New Year's Resolution

One of the top resolutions people have for the New Year is: GET HEALTHY!

Here are some wonderful websites and books that can help you with that goal!

WEBSITES

USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion
This government site has the latest nutritional and dietary guidelines and news releases as well as recipes. When you sign in to The Interactive Healthy Eating Index with age and gender information, it will compare your diet to the food pyramid and give you a score based on analysis of the foods and quantities you provide, as compared to recommended intake levels. The Index requires screen setting and display of at least 800x600 DPI and 256 colors. Some of the files require Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Weight Loss Products and Programs
Profiles of popular weight-loss products and programs, listing characteristics of the products and programs, strengths and weaknesses, and other comments. Also includes examples of ineffective weight-loss products. From a nutritionist at the Colorado State University Cooperative Extension.

Choosing a Safe and Successful Weight-loss Program
A list of questions to ask before joining a weight-loss program. Discusses safety, costs, staff qualifications, product risks, and results. From the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).

Calorie Control Council
News and information about calorie control, weight loss, and low-calorie and reduced-fat foods and beverages, from a "non-profit association representing the low-calorie and reduced-fat food and beverage industry." Includes calculators, dieting trends and statisticsm exercise tips, and descriptions of low-calorie sweeteners, polyols, and fat replacers. BE AWARE: Information about sweeteners is heavily weighted in favor of the use of these products, with little information about risks and side effects.

Small Step
An alarming rise in deaths in the last 10 years due to poor diet and exercise has prompted this site. Take the "small steps" to better nutrition and health by browsing the headings: "Getting the Facts," "Eating Better," "Getting Active," and "Learning More." Includes success stories and an e-mail newsletter. Also available in Spanish. From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

BOOKS

American Dietetic Association Complete Food and Nutrition Guide, 3rd Edition
by Roberta Larson Duyff, MS, RD, FADA, CFCS. Wiley, 2006.
Includes the most up-to-date Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Offers quick access to timely advice on a multitude of food and nutrition topics. Includes chapters on food for fitness, healthy weight, vegetarian eating and nutrition for every stage of life.

Dieting for Dummies – 2nd Edition
by Jane Kirby, RD. Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2004
Written in a user-friendly style by a registered dietitian, this guide offers methods for evaluating diet programs, coping with cravings and eating healthfully at home or away.

The Healthy Beef Cookbook
by American Dietetic Association and National Cattlemen's Beef Association, et. al. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2005.
Shows health-conscious cooks exciting new ways to use lean beef in everything from quick and easy suppers to special occasion entrees. More than 130 delicious, nutritious recipes that feature the cuts of beef that meet current government guidelines for lean labeling.

The Eating Well Diet
by Dr. Jean Harvey-Berino, PhD, RD. The Countryman Press, 2007.
Develop healthy eating habits with over 150 recipes, inspiring messages and practical tips. Helpful charts and sensible strategies will encourage you to set goals and track your progress.

The Way To Eat
by David L. Katz, MD, MPH and Maura Gonzalez, MS, RD. Source Books, 2003.
A comprehensive guide to a lifetime of eating well in support of three goals: overall good health, weight control and enjoyment of food.

The Dish On Eating Healthy and Being Fabulous!
by Carolyn O’Neil, MS, RD and Densie Webb, PhD, RD. Atria Books, Simon and Schuster, 2004.
A collection of tasty recipes, combined with solid nutritional advice and a common-sense approach.

Eating on the Run
by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD. Human Kinetics, 2004.
Features practical, healthful strategies for grocery shopping, eating out and quick meal preparation for today’s busy lifestyle.

The Good Housekeeping Supermarket Diet: Your Shopping List for Delicious and Healthy
Weight Loss
by Janis Jibrin, MS, RD. Hearst Books, 2006.
Use the tear-out guide to help you shop more efficiently. Stock your pantry, then try the recipes. You’ll also find a calorie counter for 100-calorie snacks, as well as tips used by successful dieters.

