Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Computer help is here!

Tired of being asked by your family for computer help? Frustrated by something that should be so simple? Then take a look at TeachParentsTech.org, a Google video site devised as a super-simple series of videos to help  anyone work through simple computer questions.


All you do is go to the site, tell Google who you want to send to, what videos you want to send, add their email address, and the site sends out the videos


Think this is still too complicated?  Then visit http://www.teachparentstech.org/watch and sit down and watch the videos together.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Monday Night BCB for January: The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson.

Product Description

Part blistering espionage thriller, part riveting police procedural, and part piercing exposé on social injustice, The Girl Who Played with Fire is a masterful, endlessly satisfying novel.

Mikael Blomkvist, crusading publisher of the magazine Millennium, has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex trafficking operation. On the eve of its publication, the two reporters responsible for the article are murdered, and the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to his friend, the troubled genius hacker Lisbeth Salander. Blomkvist, convinced of Salander’s innocence, plunges into an investigation. Meanwhile, Salander herself is drawn into a murderous game of cat and mouse, which forces her to face her dark past.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Gardendale Library HOLIDAY HOURS

 Thursday, December 2 9-4             
Thursday, December 16 CLOSED 10:30-2
Monday, December 20 9-6
Tuesday, December 21 9-5
Wednesday, December 22 9-5
Thursday, December 23 9-6
Friday-Monday, Dec 24-27 CLOSED
Tuesday, December 28 9-6
Wednesday, December 29 9-5
Thursday, December 30 9-6
Friday-Saturday, Dec 31-Jan 1 CLOSED


All other hours will remain the same.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Fall Book Sale

We are having a Fall book sale! This sale is to help raise money for our expansion fund, so please join us Thursday November 18 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m, Friday November 19 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m and then Saturday November 20 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

As we have an abundance of books and other items for sale we do not have the room to have the sale at the library, so it will be held at the old Anderson Boat Building on HWY 31. Click here for directions from the library.

Prices will range from .50¢ each paperbacks, $1 for hardbacks, audiobooks, VHS and DVDs. Magazines 4/$1.

We will also be selling coffee and cakes for your enjoyment. All proceeds benefit the Gardendale Public Library Expansion Fund!

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Monday Night BCB for November : The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.

Product Description

An international publishing sensation, Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo combines murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel.

Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

The Shadow by Jenny Moss

In a dying kingdom, prophecy said that the young queen would die before her 16th birthday, and so an orphaned girl was given the task to be the queen's shadow, in the hopes that the queen's fate could be averted and fall on the shadow instead.  But Shadow, for she has no given name, could careless for the prophecy.  Friendless and close-hearted, all Shadow wants is a chance at freedom, freedom from the queen's spite as she is never allowed to be away from the queen's side, but for a few stolen moments, when the guard sleeps on duty.  As the years pass the queen and her shadow are sequestered in the castle for fear of attack on the queen, and Shadow grows to hate her queen and her life in the castle.

When the prophecy is fulfilled, Shadow finds herself fleeing the castle with Sir Kenway, a favorite of the queen and a knight who has been given the duty to protect her but who suspects that she had a hand in the queen's murder. Uncomfortable with her feelings for Sir Kenway, Shadow decides to run away as soon as an opportunity presents itself, but as they journey away from the castle on a quest Shadow finds that her fate is bound to the castle and only by accepting it can she save the people she has learned to love.

I love the idea of a queen's shadow who hates her role, despises the queen, and could careless for her country!  Jenny Moss, gives our reluctant heroine depth which shows through in Shadow's independence and courage.  I did guess very early on the the major part of the twist at the end and I found the love story part of the tale a little trite and forced.  As a whole, the novel was enjoyable, easy to read, the characters well thought out and a refreshingly new tale.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Places to win free books!

Everybody likes to get something for free and the book publishers, authors and bloggers know that giving away free stuff is a great way to get their books noticed and create a buzz about them. If you spend a few hours on the internet you can find all sorts of giveaways and contests from well known authors and up and coming ones.  But, knowing that most people don't have a lot of spare time for browsing the internet, we have put together a list of great websites for you!

