1974. It is a fine book and it would probably be well that adults (most likely English, History or Education students) have the visceral experience of reading this. In a classroom setting, however, it would have to be very carefully handled.

Seven Wild Sisters by Charles de Lint and Charles Vess. Adult Fiction (although it is short enough and clean enough to be considered YA or children's fiction: 152 pages).

I read the sequel (Medicine Road) to this novella first (not a recommended course, but painless in this case, see January's blog entry). This book focused on the second sister, Sarah Jane, while the sequel focused on twin sisters Bess and Laurel. I suppose there is room to have a few more books, since only 3 of th 7 sisters have been featured so far.

De Lint is a great story teller and although his tales are original, you would swear that they were written "once upon a time" ago, the way he weaves ancient legends and tales into his fairy stories. I think this author is underappreciated and I hope that more people find his stories.

Harold and the Purple Crayon: The Giant Garden by Valerie Garfield, Don Gillies, and Kevin Murawski. Children's Fiction. DONE.

This is another sweet and imaginative story in the Harold series that has been resurrected since HBO started its cartoon series.

http://www.hbofamily.com/programs/harold-and-the-purple-crayon.html

http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/HarperChildrens/Kids/CharacterDetail.aspx?ChId=23

Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron and Matt Phelan. Children's Fiction. Newbery Medal Winner. http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/literaryawds/newberymedal/newberyhonors/newberymedal.cfm

Lucky is a great character, right up there with Ramona and Sheila the Great and Laura Ingalls. She has spunk. She has brains. She has a dog named HMS Beagle so that she will have a companion in her scientific endeavors. She has je ne sais quoi! This is a quick and easy read, set in modern desert California and I highly recommend it to girls and women. It might be a harder sell to boy and men, although Lucky's best friend and annoying-clinger-on-younger friend are both boys.

What's on My Desk June 2008

• Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. Adult fiction. DONE. This book starts off kind of slow then BAM! Now we know what will tie the loose characters together: a school shooting. We know all along who did it, but the book tells WHY and we wait to find out the outcome of the trial.

• Cheating at Canasta by William Trevor. READ HALF, THEN STOPPED. Adult fiction.
  I started reading this and had to stop to look at the author biography, then resume reading. I quickly suspected that the author was not American. It uses a number of English and Irish words, like the Irish word for policeman. His short stories read like the dialog (or dialogue in England-type English) of a play. My guess is that I would like his books as audiobooks better than as print.
  I read about half of this book. Some of the stories were better than others. The title story - Cheating at Canasta was my favorite and worth reading. I just couldn't get into this book.
  
• Barbie Fairytopia Magic of the Rainbow, a Barbie Board Book. DONE. Children's fiction.
  We had a hard time following this book. There were too many characters for a simple cardboard book. I think it assumes you have already seen the Barbie movie and bought the Barbie dolls and know the characters. I wasn't sure which one was Elina and which was her friend and who was the bad lady. I will be putting myself on hold for this video at the library now out of curiosity. Great literature this is not.
  
• So Brave, Young, and Handsome by Leif Enger. READ HALF, THEN STOPPED. Adult fiction. I had heard good things about his first book, Peace Like a River, so I thought this might be a good one to read. The author very conceitedly had the main character also be a writer writing a second novel. That is not very interesting, and I couldn't get into the story of a middle aged guy running away to Mexico with his outlaw buddy. The description sounded good, but the reality is that everyone I talked to who read the first book was disappointed in this second novel.
  
• Big Orange Splot by Daniel Manus Pinkwater. Children's Fiction. DONE.
  I love this book! I don't know why I don't already own this except that my copy that I had as a child must have fallen apart. This was popular in its day, but now I had to get this through interlibrary loan. Thank you to the Raymond Library, Raymond, Ohio.
  This book is the antithesis of sensible zoning. In part, because of this book I now have an aqua colored house and a purple colored car that the mechanic has dubbed "Barney". One of our neighbors asked if our aqua color was the final coat of paint then was disappointed when it was, and a drive-by commentator yelled "I hate your house"!
  The plot is that there was a "neat street" where all the houses were the same until one day a seagull dropped a can of orange paint on a house. One neighbor, then many decide that they like their houses personalized, not cookie cutter. They really go all out to show that
  "My house is me and I am it. My house is where I like to be and it looks like all my dreams".
  If you love this book then you should read the poem "Warning" by Jenny Joseph, which is also known by its first line:
  When I am an old woman I shall wear purple.
  Then read "If I Had My Life to Live Over(I would pick more daisies)" by Nadine Stair.
  