A Healthier You: Based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans
by US Department of Health and Human Services. US Government Printing Office, 2005.
It's a one-stop, easy to-use resource full of good advice on nutrition and activity.

Healthy Eating Every Day
by Ruth Ann Carpenter, MS, RD and Carrie E. Finley, MS. Human Kinetics, 2005.
Teaches realistic goal-setting, coping with lapses and celebrating successes. Food shopping tips are included.

Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think
by Brian Wansink, PhD. Bantam Books, 2006.
Learn how to recognize those triggers that make you want to eat too much, or want to eat those foods loaded with empty calories. Written in an easy-to-read style that will make you nod your head in recognition of your own cravings.

Nutrition for Life
by Lisa Hark, PhD, RD and Darwin Deen, MD. DK Publishing, Inc., 2005.
Described as a "one volume encyclopedia" of everything that's been said before, this guide provides straightforward information on nutrition.

The Portion Teller: Smartsize Your Way to Permanent Weight Loss
by Lisa R. Young, PhD, RD. Morgan Road Books, 2005.
Is that mound of pasta really just one serving? Learn what a “portion” actually looks like and how to be more realistic about what goes on your plate. Lots of visuals and comparisons for portion sizes.

So What Can I Eat?!: How to Make Sense of the New Dietary Guidelines for Americans and Make Them Your Own
by Elisa Zied, MS, RD with Ruth Winter, MS. Wiley, 2006.
Yes, you can have some chocolate now and then. Learn how to work with a shopping list, make menu plans and prepare balanced meals that include foods you may have thought forbidden.

The Step Diet Book
by James O. Hill, PhD; John C. Peters, PhD; Bonnie T. Jortberg, MS, RD. Workman Publishing Company, Inc. 2004.
A practical guide combining dozens of recipes with advice on how to increase the number of steps we walk each day.

10 Habits That Mess Up a Woman’s Diet: Simple Strategies to Eat Right, Lose Weight, and Reclaim Your Health
by Elizabeth Somer, MA, RD. McGraw-Hill, 2006.
How many of us taste-test while cooking? But those calories don’t count, do they? Learn about the many simple mistakes women make that interfere with successful dieting.

The Traveler’s Diet: Eating Right and Staying Fit on the Road
by Peter Greenberg. Villard Books, 2006.
Do you gain weight every time you leave town? The author confides his secrets about eating, exercising and sleep habits while traveling. Stay on track on the road.

The Volumetrics Eating Plan
by Barbara Rolls, PhD. HarperCollins, 2005.
Shows how to select those foods that let us eat satisfying portions but leave us feeling full on fewer calories. Includes 125 recipes, menu planners, charts and helpful sidebars.

Food for Fines?

Have you been avoiding us lately because of a pesky, ol' overdue fine on your account? Well there's no need to. Here's a great way to clear that fine and at the same time help families in need!

The Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Newport is the primary food bank for Newport County and has approximately 700 registered clients that turn to this center for help. It's a wonderful organization that welcomes donations.

The Director of MPL began a Food for Fines program at the Library in December 2007 as a way to contribute to the Center. Since 2007 (and thanks to its generous patrons like you) the Library has furnished the equivalent of several hundred meals to the clients of the MLK Jr. Community Center. For it's effort the Library has been awarded the Martin Luther King Service certificate of 2008.

The "currency" is nonperishable food item(s). The rate asked of patrons is:

Fines Number of Food Items
$1.00 or less 1
$1.01-$2.00 2
$2.01-$3.00 3
etc. etc.

We understand that it's not always possible to return a book or DVD on time (librarians get overdues too). So don't be shy! Bring in some nonperishable food items and we'll call it even.

Hey, we miss you and want to see you back at the Library!

Library Closed

Due to unsafe traveling conditions, the Middletown Public Library will be closed today and tomorrow (December 20th and 21st).

In the mean time go make a snowperson! That's what I'm gonna do!!!

