Love is in the Air!

By Toni Snee

Looking for some good romantic DVD’s?  Try one of these oldies:

Proposal (Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds)  Faced with deportation back to Canada for an expired visa, a high-powered editor enlists the help of her frustrated male assistant.  Marry her and he gets a promotion!

Sweet Home Alabama (Reese Witherspoon, Josh Lucas) A rising star in the New York Fashion scene returns home to divorce her slacker husband to marry the man of her dreams.

 Just Wright (Queen Latifah, Common) A physical therapist, hired to work with an injured NBA All-Star falls for her client.  Unfortunately for her, he has eyes for her friend who wants to be a trophy wife.

Hitch (Will Smith, Eva Mendes) Date Doctor falls for a gossip columnist he meets while helping his latest client date the woman of his dreams.

Definitely Maybe (Ryan Reynolds and Rachel Weisz) Ten year old daughter begins to question her father about her mother and why the couple divorced.

My Life in Ruins  (Nia Vardalos and Alexis Georgoulis) Out of work teacher in Athens agrees to help her friend by acting as tour guide for group of Americans on a world-wind 4 day tour of Greece.

Try One of These International Mystery Authors

 By Susan Pope

Did you love The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? The mystery genre has been inundated with many authors from distant shores. Check out one of these authors for a new twist on intrigue.

• Kjell Eriksson
• Karin Fossum
• Benjamin Black
• Garry Disher
• Philip Kerr

And by the way, there’s a new Mystery Book Club at the Scituate Town Library: Scituate Sleuths! Do you love a good whodunit? Need new suggestions for suspenseful authors? Join us the first Wednesday of the month at 7:00 p.m., starting March 6th. To register, come in or call 781-545-8727 and ask for the Reference Desk. All are welcome!

How can I find a great book to read?

By Mary Jo McNally

Looking for your next great book to read?  Want to try a new author or genre?  The library has some great options to help you!

First is the magazine BookMarks: for everyone who hasn’t read everything.  They review new books, but also older books you might have missed.  Books are rated from one star (poor) to five starts (classic).  There are also authors featured with many of their works reviewed.  This title is found in the Scituate Town Library’s magazine section and back issues can be checked out.

Second is a free magazine called Book Page. This magazine reviews new books and has a few author interviews.  Book Page is published monthly and is FREE to patrons.  To find this month’s issue, and maybe last month’s if you missed it, look in the new book room.  And the new book room is always full of interesting books– no matter what your interest is.

Another source is NoveList Plus. NoveList Plus is a database where you can search among hundreds of thousands of popular fiction and readable nonfiction titles. You can also retrieve author read-alikes, book lists, book discussion guides, and more! To use this database from outside the library, you’ll need your library card number. You can find NoveList Plus by following this link and clicking on the “N” for databases in alphabetical listing.

And last, look for the new Staff Picks display in the library! There you will find reviews of books read by the Scituate library staff and either a copy of the book or a place-keeper that you can take to the circulation desk and use to put the book on hold. Nearby is a shelf of books-you-might-have missed, selected by library staff as well!

Good luck in finding your new classic!

The Plant Hunters: True Stories of Their Daring Adventures to the Far Corners of the Earth

By Ann Lattinville

The Plant Hunters: True Stories of Their Daring Adventures to the Far Corners of the Earth

Risking your life for plants and flowers? Encountering dangerous animals, deadly diseases, remote and rugged terrain? Why on Earth…? That’s just the question Anita Silvey’s book seeks to answer. Reading more like an adventure novel than a history of botanical specimen collection, this title grabs you in the very first paragraph and delivers on the promise of answering that ubiquitous question of why– why anyone would risk their life in search, of all things, plants! With its intrigue and gritty detail, this book is sure to appeal to readers young and old, whether you’re a gardener or a budding scientist. I couldn’t put it down!