  http://www.amazon.com/When-Woman-Shall-Wear-Purple/dp/1576010783
  
• Amelia Bedelia and the Cat by Herman Parish and Lynn Sweat. Children's Fiction. DONE. Herman Parish is Peggy Parish's nephew.
  This is a pleasant book, with dear Amelia the housekeeper misunderstanding people's idioms. The audience I read it to did not understand the idioms, either, but did not care. They liked the pictures and the kitten.
  
• Bear on the Motorcycle by Reiner Zimnik. Children's Fiction. DONE. As you can guess, it is about a bear who rides a motorcycle. This is an oldie but goodie.
  
• Laughing without an Accent by Firoozeh Dumas. Adult nonfiction. DONE.
  Her first book was rather endearing. This follows up and supplements information from the book Funny in Farsi. It isn't quite as good as the original, but still has her charming take on life as a first generation American. She does have a number of opinions on books and libraries which I will quote here when I get a chance.

page 43: Firoozeh discovers the public libary and is amazed at the idea of being able to borrow all the books she wants. In Iran she owned three books and in America their family only bought one book - the Guinness Book of World Records, 1972. I found this particularly amusing since I remember owning the 1976 edition and looking through it for years and years until it finally fell apart.

page 88: "And now I was in college, which were definitely supposed to be the best years of life, and here I sat, on a Saturday night, sneaking a bag of chips in the library".

page 159: Her uncle is never without a book and looked up words in the dictionary whenever he came across ones he didn't know.

p 184: "I stayed in the room happily rereading Love in the Time of Cholera".

p 209. Advice to graduating students. Rule # 5. "Always have a book to read". If you are without one, you can always read a train schedule or Sky Mall.

http://www.skymall.com/shopping/homepage.htm?pnr=ING

• Holly Hobbie's Through the Year Book by Holly Hobbie. Children's fiction/nonfiction. DONE. This book blends Holly Hobbie's lovely American Greetings characters with little poems. I saw that my library had purchased some Holly Hobbie videos and was reminded of this character. This book was published in 1978 and she used sepia tones throughout, so all the illustrations are muffled. The current videos use full color, however. Someone remarked right away that today's Holly Hobbie does not wear a dress, but feminine clothing. This is a far cry from the calico and patchwork Holly Hobbie of the 1970's. Both are cute and well received by girls and their mothers. Although this book seems old fashioned, it is old fashioned in a good way and still enjoyable like Highlights magazine.

P. S. American Greetings is an Ohio company - out of Cleveland. So, if you are an Ohio librarian and considering getting rid of the old Holly Hobbie books, please consider keeping these sweet books. I think they are finding a new audience.

http://www.americangreetings.com/ Also the home of Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake.

http://www.agkidzone.com/home.action

http://parents.agkidzone.com/hhclassic.html

P. P. S. The new Holly Hobbie is advertised as the "old" Holly Hobbie's great granddaughter with the same name.

• Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig. Children's Fiction. DONE. Winner of the Caldecott Medal. One of my coworkers who is a mother of 5 and a former children's librarian told me to read this. It is a classic tale of wishing for something, then regretting getting it. I liked it well enough, but it isn't my favorite story. I also watched the Scholastic video version of this book being narrated. That was pretty good, too. (This is the man who brought us Shrek in another book).
• Why Things Don't Work: Train by David West. Children's Fiction. DONE. This is another fine book in the series. I like the perky grandmother who fixes trains while wearing a green bodysuit and having her hair up in a gray bun.
• Generation T 108 Ways to Transform a T-Shirt by Megan Nicolay. Adult Nonfiction. DONE. I am not into crafts, but these look pretty simple. Many require no sewing at all - just scissors and tying. The ones that use lacing are particularly attractive and the key word to the success of this book is AFFORDABLE. Most American teenagers and college students could make these for less than $5.00 using Goodwill t-shirts. I will show this to my Goth library aide who frequently safety pins her clothing. I may be inspired to cut up something to wear to our local Renaissance festival as a pirate-type outfit. http://www.generation-t.com/
• Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu. Adult fiction. DONE. We are considering if we should make this our One Library, One Book selection for 2009. The Seattle Public Library chose this for their book this year, but I would not recommend this to all audiences. It is a slow, thoughtful book about an African immigrant. I have not known many African immigrants in my life, but I am sure that most of them are not this broody. There is only one "action" scene, and that is when the main character remembers a violent episode from his childhood. http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=audience_current_seattlereads

page 39: The main character talks about a present he received - a book and that he checked out a paperback novel from the library.