School, Daycare and Business Closings and Delays

Winter is definitely upon us. WPRI Eyewitness News is providing Rhode Islanders with a current list of school, daycare and business closings and delays, as well as parking bans.

Read and Read Alike!

Do you have a favorite author? How about a favorite book? But what if you've read everything your favorite author has written? What do you do when you've read a great book and want to find more like it?

Fret no more! Each week we'll feature a new author or title to help you through the draught.

THIS WEEK: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

It was an international bestseller and a hit motion picture. Do you want more? Well we got more!

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

Deception Point by Dan Brown

The Genesis Code by John Case (mythological, religious aspect)

Deborah Crombie mysteries, especially A Finer End (similar content) and her Kissed a Sad Goodbye (history mixed with mystery)

Clive Cussler (action element)

Nelson DeMille (action element)

Umberto Eco, especially The Name of the Rose (murder in medieval abbey) and Foucalt's Pendulaum (Templar history)

Headlong by Michael Frayn (good art mystery)

The Assassini by Thomas Gifford (well-written thriller about an ancient and deadly secret society, its roots deep in Church history, which takes murderous action...)

The Sixteen Pleasures by Robert Hellenga (no mystery, but quest within the art/museum/library/convent world of Florence)

Michael Jecks (mystery series featuring Sir Baldwin, a Knight Templar)

Untitled: A Booklover's Mystery by Julie Wallin Kaewert (lighter tone...aspect of different slant on a significant historical event that affects prominent people). This book is part of Booklover's Mystery series.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (the feminine divine aspect)

The Last Day by Glenn Kleier (feminine divine, Catholic Church)

The Icarus Agenda by Robert Ludlum (adventure aspect)

The Eight by Katherine Neville (historical quest, Freemasons, solving chess riddles)

Iain Pears (well-researched art history mysteries and thrillers)

Daughter of God: A Novel of Art and Faith When God Was a Woman by Lewis Perdue (actually sued Dan Brown for plagiarism!)

Daniel Quinn, Story of B, and many of his other books

Jonathan Rabb, The Book of Q, and The Overseer (religious conspiracy aspect)

The Confessor by Daniel Silva (secret society within Catholic Church)

The Prophetess by Barbara Wood (feminine divine, suppression by Catholic Church

(Compiled by the subscribers of the Fiction_L mailing list at the Morton Grove Public Library's Webrary)

MAGIC SHOW!

Looking for something fun to do with your little ones during the holiday break? Why not take them to a MAGIC SHOW!

On Tuesday, December 30th at 10:30am MPL will host Magician Tommy James. With over 30 years of performing experience Mr. James has the show for you. His performance will amaze and amuse with a roller coaster ride of comedy and magic that is GUARANTEED to PLEASE! Click here to see his website!

Please call (401) 846-1573 for information and free tickets!

AskRI is HERE!

Governor Donald L. Carcieri joined Rhode Island leaders of the Office of Library and Information Services and the Statewide Reference Resource Center at Providence Public Library (PPL) at the PPLs Central Library to announce the launch of AskRI -- a newly enhanced online resource for all Rhode Islanders.

AskRI includes features such as "Homework Help RI", "World Book Web", EBSCOHost and "Heritage Quest" as well as many more resources!

Traveling With Pets

Will you be traveling this holiday season and plan on taking Fido and Whiskers with you? Here are a few websites that can ease the stress of making sure both you and your pets have a happy holiday!

Care for Pets
By the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the site covers information related to keeping pets healthy and contains advice on vet selection, pet selection, pet loss, and traveling with your pet. The site is well organized, easy to navigate, and has links to thousands of veterinary medical and animal-related online resources. Their excellent search engine includes a database of full-text articles from the AVMA Network, as well as the NetVet and Electronic Zoo resources.

DogFriendly.com
This site "lists and describes thousands of dog-friendly places throughout the U.S. and Canada, from lodging to outdoor restaurants, parks, beaches, attractions and more." It focuses "on listing only places that allow dogs of all sizes and breeds." Also includes tips for traveling with dogs, newsletters, a photo gallery, and lists of dog-friendly events and employers. Browsable by location or type of place, or searchable. (Highlights sponsor listings.)