Peter’s Picks

By Peter Struzziero

I’m proud to announce, the official unveiling of my very own FAVORITES display. I will now (and for the foreseeable future) keep a collection of all my favorite stuff, right next to my desk. I have a cart which will display “Peters Picks”.

2012 has come to a close, and I was less than 100 checkouts away from breaking the all time YA Record.  2013 is a whole other story though.  New YA Non-Fiction will be on display for a few months in the New Book Room when it arrives at our door. All new YA Fiction will have a chance to be on display as well, on a table next to the seating in the YA Department. Come on in and check out the new layout.

In addition to these changes, yes, my favorite stuff will be on display, and I won’t discriminate. I’ll have Books, Movies, XBOX Games, Graphic Novels, Manga, Audio Books…… you name it, all types of items will have a spot on Peter’s Picks.

Come in and check a few out today, lets start early and break the record in 2013.

Any suggestions on new things I should buy? Hey…. make a list. No seriously, make a list and bring it in. If you can make a decent argument for popular YA Materials that deserve a home in Scituate, I’ll more than likely take your advice.

Invincible Microbe: Tuberculosis and the Never-Ending Search for a Cure

By Ann Lattinville

Stop into the Children’s Room at the Scituate Town Library and take a look at the display we’ve put up of fantastic books that were released in 2012. The breadth and depth of this treasure trove of reading is remarkable. From fiction to nonfiction, picture book to novel, there’s something for every reader. It will be very interesting to see who wins the Caldecott and Newbery Awards this year with such a great field of contenders from which to pick.

One of my favorite nonfiction reads from this year was Invincible Microbe: Tuberculosis and the Never-Ending Search for a Cure by Jim Murphy and Alison Blank. The book tracks the fascinating, if grim, history of tuberculosis. Illustrated with archival photographs, this history explains in detail the efforts to cure the disease before germ theory was common knowledge and takes the reader to the workings of the purpose-built hospitals (sanatoria) to care for victims of the tuberculosis. Readers will learn as well about the social stigma attached to contracting tuberculosis. The book concludes with a chilling (but not too scary for kids) account of the resurgence of cases of tuberculosis in recent years, despite our knowledge of how the disease spreads and what kinds of modern medicines can be used to combat it.

Invincible Microbe is available at the Scituate Town Library in hardback. You can also place a hold and pick it up when you are notified of its availability, as there are 16 copies of the book in the Old Colony Library Network.

Pair Invincible Microbe with Breathing Room by Marsha Hayles and a young reader will get a perspective of what was like to be a patient at one of the numerous sanatoria across the country and suffer from this disease. Scituate Town Library has one hardcover copy of this book. Both books are recommended for Grade 5 and up.

New Picture Books for Sharing!

By Toni Snee

This year I found selecting books for my 7-year old nephew a somewhat daunting task– what does a 7 year old like?  My nieces at this age were easy — Jan Brett and Alexandra Day– but boys are so different.  I listed to how much Ann Lattinville, the Children’s Librarian, laughed out loud as she cataloged some children’s book a few weeks before Christmas.  The following 4 books made the biggest impact, so I purchased copies for my nephew.

Unfortunately there was a bug going around my nephew’s school and he managed to catch it right before Christmas.  The nice thing about him being sick is he’s quiet and just wants to snuggle with anyone who’ll read to him.  In three days’ time, I had these stories memorized!

Dragons Love Tacos, by Adam Rubin

Did you know that dragons LOVE tacos?  They love all kinds of tacos: chicken, beef, cheese, any kind.  But dragons don’t like salsa– any way, shape or form.  Read this story to see what happens when you mix dinosaurs + tacos + salsa.

I Loathe You, by David Slonim

Did you know that monsters loathe each other?  Find out what happens when a young monster worries that his parents don’t loathe him enough.  According to Amazon, “unconditional loathing is monsterly love in this sweetly humorous picture book.”