page 89: Naomi "had raided the local library for all it was worth". Then the author lists a number of long books.

page 191: Stephanos gives his mother a book of Emily Dickinson's poetry for Christmas.

• Timbuktu by Paul Auster. Adult Fiction. I was looking for another good dog book, so I thought I would try this one. IN PROGRESS.
• Harold and the Purple Crayon - Opposites by Jodi Huelin and Kevin Murawski. Children's Fiction. DONE. Adorable Harold demonstrates some opposites by his drawings. Effective.
• Early Bird by Richard Scarry. Children's Fiction. DONE. I am guessing that this came before his Busy Town series since there is a worm that looks like Lowly, but has a different name. This book shows Scarry's distinct style and appeal. This is a good early reader.
• Toot and Puddle by Holly Hobbie. Children's fiction. DONE. This is a take on the country-mouse/city-mouse where one pig stays home and one travels. We see the advantages of travel and of home. The words are okay, but we can tell that Holly Hobbie is known more for her illustrations.

After you read Marley read...

A Sampling of Dog Books

A Dog Year: 12 Months, 4 Dogs, and Me by Jon Katz, Adult Nonfiction.

Old Yeller by Fred Gipson, Children's/YA Fiction.

*Dog Stories by James Herriot, Older Children/YA/Adult Nonfiction.

Lad: A Dog by Albert Payson Terhune, Children's/YA Fiction.

*The Critter and Other Dogs by Albert Payson Terhune, Children's/YA Fiction.

Lassie Come Home by Eric Knight, Children's Fiction.

*Call of the Wild by Jack London, YA/Adult Fiction.

*Clifford, the Big, Red Dog by Norman Bridwell, Children's Fiction.

*Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day, Children's Fiction.

*Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, Children's Fiction.

*Kipper by Mick Inkpen, Children's Fiction.

Timbuktu by Paul Auster, Adult Fiction.

Melanie Travis Mysteries (series) by Laurien Berenson, Adult Fiction.

*Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, Adult/YA Fiction.

* = I have read these.

Magazine inserts

I wonder if there is an easy craft which requires the inserts that fall out of the magazines and newspapers each day at the library?

I must pick up at least three of these a day. Fortunately, we have paper recycling at our library.

I suppose I could look in "Crafts 'n' Things", but I am afraid that something might fall out on me...

====

I found some uses:

http://emphasisallmine.typepad.com/emphasismine/five_for_friday/index.html

Five Uses for Those Annoying Magazine Inserts
Five uses for those annoying magazine inserts that, no matter how thoroughly you think you have removed them, always seem to fall into your bath while reading.
-Use as coasters for guests you have absolutely no interest in impressing
-Picking up dead flies in the window sill
-Gather up hundreds (not hard to do) and send them to the Editor of your favorite magazine in protest, hoping they will send you free product as a good will gesture (will not work if your favorite magazine is Foreign Affairs or the like. Sorry Larry)
-To write tardy notes on when your daughter is late for school
-Wet, pound into mush, mold into a pot shape, decoupage and plant your favorite perennial inside (Martha Steward Living inserts only)

Let's Talk About Jewish Literature

I have signed up to read a series of books classified as Jewish literature. This is sponsored by my local public library, a local university, a Temple, and a Community Center. It is brought to us by the American Library Association and Nextbook.
http://www.ala.org/publicprograms
http://www.nextbook.org/
http://www.nextbook.org/ala/index.html

The titles are:
Journey to the End of the Millennium by A. B. Yehoshuah
Red Cavalry by Isaac Babel
Neighbors by Jan T. Gross
Assistant by Bernard Malamud
Mona in the Promised Land by Gish Jen

This does not start until 24 August 2008 (or in the Jewish calendar, 23 Av 5768), so I will report more on this later.