Importation of Pets, Other Animals, and Animal Products Into the United States
This page describes regulations governing "the importation [to the U.S.] of dogs, cats, turtles, monkeys, other animals, and animal products capable of causing human disease." The FAQ on animal importation also addresses questions about horses, small terrestrial mammals and rodents, snakes, fish, birds, and animal trophies. From the Division of Global Migration and Quarantine of the National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Movement of Pets (Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) - Questions & Answers
Information about the European Union pet passports for dogs, cats, and ferrets. The site provides rules for pet passports.

Taking Your Pet on the Plane
Discussion of "what the law, the airlines and veterinarians recommend" when traveling with a pet on an airline. Covers animals that will not be accepted for air travel (such as pug-nosed dog breeds), planning for a flight with an animal (such as communication with airlines, feeding, and exercise), pet travel in the airplane cabin versus the cargo hold, and related topics. From Nolo, a California publisher of legal self-help books.


And remember: please always check with your local veternarian before traveling with your furry friends!

Every Day is a Holiday!

Seriously, every day IS a celebration. Just check out The Earth Calendar to find out which holiday it is. The Earth Calendar is a datebook of holidays and celebrations around the world. Users can search the calendar by date, country, religion, and even lunar phases!

As the site states, "For the purpose of this web site a "holiday" is any day that recognizes a cultural event, and not necessarily a day when businesses are closed." So don't worry! The banks and stores are still open even if it's St. Lucy's Day in Sweden!

New Arrival!

Knit Two by Kate Jacobs

Product Description

The sequel to the number-one New York Times bestseller The Friday Night Knitting Club, Knit Two returns to Walker and Daughter, the Manhattan knitting store founded by Georgia Walker and her young daughter, Dakota. Dakota is now an eighteen-year-old freshman at NYU, running the little yarn shop part-time with help from the members of the Friday Night Knitting Club.

Drawn together by the sense of family the club has created, the knitters rely on one another as they struggle with new challenges: for Catherine, finding love after divorce; for Darwin, the hope for a family; for Lucie, being both a single mom and a caregiver for her elderly mother; and for seventysomething Anita, a proposal of marriage from her sweetheart, Marty, that provokes the objections of her grown children.

As the club’s projects—an afghan, baby booties, a wedding coat—are pieced together, so is their understanding of the patterns underlying the stresses and joys of being mother, wife, daughter, and friend. Because it isn’t the difficulty of the garment that makes you a great knitter: it’s the care and attention you bring to the craft—as well as how you adapt to surprises.

Wanna Save a Little Money?

While I love to read novels, I have a bit of an affinity for magazines. I adore People, Glamour, Redbook, Rolling Stone, Self...I love them all! However subscribing to all of them can get expensive. And let's face it, cover-to-cover most of us can read an issue within a couple of hours. I feel terrible spending my hard earned cash on these guilty little pleasures, but I don't want to live without my weekly dose of celebrity gossip!

So with everyone tightening their money belts is there any way to have your cake and eat it too? There sure is!

Did you know you can check out magazines here at the library? Just pop-on in and pick up the latest issue of many of today's most popular magazines (Prevention, Money, Men's Health, Discovery, Sports Illustrated and MORE! We also have previous issues (missed the February 2008 Cat Fancy issue?) available for check out as well.

So come on down to the local library! We want to help you save a little money!

COMING SOON! (February 2009)

In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin

Product Description

A major literary debut that explores class, culture, power, and desire among the ruling and servant classes of Pakistan.