Goodreads.com - Has an ever growing list of book giveaways from authors and members.  You will need to sign up for a free account to enter any of their giveaways.

Free book Fridays - Gives away a free book every Friday to 5 luck winners.  No membership involved

Fresh Fiction - Here you will find (mostly) Romance book giveaways, but many come with gift cards, gift baskets and other prizes. 

Blogger and Author Giveaways - A great blog dedicated to other blogger and Author giveaways.  Each post will have something new, so keep checking back!

Leitesculinaria.com - If you love cooking this is the website for you!  You will find all sorts of cookbooks and kitchen appliances listed.

Itworld.com - Love IT books?  Then check out this page for contests to win computer books!

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Our Library is Expanding! Help us by Owning a Square Foot.

Libraries are more than shelves of books and rows of computers. When a community invests in the Library, they are making an investment in humanity. The Gardendale-Martha Moore Public Library has been investing and serving the community since 1959.

The Gardendale-Martha Moore Public Library belongs to all of us. It is a wonderful place filled with books, reference materials, programs, computers and access to more information than you can imagine. It is not only for ourselves, but our future children and grandchildren, and many generations to come.

Join your friends and neighbors in helping your Library with a contribution of $20 for each square foot. You will be making an important contribution for yourself, your family and your community by helping to expand the Library Building. You will leave a lasting legacy for many generations.

Click here to donate online

Monday, September 20, 2010

Thursday BCB The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo



Product Description
In the vaulted Gothic towers of Notre-Dame lives Quasimodo, the hunchbacked bellringer. Mocked and shunned for his appearance, he is pitied only by Esmerelda, a beautiful gypsy dancer to whom he becomes completely devoted. Esmerelda, however, has also attracted the attention of the sinister archdeacon Claude Frollo, and when she rejects his lecherous approaches, Frollo hatches a plot to destroy her that only Quasimodo can prevent. Victor Hugo's sensational, evocative novel brings life to the medieval Paris he loved, and mourns its passing in one of the greatest historical romances of the nineteenth century.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Monday Night BCB for October: Tuesday with Morrie, by Mitch Albom


Amazon.com Review

This true story about the love between a spiritual mentor and his pupil has soared to the bestseller list for many reasons. For starters: it reminds us of the affection and gratitude that many of us still feel for the significant mentors of our past. It also plays out a fantasy many of us have entertained: what would it be like to look those people up again, tell them how much they meant to us, maybe even resume the mentorship? Plus, we meet Morrie Schwartz--a one of a kind professor, whom the author describes as looking like a cross between a biblical prophet and Christmas elf. And finally we are privy to intimate moments of Morrie's final days as he lies dying from a terminal illness. Even on his deathbed, this twinkling-eyed mensch manages to teach us all about living robustly and fully. Kudos to author and acclaimed sports columnist Mitch Albom for telling this universally touching story with such grace and humility. --Gail Hudson --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Monday Night BCB for September: Murder Gets a Life by Ann George

Patricia Anne can't imagine why Mary Alice is in such an uproar over her son Ray's new bride. Sunshine Dabbs is Ucute as can be," even if she is a bit unconventional, which should hardly come as a shock to Mary Alicc given that she's the one who raised her boy. But with all her motherly instincts, Mary Alice is sure that this sweet little blonde Barbie doll--who met her son in Bora Bora after she won the trip on Wheel of Fortune--thinks she's found herself a fortune in Ray's hefty wallet.

The sisters can't wait to get a look at Sunshine's family, and quite a look it turns out to be. As soon as Meemaw Turkett invites Mary Alice and Patricia Anne into her cozy trailer on the family compound they stumble over a corpse, and Meemaw's best hog butchering knife is stuck in its chest. Meemaw, a Cabbage Patch look-alike and Sunshine's grandmother, guardian, and the family matriarch is shocked to pieces and immediately summons the family to her trailer. Pawpaw, a lovable bearded grump has his own trailer, and their grown kids each enjoy a private home-away-from-home on the five-trailer compound.