Science Fiction, Fantasy, Nonfiction books

I have been to some workshops and lectures lately about science fiction, fantasy, and nonfiction books currently available from publishers.

General trends in publishing:

*The internet, the influence of graphic novels, comics, and manga have lead to better color photographs or more powerful images being used on covers, and inside both fiction and nonfiction books.

*Bestselling books are looking more and more like graphic novels and less boring pictorially. Is less text bad for literacy or does it encourage reading since a picture is worth a thousand words? Time will tell if this leads to shorter attention spans or attracts reluctant readers.

*The success of Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings movies has lead to the publication of a number of juvenile and young adult fantasy books, but not necessarily a lot more adult fantasy books or an increase in quality adult books. Recently I enjoyed the children's book The Floating Island: the Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme by Elizabeth Haydon, but have not read any great new authors for adults.
*****
Thank you to the staff of the Cleveland Public Library and to Brian DeLambre of Joseph Beth Booksellers for sharing information at recent workshops.

What's on My Desk May 2008

Marley & Me: Life with the World's Worst Dog by John Grogan. Adult nonfiction. Humor. I am reading this for a book discussion. This is currently in production as a film. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0822832/
I don't know whether I want to slap the author upside the head or kiss him. The title says it all. The dog is goofy, lovable, and very destructive.
I would have at least banished the dog to life outside the house. That way he could only destroy the lawn (and possibly escape).
The back cover says "May very well be the feel-good book of the year. It's definitely the dog lover's book of the year" (USA Today).
If you are looking for other dog books, try Dog Stories by James Herriot, Dog Year by Jon Katz and who can forget, Old Yeller by Fred Gipson and Lassie Come Home! by Eric Knight. I remember reading Lad a Dog by Albert Payson Terhune and The Critter and Other Dogs, also by Terhune, which were written many years ago.
I also read Bad Dog, Marley! by the same author and illustrator Richard Cowdrey. Children's Fiction. DONE. I was expecting this to be one of the stories from the above book, but it is a fictionalized account of a family similar to his with a dog similar to Marley. I guess they thought that having the stabbing scene in a children's book wouldn't work.


The Hungry Thing by Ann Seidler, Jan Slepian, and Richard Martin. Children's Fiction. DONE. It is fun for young children to guess what the Hungry Thing wants to eat by figuring out the rhyming word.

Llama, Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney. Children's Fiction. DONE. The pictures and plot were okay with a worried youngster afraid of the dark and asking for Mama to come back in the bedroom, but the sentence structure was odd. I was not certain what they meant by "Llama, Llama Red Pajama". Was Red Pajama his surname? Sometimes they called her Mama Llama and sometimes mama, so the capitalization was not consistent. There do not appear to be a lot of verbs, just sentence fragments consisting of nouns and adjectives. On the cover it says Llama Llama Red Pajama with no comma, but in our catalog it uses a comma. I see that there is a sequel Llama Llama Mad at Mama, and that book one received good reviews in Hornbook, SLJ, and BL, so apparently not everyone was bothered by this. P. S. I thought that the llama looked uncomfortable sleeping on his back and it seems that a llama would sleep curled up like a dog or sheep, especially with that long neck. Sheep in a Jeep was a much better book.

Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw and Margot Apple. Children's Fiction. DONE. I listened to the cassette tape and read the book. The tape had a nifty background song and was the author seemed to savor each word, drawing out the book. This is a very basic book and can be read to even the littlest listener (in utero?). It doesn't use complete sentences, either, but somehow the book worked better that the llama book. SPOILER: Do not read if you don't want to know the end. One of my listeners loves it when vehicles crash and often plays that his toy cars, airplane, space shuttle, etc. are crashing, so you know he liked this book (and Trashy Town, too).

Finn by Jon Clinch. Adult fiction. DONE. Clinch has created a new take on Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn character by postulating about Huck's origins, specifically focusing on his father. This is a dark, boding work. If you decide to read it, you should probably have some other lighthearted, humorous book on your bed stand in case you can not face the brooding evil that the book embodies any particular night. I recommend partnering it with something completely dissimilar like a James Thurber work, Chicks with Sticks, or a Chicken Soup for the Soul book. Pap Finn is about the lowest of the low in villains. He kidnaps, kills, rapes, steals, lies, drinks, swears, and more. I suppose it might make for a good book discussion book if you could find enough people who can get through reading the whole book without throwing it in a bonfire over his use of the "N" word and more. This might appeal to readers of true crime and mysteries. African American readers, and all readers, should be ware that Pap is a racist as many men and women of this time and place were.

Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi. Adult Graphic Novel. DONE. This one is decidedly edgier that the first as the author experiences more of the world and goes through the process of discovering who she is. Does she want to be an Iranian? Does she want to be a Westerner? Will she follow a traditional or contemporary path? I have read that some people like the first book better, some the second book. It probably depends on the audience. In the second book she is older, but not wiser.

Child's Book of Lullabies by Mary Cassatt and Shona McKellar. Children's Fiction. DONE. It seemed like a good idea - put Mary Cassatt's classy pictures with classic poetry. This is an attractive book and an adult might enjoy it, but the outdated language of the poetry made it too obsure for a young audience. This received good reviews, but my guess is that the reviewers did not actually read these aloud to children. This might make a nice gift for a lady, but not for a child.

My Body Is Private by Linda Walvoord Girard and Rodney Pate. Children's Fiction, but deals with a nonfiction topic - privacy (anti-sexual-abuse). DONE. Let's face it, this is an awkward subject. I read it to my 4 and 5 year old audience because some of them were starting to play "doctor" and I wanted them to know that it was okay to say "no" and want to be left alone. I don't know if they understood everything in this book, but the basic idea came across. I would say that it was written more for a 6-9 year old audience, but my library had it in the preschool section. If you can't find a better book, use this one, but there is definitely room for a different book in this market.

Why Things Don't Work: Motorcycle by David West. Children's fiction/nonfiction. This is another that is hard to say if it is fiction or nonfiction. My library put it in nonfiction. DONE.

It is basically a motorcycle repair manual, but presented in a graphic novel format. I was surprised that this did work as a read out loud book. We broke it up into two reading sessions because it did use rather grown-up words, but my audience would have liked to have had the whole book at once. I really don't care if I ever learn how to repair or ride a motorcycle, but I knew that a certain 5 year old is into vehicles so I tried it out. The 4 and 5 year olds didn't understand everything but did want to see how the two main characters would do in fixing their bike. This falls into the category of kids-who-memorize-all-the-names-and-statistics-of-the-dinosaurs type of book. Some kids will really dig it and others won't. My audience wanted me to bring home more in this series, so I will. There is also one on a helicopter, plane, race car, tank, and train. Stay tuned for more information on this series. In general, I think this is for about a 8 - 13 year old audience, with cross-over appeal to 14-21 year olds or literacy or English as a Second Language groups. It has diagrams, a glossary, and an index in the back. I would definitely recommend buying this series for a middle school or public library. http://www.raintreelibrary.com/


Why Things Don't Work: Tank by David West. Children's fiction/nonfiction. DONE.
This is another that is hard to say if it is fiction or nonfiction. My library put it in nonfiction. I checked this out and was reading it outside my church without thinking about the irony of reading a TANK book at church. When I realized that not everyone might think a tank book at church was appropriate, I put it in my car for later reading. I certainly did not know all the facts about tanks that were contained in this book.

Town Mouse and the Country Mouse by Aesop, illustrations by Paul Galdone. Text is from Select Fables of Esop and other Fublists, R. & J. Dodsley, Birmingham, England, 1764 . Children's fiction. DONE.
This classic telling of the tale used, among others, the words "repast", "consented", and other words that they didn't know, and the illustrations were decidedly old-fashioned, but my preschool audience was fine with that. This is a classic that has withstood the test of time. You could get a newer version, but this one from 1975 is just as good, if not better.

Flight by Sherman Alexie. YA/Adult fiction. DONE.
An angry young Indian is launched into a time traveling spirit journey when life becomes too much for him. He sees the history of Indians in America and the cruel treatment by the Whites.
I was a bit confused by the flashbacks (and so was the main character) but caught on after a while.
I would recommend this to a reluctant teen reader, but not a little old lady.

Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean. Adult fiction. DONE.
An elderly woman is starting to become disoriented with dementia, but her memories of the siege of Leningrad by the Germans during World War II are clear. As a young woman, she worked at one of the world's best art museums and had to help pack up the priceless materials and try to preserve the extraordinary architecture of the Hermitage from repeated bombings, snow, and rain. She and others were slowly starving, but what kept her alive was her memory of the extreme beauty of the art. She does not always know what is reality and what is memory, but the love, memory, and hope made possible by the art makes something great from these sorrowful times. Personally, I am not into art, but this is a lovely book and reminds me of the awe that the Hermitage brings to those who have been there. (I was there in 1992). This book can certainly be incorporated painlessly into a number of curriculums (history, art, world culture, gerontology).

Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock. Adult fiction. DONE.
I read this to evaluate if we should use it for a book discussion.
This is a series of short stories all set in and around Knockemstiff, a small place in Ross County, Ohio where all kinds of every day perversities and atrocities take place. All the characters are poor or blue-collar working class. The time period varies from piece to piece from about the 1940’s – 1990’s. The author says that none of the characters are directly based on people he knew, but certainly inspired by them. Pro: Male viewpoint – a rough and tumble manly man viewpoint, in the words of the author “manly cowboy stuff” (page 43) Pro: Set in Ross County, Ohio, a south-central county. Mentions Pike County (page 25), Route 50 (Route 50 runs east west from Cincinnati to near Morgantown, WV) (page 31), Hillsboro, Highland County (page 33), Greenfield (page 64), Paint Creek (Bainbridge) (page 71), Copperas Mountain, Ross County (page 71), Massieville, Ross County (page 76), Bob Evans (page 105), Mead (page 118). After that I stopped keeping track. Author is from Ohio and as far as I know, still lives in Ohio as he is working on his master’s degree from Ohio State. …Although, I don’t remember any Ohioan ever telling me that he or she lived in a holler (hollow). People in his book say they do. It also talks of knobs, which I thought was more of an Arkansas concept. Pro: Preface quote: “All Americans come from Ohio originally, if only briefly”. Dawn Powell. This quote could be discussed. Pro: Recent book Pro: Nifty map of the fictional town in the front. Pro: Readers of the “Glass Castle” could compare and contrast the poverty and drunkenness portrayed in the two books. Pro: The book is lyrical enough that it might be fun to read selections out loud. Pro: Since the book is made up of short stories all featuring a town, it is easy to stop after a chapter, then pick up later where you left off reading. Con: Not yet available in all desired formats – only print as of June 2008 Con: Uses the words “ass” and “bitching” on the very first page, which will offend some readers. In other places it uses “nigger” and “coon” and other curse words. I think this book is well on its way to being a Banned Book. It has something to offend just about everybody, including, but not limited to: Incest Rape Prostitution Child abuse Masturbation Swearing Racism Drug use Drunkenness Anti-Christian characters Stereotypes Hunting Gutting animals Homosexuality Abusing the mentally challenged Sexually transmitted diseases …but that is what makes the book work. It is about the dirty, grimy, creepy, working-class dregs of humanity. If we choose this book, you can be sure that some readers will object and high school teachers will NOT assign it. If you want to get publicity, then choose this book and see the fur fly! We will not be accused of being boring or safe! The writing is terse and manly like classic short story or novella writings of Bret Harte and Ernest Hemingway. Others have compared it to Winesburg, Ohio, and works by authors Raymond Carver or Flannery O’Connor. In some ways it reminded me of another book I recently read – “Finn” about Huckleberry Finn’s father. My favorite quote: Page 83: “You gotta stop readin’ them books, start watchin’ more TV”.

I recommend that every public library in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky have this book. I do not recommend it for high school libraries.

Dooby Dooby Moo by Doreen Cronin. Children's fiction. DONE. This is a silly sound effects book. The second time I read it, I read the words aloud better. The animals on a farm are practicing for a talent show at the county fair. The ending is laugh-out-loud funny. A Rat Pack fan or Scooby Doo fan might get extra enjoyment out of this one.

Barney Backhoe Loves to Build. Children's fiction. Board book. DONE. The title pretty much says it all. The backhoe is a John Deere, so it is good for John Deere, Handy Andy, and Bob the Builder fans. The book also uses concept words like big, bigger, and biggest well.

Too many books.

I have 37 books checked out, 6 waiting to be checked out (holds) and 68 holds (either suspended so I can get them later or currently in the wait queue).
I will have to turn some in since realistically I can only read 2 or 3 at a time.
That is the problem with being surrounded by good books every day - temptation!

P. S. Some of these holds may be for videos which I can go through more quickly than books.