In the spirit of Joyce's Dubliners and Turgenev's A Sportsman's Sketches, Daniyal Mueenuddin's collection of linked stories illuminates a place and a people through an examination of the entwined lives of landowners and their retainers on the Gurmani family farm in the countryside outside of Lahore, Pakistan. An aging feudal landlord's household staff, the villagers who depend on his favor, and a network of relations near and far who have sought their fortune in the cities confront the advantages and constraints of station, the dissolution of old ways, and the shock of change. Mueenuddin bares—at times humorously, at times tragically—the complexities of Pakistani class and culture and presents a vivid picture of a time and a place, of the old powers and the new, as the Pakistani feudal order is undermined and transformed.

Check out the author's website!

And as always: RESERVE YOUR COPY TODAY!

Did You Know...

Middletown Public Library has a page on Facebook! Why not become a fan?

We'll be posting events happening at the library, as well as new books, CDs, and DVDs that are arriving DAILY! Get to know some of your fellow MPL social networkers.

Check us out on Facebook!

COMING SOON!

Thaw by Monica M. Roe

Summary

Dane is a thousand miles south of his home in northern New York. It's not the warm winter that keeps him off his skis, though. Not even creepy Isaac, who wanders by in Mardi Gras beads and a top hat, could block Dane from a Nordic race. Guillain-Barre Syndrome is the culprit, a paralyzing disease that has committed the high-school senior to a hospital bed indefinitely. Days in bed pass and Dane recalls both his former prowess and his disdain for the people in his life. Physical recovery is painfullu slow, though, and it becomes clear that Dane may not fully regain the use of his body, that he may become one of the losers he abhors. As this threat grows more immediate, either Dane's icy mind will crack, or the young man will learn to thaw.

RESERVE YOUR COPY TODAY!

New Year's Is Right Around the Corner!

Fun facts about New Years

This site includes information about New Year's traditions, a brief history of New Year's resolutions, information about the celebration of New Years in ancient cultures, global good luck traditions, a list of common resolutions, and the lyrics to "Auld Lang Syne" by Robert Burns. From a company that provides materials and training for performance improvement.

Times Square Alliance: New Year's Eve

This site provides information on the spectacular celebration of New Year's Eve in Times Square, New York City, on December 31. It includes facts on the construction and descent of the famous Waterford crystal ball, event fact sheets and schedules, and a FAQ filled with details on viewing areas, public facilities, vendors, transportation, history, and more. From the Times Square District Management Association.

Chinese New Year

This site provides information on how the Chinese New Year's Day is determined, the Chinese solar/lunar calendar, the animals of the Chinese zodiac, significance of Chinese dragons, calligraphy, and Chinese graphics.

Feature Stories: New Year's Resolutions Guide

This series of articles provides ideas for sticking to resolutions made for the new year. Includes general resolution advice, and strategies for weight loss, exercise, and quitting smoking. From the University of Maryland Medical Center.

Book of the Day!

August : Osage County by Tracy Letts

Description from book

Winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama

"A tremendous achievement in American playwriting: a tragicomic populist portrait of a tough land and a tougher people." -Time Out New York

Tracy Letts' August: Osage County is what O'Neill would be writing in 2007. Letts has recaptured the nobility of American drama's mid-century heyday while still creating something entirely original." -New York magazine

One of the most bracing and critically acclaimed plays in recent Broadway history, August: Osage County is a portrait of the dysfunctional American family at its finest-and absolute worst. When the patriarch of the Weston clan disappears one hot summer night, the family reunites at the Oklahoma homestead, where long-held secrets are unflinchingly and uproariously revealed. The three-act, three-and-a-half-hour mammoth of a play combines epic tragedy with black comedy, dramatizing three generations of unfulfilled dreams and leaving not one of its thirteen characters unscathed. After its sold-out Chicago premiere, the play has electrified audiences in New York since its opening in November 2007.

Tracy Letts is the author of Killer Joe, Bug, and Man from Nebraska, which was a finalist for the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. His plays have been performed throughout the country and internationally. A performer as well as a playwright, Letts is a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, where August: Osage County premiered.

Book of the Day!