The discovery of the mysterious body brings in Mary Alice's nemesis, good ol' boy Sheriff Reuse, who, she knows from her experience at the Skoot 'n' Boot, is nothing but trouble. Within minutes, the compound is strewn with a weird collection of friends, neighbors and relatives. There's Meemaw's spooky channeler, ready to give guidance as needed; Sunshine's jilted boyfriend skulking around; a bunch of dogs ready to attack...and Kerrigan, Sunshine's mostly absentee mama, who stars in the kind of video flicks that might even shock Mary Alice.

Patricia Anne can't imagine why Mary Alice is in such an uproar over her son Ray's new bride. Sunshine Dabbs is Ucute as can be," even if she is a bit unconventional, which should hardly come as a shock to Mary Alicc given that she's the one who raised her boy. But with all her motherly instincts, Mary Alice is sure that this sweet little blonde Barbie doll--who met her son in Bora Bora after she won the trip on Wheel of Fortune--thinks she's found herself a fortune in Ray's hefty wallet.

The sisters can't wait to get a look at Sunshine's family, and quite a look it turns out to be. As soon as Meemaw Turkett invites Mary Alice and Patricia Anne into her cozy trailer on the family compound they stumble over a corpse, and Meemaw's best hog butchering knife is stuck in its chest. Meemaw, a Cabbage Patch look-alike and Sunshine's grandmother, guardian, and the family matriarch is shocked to pieces and immediately summons the family to her trailer. Pawpaw, a lovable bearded grump has his own trailer, and their grown kids each enjoy a private home-away-from-home on the five-trailer compound.

The discovery of the mysterious body brings in Mary Alice's nemesis, good ol' boy Sheriff Reuse, who, she knows from her experience at the Skoot 'n' Boot, is nothing but trouble. Within minutes, the compound is strewn with a weird collection of friends, neighbors and relatives. There's Meemaw's spooky channeler, ready to give guidance as needed; Sunshine's jilted boyfriend skulking around; a bunch of dogs ready to attack...and Kerrigan, Sunshine's mostly absentee mama, who stars in the kind of video flicks that might even shock Mary Alice.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

The Silver Swan


Set after World War II and full of menace, the protagonist is a pathologist who wants to learn why the wife of a long ago friend ends up in the morgue and is to be autopsied by him. Was it a suicide?

Check out this book recommended by Adult Summer Reading Prize winner Kathy Moll, who graciously supplied this teaser for "The Silver Swan" by Benjamin Black.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Monday Book Club Book : The Ultimate Gift by Jim Stovall


Product Description
What would you do to inherit a million dollars? Would you be willing to change your life? Jason Stevens is about to find out in Jim Stovall's The Ultimate Gift.

Red Stevens has died, and the older members of his family receive their millions with greedy anticipation. But a different fate awaits young Jason, whom Stevens, his great-uncle, believes may be the last vestige of hope in the family.

"Although to date your life seems to be a sorry excuse for anything I would call promising, there does seem to be a spark of something in you that I hope we can fan into a flame. For that reason, I am not making you an instant millionaire."

What Stevens does give Jason leads to The Ultimate Gift. Young and old will take this timeless tale to heart.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Spoken From the Heart


I am currently reading Spoken From the Heart, by Laura Bush. She is an exceptional writer; including tidbits of history with her stories, which I find especially interesting. Her description of her husband's first inauguration made me feel as if I were there. She takes the reader back to 9-11, sharing poignant stories such as a group of Jewish women who went shopping for muslim women too afraid to go out. Another is placing daughter, Jenna, next to Vladimir Putin's wife at a dinner because both could speak Spanish. This conveyed to me what a thoughtful and caring person she is. I can't wait to finish it.


This review was entered by Phyllis into our Adult Summer Reading Program. Thanks Phyllis!

Friday, June 25, 2010

This Time Together by Carol Burnett

I recently finished "This Time Together" by Carol Burnett.  I found it to be as thoroughly enjoyable as Carol herself.  She shares personal stories, both funny and sad, including anecodotes about Jimmy Stewart, Lucille Ball, Cary Grant, and Julie Andrews. The book left me with the feeling that I knew her.  I highly recommend it especially to those who are already a fan, like I am!