Christmas Wombat,  by Jackie French

In the second wombat book by Jackie French, the wombat thinks Christmas is just like any other day until she smells carrots.  Nothing, and I mean nothing, can come between this wombat and carrots–  including Santa’s reindeer.  Exhausted from fighting with the reindeer, wombat finds a cozy spot for a nap–  in the back of Santa’s sleigh– and learns that carrots are available all around the world.

I am so Handsome,  by Mario Ramos

He’s back– the wolf from “I am so strong”–  now he wants to know who is the most handsome creature in the forest.  Apparently he didn’t learn his lesson the last time.

Each of these books is available in hardcover from the Scituate Town Library. Stop by and check one out! Or place a hold and we’ll call you when it’s available and then you can come and pick it up! Visit the online catalog to place your hold.

Best of 2012: Children’s Books Display

By Ann Lattinville

As you enter the children’s room, we have a small book case with a rotating display.  Sometimes we shelve craft and activity books– which we like to call “boredom busters”– and sometimes we shelve “staff picks”, or summer reading suggestions, or other thematic groupings. The list of ideas for featuring the collection is virtually endless.

We have decided that for the next few weeks the display will contain a mix of picture books, easy readers, and chapter books in fiction and nonfiction. What these books all have in common is that they have each appeared on “Best of 2012” book lists.

Not surprisingly, each of these titles are also books we have checked out to patrons and re-shelved over and over again. From Z is for Moose, by Kelly Bingham, (a perennial favorite at pre-school story time) to The Fairy Ring, or Elsie and Frances Fool the World, by Mary Losure, a fantastic work of nonfiction that reads like a mystery novel, there’s something that is sure to appeal to every one.

Both books mentioned in this post are available through the Old Colony Library Network. Scituate Town Library owns both as hardcover editions.  Abington Public Library owns The Fairy Ring, or Elsie and Frances Fool the World on audio CD! You can request it through the Old Colony Library Network by placing a hold. You can pick it up at the Scituate Town Library and return it to the Scituate Town Library when you’re done.

For a look at some of the “Best of 2012” book lists, follow these links to: School Library Journal, Booklist, or the New York Times.

Wonder, by R. J. Palacio

By Ann Lattinville

If you’re looking for a great book for a child in Grade 4-7, you might consider Wonder by R.J. Palacio.  The story’s central character is Auggie Pullman, an ordinary kid who has overcome some extraordinary circumstances. Born with genetic facial abnormalities, he’s had over 27 surgeries by they time the reader meets him at the beginning of the book. Auggie doesn’t dwell on that though and tells the reader up front that he’s not going to describe his birth defects, so don’t bother asking.  Instead, he moves the reader right past that to his more immediate problem: he’s been home-schooled up until the present day but his parents have decided it’s time for him to start Grade 5 at Beecher Prep!

Now he’s got to navigate the social minefield that is middle school. As you might expect, there are issues with being the kid who is “different.”  But with patient, humorous parents and a few good friends who have his back, Auggie’s story of his first year in school with other kids unfolds to a satisfying conclusion.

When I went to the schools to talk to students about summer reading ideas last spring, I brought this book. Kids immediately gravitated toward its striking cover and asked about it. At one school, a student was simply unable to contain his enthusiasm for this novel and impressed upon his peers that everyone should read this book, including grown-ups. Now that’s high praise from the fourth grade! And I heartily agree with that student.

For excellent parental observations about the book, see Maria Russo’s review in the New York Times.

 

Check Out This Great Magazine: Mental_Floss

By Mary Jo McNally

Know a chocoholic?  Check out chocolate fun facts in the November issue of the magazine Mental_Floss! Did you know that during the Great Depression, Milky Way bars were prescribed for Vitamin A deficiency?  That is just one of the many facts you can amaze your friends with.

Each month this magazine is full of strange facts and a trivia quiz that will really test your skills.  I guarantee you will learn something from each issue!  Mental_Floss: the magazine for knowledge junkies.