Burn Out by Marcia Muller

From Kirkus Reviews

Sharon McCone fights depression. Nine months after escaping death by a mere five seconds (The Ever-Running Man, 2007, etc.), San Francisco private eye Sharon McCone retreats to the ranch her husband Hy Ripinsky owns in the high Sierras and contemplates closing her agency. A glimmer of her usual peskiness shows through when she spies Boz Sheppard tossing Amy Perez, the ranch manager's niece, out of his pickup shortly before Amy disappears. Offering to help look for her, McCone wanders into a series of Perez tragedies. Amy's older sister Hayley, who decamped for Vegas years ago and became a hooker, secretly returns, makes a will leaving major money to Amy and is shot dead in a trailer park. Amy's mom Miri, a bellicose drunk/slut who'd been shunned by her family after a rape when she was a teen, also disappears and dies violently. An old beau of Hayley's is shot in the back and left to rot in the desert. Bud Smith, a registered sex offender who may have taken the rap for a relative, is also killed. Tracking down people and alibis via the "moccasin telegraph," McCone sorts through the family's Paiute heritage, but it will take some serious piloting to get her out of a jam and bounce her back to normalcy. A bit more self-deprecating humor than usual from McCone and a crisply woven plot. For those readers tired of the McCone-Ripinsky romance, there's much ado about a burgeoning relationship between McCone and a snickering horse.

Recommendation from the Librarian

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

I'm not a big fan of westerns or Brad Pitt (I know, I know...the only woman in the world who doesn't swoon over him), but this film is a gem I recently rented from here.

Summary
Everyone in 1880s America knows Jesse James. He's the nation's most notorious criminal and is being hunted by the law in 10 states. He's also the land's greatest hero, lauded as a Robin Hood by the public. No one knows of Robert Ford, at least not yet. But the ambitious 19-year-old aims to change that. He befriends Jesse and rides with his gang. And if that doesn't bring Ford fame, he will have to find a deadlier way. Friendship becomes rivalry and the quest for fame becomes obsession.

Book of the Day!

Pushing Up Daisies by Rosemary Harris

From Publishers Weekly
In Harris's cozy debut, budding landscaper Paula Holliday turns sleuth after the former documentary filmmaker, a New York City transplant to the suburbs, unearths a box containing a small dead body in the neglected, overgrown garden of the Springfield, Conn., house of the recently deceased Peacock sisters, Dorothy and Renata. Sgt. Michael O'Malley, who looked like he knew his way to the donut shop, leads the crime investigation, but Paula does her share of detecting, supported by such friends as Lucy Cavanaugh, a fellow filmmaker, and Wanda Babe Chinnery, the proprietor of the local diner where all and sundry come to gossip. Harris does a good job developing her characters, their friendships and romances, though the mystery itself borders on the formulaic. Still, the action builds to a satisfying denouement and gardeners will appreciate the author's insider knowledge. (Feb.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Recommendation from the Librarian

The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg

This is a little gem of a book I stumbled upon recently. It's a graphic novel, meaning it's "a kind of comic book, usually with long and fairly complex storylines and often aimed at more mature audiences" (definition from the Comics: Encyclopedia)

From Booklist
*Starred Review* For the first book in a new series aimed at teenage girls, DC comics recruited novelist Castellucci (Boy Proof, 2004, and The Queen of Cool, 2005) to write this story about outsiders who come together, calling up themes from the author's popular YA novels. Relocated to suburbia after a brush with disaster in the big city (and fueled by an urge not to be terrified of the world as a result), Jane rallies a small group of outcasts into a team of "art terrorists," shaking the town from its conservative complacency by putting bubbles in the city fountain and wrapping objects on the street as Christmas packages. Their activities end up rallying the local teenagers to their cause and working the adults into a dither. The book has its share of stereotypes--the science geek, the psychotically overprotective mother, the irrepressible gay teen--but this is thought-provoking stuff. The art, inspired by Dan Clowes' work, is absolutely engaging. Packaged like manga this is a fresh, exciting use of the graphic-novel format.