Written by Phyllis Kelly

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson

Product Description

America's #1 bestselling author, James Patterson, brings us a magical story about a love that transcends boundaries . . .

AN IMAGINARY FRIEND

Jane Margaux is a lonely little girl. Her mother, a powerful Broadway producer, makes time for her only once a week, for their Sunday trip to admire jewelry at Tiffany's. Jane has only one friend: a handsome, comforting, funny man named Michael. He's perfect. But only she can see him. Michael can't stay forever, though. On Jane's ninth birthday he leaves, promising her that she'll soon forget him.

AN UNEXPECTED LOVE

Years later, in her thirties, Jane is just as alone as she was as a child. And despite her own success as a playwright, she is even more trapped by her overbearing mother. Then she meets someone-a handsome, comforting, funny man. He's perfect. His name is Michael . . .

AND AN UNFORGETTABLE TWIST

This is a heartrending story that surpasses all expectations of why these people have been brought together. With the breathtaking momentum and gripping emotional twists that have made James Patterson a bestselling author all over the world, SUNDAYS AT TIFFANY'S takes an altogether fresh look at the timeless and transforming power of love.

July: Monday BCB Can't Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg

Combining southern warmth with unabashed emotion and side-splitting hilarity, Fannie Flagg takes readers back to Elmwood Springs, Missouri, where the most unlikely and surprising experiences of a high-spirited octogenarian inspire a town to ponder the age-old question: Why are we here?

Life is the strangest thing. One minute, Mrs. Elner Shimfissle is up in her tree, picking figs, and the next thing she knows, she is off on an adventure she never dreamed of, running into people she never in a million years expected to meet. Meanwhile, back home, Elner’s nervous, high-strung niece Norma faints and winds up in bed with a cold rag on her head; Elner’s neighbor Verbena rushes immediately to the Bible; her truck driver friend, Luther Griggs, runs his eighteen-wheeler into a ditch–and the entire town is thrown for a loop and left wondering, “What is life all about, anyway?” Except for Tot Whooten, who owns Tot’s Tell It Like It Is Beauty Shop. Her main concern is that the end of the world might come before she can collect her social security.

In this comedy-mystery, those near and dear to Elner discover something wonderful: Heaven is actually right here, right now, with people you love, neighbors you help, friendships you keep. Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven is proof once more that Fannie Flagg “was put on this earth to write” (Southern Living), spinning tales as sweet and refreshing as iced tea on a summer day, with a little extra kick thrown in.

From the Hardcover edition.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Adult Summer Reading Program Winners!

Thanks to all the people who submitted reviews for our Adult Summer Reading program. Any adult can write a review, and if picked, could be posted on our blog. It also increases your chances of winning a weekly prize.

This weeks prize winners are: Angie C., Angie L., Deb B., Susan G.

Congrats and keep entering and writing reviews! We've had a great turnout so far (we're getting close to 100 participants!) and are so excited that so many of you are a part of our Water Your Mind Summer Reading Program.

We will be posting some of the wonderful reviews we've gotten, so be looking for those on the blog next week.
Happy Reading!

Monday, June 7, 2010

Reader Recommendations!


Thanks to all who participated in our Adult Summer Reading Program last week. Here are a few of the great titles recommended to us by our patrons.

Remember! We want to know what you read and loved so we can pass it on, so when you're slipping your name into the watering can to win prizes, leave us a note letting us know what read has stuck out.

Recommended Titles:

Angels of Morgan Hill by Donna VanLiere

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Muse and Reverie by Charles de Lint

My Sergei- a love story by Ekaterina Gordeeva

Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg

The Shack by William P. Young



Friday, June 4, 2010

Adult Summer Reading Program Winners!

Thanks to everyone who has put their name in for the Adult Summer Reading Program! We've had a good turn out for the first week and pulled for prizes today. Three winners will walk home with some cute Water Your Mind merchandise and prizes. Congrats to Donna, Pam, and Rusty!

Don't forget, there are two ways you can win: you can place your name in the watering can each time you come into the library, or you can write a short review and place it in the basket at the Adult Services Desk. Your review might be used on the blog so get to writing!