Jesse Karp
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Pearl One, Knit Two

There is a new after school fad that teens are doing, and it involves needles. Breathe Mom and Dad...I'm talking about knitting needles. It seems among certain social circles knitting is the cool thing to do! So does your teen want to know more? Here are a few websites s/he might like!

Craft Yarn Council of America: Learn the basics of knitting and crocheting, find free patterns, participate in a discussion group, or investigate one of the council's special programs at this site. One of the programs is this trade association's Warm Up America program of donating afghans to people in need.

FreePatterns.com Over 1500 free craft patterns for crochet, cross-stitch, quilting, crafts, plastic canvas, and knitting. Free registration required. Images and diagrams may be available. Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader (PDF).

Knit Net: An online magazine for knitters. Free content includes articles, patterns, a list of knitting blogs, and video demonstrations. (More content is available with a paid subscription.) The magazine is published six times a year.

Knitting Charities: Knitting for a Better World: Annotated list of organizations and projects focused on knitting and crocheting for charitable causes. Includes knitting for premature infants, children in hospitals, domestic violence victims, chemotherapy patients, U.S. armed forces, humanitarian projects in other countries, and more. From a publisher of craft books.

Knitty: Little Purls of Wisdom: "The web-only knitting magazine for knitters with a fresh attitude." Offers a collection of free patterns for sweaters, socks, hats, and other clothing and gifts. Patterns are rated for difficulty, and include recommendations for materials, needle sizes, and gauge. Also include articles about knitting techniques and the knitting community.

Recommendation from the Librarian

Do you like dark, edgy humor? Do you wait anxiously for the latest David Sedaris book to be released? This past week I dipped my eyes into a little gem called Running with Scissors. When deciding what next to read, I chose this novel based on my scientific criteria: the cover looked interesting and I had about 2 minutes before the library closed so I just grabbed it.

So what's it about? Library Journal wrote:

This memoir by Burroughs is certainly unique; among other adventures, he recounts how his mother's psychiatrist took her to a motel for therapy, while at home the kids chopped a hole in the roof to make the kitchen brighter. Not all craziness, though, this account reveals the feelings of sadness and dislocation this unusual upbringing brought upon Burroughs and his friends. His early family life was characterized by his parents' break-and-destroy fights, and after his parents separated, his mother practically abandoned Burroughs in hopes of achieving fame as a poet. At 12, he went to live with the family (and a few patients) of his mother's psychiatrist. At the doctor's home, children did as they wished: they skipped school, ate whatever they wanted, engaged in whatever sexual adventures came along, and trashed the house and everything in it, while the mother watched TV and occasionally dusted. Burroughs has written an entertaining yet horrifying account that isn't for the squeamish: the scatological content and explicit homosexual episodes may limit its appeal.

Recommended for the adventurous seeking an unsettling experience among the grotesque. Nancy R. Ives, SUNY at Geneseo
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

New Arrival!

The Widows of Eastwick by John Updike

Alexandra, Jane, and Sukie return to the old Rhode Island seaside town where they indulged in wicked mischief under the influence of the diabolical Darryl Van Horne. Darryl is gone, and their lovers of the time have aged or died, but enchantment remains in the familiar streets and scenery of the village, where they enjoyed their lusty primes as free and empowered women. And, among the local citizenry, there are still those who remember them, and wish them ill. How they cope with the lingering traces of their evil deeds, the shocks of a mysterious counterspell, and the advancing inroads of old age are at the heart of Updike's delightful, ominous sequel.-- From publisher description.