Do let us know on your entry form if you've ready any good book lately (or audiobook, or even nonfiction dvd!) so that we can recommend them to others.

Happy reading!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Thursday June BCB Les Miserables by Victor Hugo


Product description

Sensational, dramatic, packed with rich excitement and filled with the sweep and violence of human passions, LES MISERABLES is not only superb adventure but a powerful social document. The story of how the convict Jean-Valjean struggled to escape his past and reaffirm his humanity, in a world brutalized by poverty and ignorance, became the gospel of the poor and the oppressed.

Monday June BCB Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall

Product description

Meet Denver, a man raised under plantation-style slavery in Louisiana in the 1960s; a man who escaped, hopping a train to wander, homeless, for eighteen years on the streets of Dallas, Texas. No longer a slave, Denver's life was still hopeless-until God moved. First came a godly woman who prayed, listened, and obeyed. And then came her husband, Ron, an international arts dealer at home in a world of Armani-suited millionaires. And then they all came together. But slavery takes many forms. Deborah discovers that she has cancer. In the face of possible death, she charges her husband to rescue Denver. Who will be saved, and who will be lost? What is the future for these unlikely three? What is God doing?
Same Kind of Different As Me is the emotional tale of their story: a telling of pain and laughter, doubt and tears, dug out between the bondages of this earth and the free possibility of heaven. No reader or listener will ever forget it.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

My Sergei - a Love Story


As a former figure skater and avid watcher of all the Olympics since I was a child, this book “My Sergei – a Love Story” was a must for me to read. It is the biography of Ekaterini Grinkov (called “Katia”) and her husband, Sergei Gordeeva. They were Russian pair skaters in 2 Olympics (Calgary and Lillehammer), winning gold in each. They had also won several world championships and skated with “Stars on Ice”. Before they married, they were known as “G & G” (Gordeeva and Grinkov).

Truly remarkable pair figure skaters, they were known around the world. Katia was paired up with Sergei at age 11, and he 17. He was a kind, gentle giant of a man, and Katia was smitten by him at this young age. At her 1st Olympics, she was, as in her own words “naïve to things outside of skating”. Sergei, on the other hand, liked to party. She writes a lot about how he helped transform her to the woman she is today. Before I knew it, they fell madly in love and their skating changed drastically after they married. I remember vividly watching their piece in Lillehammer to “Moonlight Sonata”, and the book tells the behind the scenes story of what that experience was like. They skated that for each other – and it showed.

Few books bring tears to my eyes, and when Sergei tragically died in 1995, Katia’s world was crushed. She was left to raise their 3-year daughter on her own. With determination and with the encouragement of her fellow skaters (Scotty Hamilton, Brian Boitano, to name a few), she skated alone at “Celebration of Life” a tribute to Sergei’s life. More tears fell as she recalled what it was like to skate publicly without her Sergei.

I loved this book and in memory of my mother, who encouraged my skating, this is a must read for every figure skating fan, and anyone that likes a good love story.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Book Sale Pictures

We had a wonderful 3 days of book selling down at the Old Andersen Boats Building! Thanks to everyone who came and bought books, coffee mugs, bags and baked goodies! We were able to raise an awesome amount of $1305.26 for the library's expansion fund.

For all those who missed out we are hoping to do another sale in October. We'll be able to give you more details in September, after the Summer Reading Program is over. In the meantime check out our pics!



Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Gardendale Library's Big Spring Book Sale


We are having our first big Spring book sale! This sale is to help raise money for our expansion fund, so please join us Thursday April 29 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m, Friday April 30 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m and then Saturday May 1 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

As we have an abundance of books and other items for sale we do not have the room to have the sale at the library, so it will be held at the old Anderson Boat Building on HWY 31. Click here for directions from the library.

Prices will range from .50¢ each or 3/$1 for paperbacks, $1 and up for most hardbacks, audiobooks, VHS and DVDs. Magazines 4/$1. However, we will have some more expensive items ranging from $2-$3.

We will also be selling coffee and cakes for your enjoyment. All proceeds benefit the Gardendale Public Library Expansion Fund!

Monday, April 12, 2010

Beach Books!

A trip to the beach is just around the corner! Pick up one of these great reads when you hit the road this summer.
Here are a few titles and series to consider:
The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder by Rebecca Wells
Get Lucky by Katherine Center
How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly by Connie May Fowler
The Language of Sand by Ellen Block
Men and Dogs by Katie Crouch
How to Knit a Love Song: A Cypress Hollow Yarn by Rachael Herron
Balancing Acts by Zoe Fishman

Here are some general series or authors you should check out:
Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris
The Twilight Saga (if you haven’t gotten around to it yet!) by Stephenie Meyer
Sophie Kinsella Books
The "Sisterchick" books by Robin Jones Gunn

Don't forget you could pick up a bunch of great pool or beach books from our Big Spring Book Sale on April 29th 2pm-7 pm, 30th 10am-5pm, & May 1st 10am-2pm.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Thursday April BCB The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff



Product Description

It is 1875, and Ann Eliza Young has recently separated from her powerful husband, Brigham Young, prophet and leader of the Mormon Church. Expelled and an outcast, Ann Eliza embarks on a crusade to end polygamy in the United States. A rich account of her family’s polygamous history is revealed, including how both she and her mother became plural wives. Yet soon after Ann Eliza’s story begins, a second exquisite narrative unfolds–a tale of murder involving a polygamist family in present-day Utah. Jordan Scott, a young man who was thrown out of his fundamentalist sect years earlier, must reenter the world that cast him aside in order to discover the truth behind his father’s death. And as Ann Eliza’s narrative intertwines with that of Jordan’s search, readers are pulled deeper into the mysteries of love, family, and faith.

Monday April BCB The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan


Product Description

The Hundred Secret Senses is an exultant novel about China and America, love and loyalty, the identities we invent and the true selves we discover along the way. Olivia Laguni is half-Chinese, but typically American in her uneasiness with her patchwork family. And no one in Olivia's family is more embarrassing to her than her half-sister, Kwan Li. For Kwan speaks mangled English, is cheerfully deaf to Olivia's sarcasm, and sees the dead with her "yin eyes."

Even as Olivia details the particulars of her decades-long grudge against her sister (who, among other things, is a source of infuriatingly good advice), Kwan Li is telling her own story, one that sweeps us into the splendor, squalor, and violence of Manchu China. And out of the friction between her narrators, Amy Tan creates a work that illuminates both the present and the past sweetly, sadly, hilariously, with searing and vivid prose.

Monday, March 8, 2010

South of Broad by Pat Conroy

In Pat Conroy’s latest book, South of Broad, he writes in first person as the character, Leopold Bloom King. The story begins in 1969 when Leo, a junior in high school, is asked by his mother, the principal, to befriend some new students that will begin the new school year with him. They include a set of twins who move in across the street, a pair of brother and sister orphans, an aristocratic brother and sister (and his girlfriend), and an African American teen who will be one of the first to be integrated into public school. All of these teens become quite a group and we follow them into adulthood. This friendship begins at a time when Leo is just beginning to feel like a “real person” again after going through years of treatment for mental illness that he suffered after finding his older, athletic, popular and handsome brother dead in the bathtub from suicide.

Conroy, as always, gives wonderful details of his surroundings (Charleston, SC), his characters and their feelings. There are numerous twists and turns throughout the novel with plenty of opportunities for Kleenex! It is a novel that keeps you on the edge and waiting for the next thing to happen.  It was a very enjoyable read. 

By Randy Rowell

Monday, February 22, 2010

Alice I have been

by Melanie Benjamin

For someone who has always loved the Alice in Wonderland stories, this was a must read for me. I think I did know that Alice was based on a really person, Alice Liddell, before I picked up this book, but I had no idea of the rumour and speculation that surrounded her and Rev. Charles Dodgeson who wrote under the literary pen name of Lewis Caroll. This fictionalization of Alice Liddell's life delves deep into all those rumours around her, assuming the worst and best of characters.

All through her life, Wonderland follows Alice, beginning with her as a carefree, rambunctious yet serious child of seven, unable to keep her clothes clean and with a child's love for the family friend, Dodgeson; her romance with Prince Leopold; her easy marriage to Reginald Hargreaves and her heartache and loss as her sons go off to war. But it isn't until she is old that Alice finally reads the book and finds her own Wonderland.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Thursday March BCB - Schindler's List

Based on the book "Schindler's Ark" by Thomas-Keneally, Schindler's List tells the story of one man's defiance in the face of evil and his sacrifices to save Jewish people during Hitler's reign. It was made into a movie in 1993. Directed by Steven Spielberg and starring well known actors Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and Ben Kingsley the film won 7 Oscars and more than 60 other awards.


Thursday, February 11, 2010

Valentines!

It’s not too late!

Hurry in and get some great Valentine's Day ideas from our books.
52 fantastic dates for you and your mate by David & Claudia Arp 306.87 ArpD 2004 10 Great Dates for Empty Nesters by David & Claudia Arp
306.8 ArpD 2004
Be sure to check out the 306’s for lots of other relationship books you might like.





Or check out a Romantic Movie!
Love, Actually
When Harry Met Sally
The Notebook
Must Love Dogs

Fireproof




Or visit a website for some fantastic ideas
http://www.theromantic.com/
Visit The Nests Valentines section


Cook for your beloved!
Best of the Best from Alabama Cookbook 641.59 Best 2006
Food and Love by Gary Smalley 641.3 SmalG 2001
Love Bites: A Cookbook for Romantic Encounters 641.812 PrudJ
Fondue 641.81 CarmR
The Ultimate Candy Book 641.85 WeinB 2000

And lastly, don’t forget local attractions. You don’t have to go far to have a good time.
Alabama Off the Beaten Path 917.61 MartG
Alabama Curiosities 917.61 DuncA 2005
AAA Tourbook for Alabama, Louisiana & Mississippi 917.6 Tour 2004
Birmingham Dining Guide 917.61 Birmi 2005
Seeing Historic Alabama 917.61 HamiV
Alabama Trails 796.51 SharP 1993

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Monday February BCB - Standing in the Rainbow by Fannie Flagg

Product Information:

Good news! Fannie’s back in town--and the town is among the leading characters in her new novel.

Along with Neighbor Dorothy, the lady with the smile in her voice, whose daily radio broadcasts keep us delightfully informed on all the local news, we also meet Bobby, her ten-year-old son, destined to live a thousand lives, most of them in his imagination; Norma and Macky Warren and their ninety-eight-year-old Aunt Elner; the oddly sexy and charismatic Hamm Sparks, who starts off in life as a tractor salesman and ends up selling himself to the whole state and almost the entire country; and the two women who love him as differently as night and day. Then there is Tot Whooten, the beautician whose luck is as bad as her hairdressing skills; Beatrice Woods, the Little Blind Songbird; Cecil Figgs, the Funeral King; and the fabulous Minnie Oatman, lead vocalist of the Oatman Family Gospel Singers.

The time is 1946 until the present. The town is Elmwood Springs, Missouri, right in the middle of the country, in the midst of the mostly joyous transition from war to peace, aiming toward a dizzyingly bright future.

Once again, Fannie Flagg gives us a story of richly human characters, the saving graces of the once-maligned middle classes and small-town life, and the daily contest between laughter and tears. Fannie truly writes from the heartland, and her storytelling is, to quote Time, "utterly irresistible."

Thursday February BCB: Let's Roll by Lisa Beamer and Ken Abraham


From the Back Cover
9-11.
United Flight 93.
You heard hero Todd Beamer’s last words before he and other passengers fought back against the hijackers.
But is that the end of the story?
In Let’s Roll! Todd’s wife, Lisa, reveals what really happened on that ill-fated flight. She offers poignant glimpses of a genuine American hero—his growing-up years and their marriage and last week together. She talks candidly about the devastating day her children learned their daddy had died, the birth of her third child, and how she’s found the confidence to go on in the face of such tragedy and loss.
It’s no wonder that, through this unpretentious homemaker and mother, an entire nation can:
Find hope.
Find inspiration.
Find strength.
LET’S ROLL!