Review
From Publishers Weekly
Motivated by advancing age, loneliness, latent guilt and a sense of unfinished business, the erstwhile Witches of Eastwick return to their former Rhode Island coastal town in this tepid sequel to the 1984 novel. Alexandra, the fleshy Earth Mother; Jane, the wasp-tongued snob; and Sukie, a would-be a sexpot operating beyond her expiration date, have each survived the second marriages that took place following their flight from Eastwick in the early '70s, after a rival, Jenny Gabriel, died as a result of their spell. Where before they were strong, sassy, lusty and empowered, now in late middle-age they are vulnerable, fearful and in thrall to their aging bodies. Witchcraft is now beyond them; when they try to resurrect their supernatural powers to atone for their guilt, an inadvertent death ensues. While Updike remains amazingly capable of capturing women's thoughts about their bodies and their sex lives, the plot never gains momentum; the first hundred pages, in fact, are tedious travelogues covering the widows' travels to Egypt and China. Updike's observations about culture and social disharmony flash with their customary brilliance—a less than sparkling Updike novel is still an Updike novel. (Oct.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Funny Bunny Versions of Your Favorite Movies

Looking for a little silliness to go along with all that yummy Halloween candy? Angry Alien Productions presents several well-known movies re-enacted by animated bunnies. This site features the bunny versions of "The Shining," "The Exorcist," "Jaws," "Titanic," and "Alien." The website also includes a FAQ and other animations. Pay close attention. You might recognize some of the skits as they have appeared on TV shows and at film festivals.

Funny site for teens and adults!

Voting!

With the election right around the corner, here are a few websites to help you!

USA.gov
Learn about voting, elections, and campaign laws. Contact elected officials. Volunteer and contribute to the election process.

Kids Voting USA
Nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots organization to provide information about voting!

OnAquidneck.com This is a nonpartisan website aimed at providing users with voting information and links for Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth, RI.

Candidates for Election
A wonderful website which discusses who's running.

COMING SOON! (January 2009)

Land of Marvels by Barry Unsworth

Barry Unsworth, a writer with an “almost magical capacity for literary time travel” (New York Times Book Review) has the extraordinary ability to re-create the past and make it relevant to contemporary readers. In Land of Marvels, a thriller set in 1914, he brings to life the schemes and double-dealings of Western nations grappling for a foothold in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire.

Somerville, a British archaeologist, is excavating a long-buried Assyrian palace. The site lies directly in the path of a new railroad to Baghdad, and he watches nervously as the construction progresses, threatening to destroy his discovery. The expedition party includes Somerville’s beautiful, bored wife, Edith; Patricia, a smart young graduate student; and Jehar, an Arab man-of-all-duties whose subservient manner belies his intelligence and ambitions. Posing as an archaeologist, an American geologist from an oil company arrives one day and insinuates himself into the group. But he’s not the only one working undercover to stake a claim on Iraq’s rich oil fields.

Historical fiction at its finest, Land of Marvels opens a window on the past and reveals its lasting impact.

Reviews
“A richly imagined novel squarely in the tradition of his Booker Prize triumph, Sacred Hunger. Unsworth has an Austen-esque flair for character and an uncanny ability to bring the past to life."
–Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of March

“This is the work of a master: lean, elegant, and wise, weaving the doomed ambitions of two fallen empires into a compelling story that also deftly comments on the American presence in Iraq."
–Andrea Barrett, National Book Award-winning author of Ship Fever

“Land Of Marvels is up to Unsworth’s highest standard, featuring a cast of fascinating characters thrown together in the desert of Mesopotamia just before the Great War, all furiously digging for the past and turning up the future. American readers will recognize the landscape and learn some surprising facts about how we got exactly where we are right now. As well a great read, Land of Marvels is an important book.”
–Valerie Martin, Orange Prize-winning author of Property

“An intriguing story, elegantly and eloquently told.”
–Peter Ackroyd, bestselling author of London: The Biography

“Unsworth here offers historical fiction at its best. [Land of Marvels] provides some insight into current political divisions in the Middle East as it explores the power and limitations of storytelling…. Unsworth [draws] characters with depth and complexity.”
-Library Journal, starred review

“Booker Prize-winning Unsworth sets his intelligent and timely new book in Mesopotamia during the spring of 1914, just before the chaos of WWI…. The tension between the players builds toward a violent, unexpected finale. In elegantly modulated prose, Unsworth creates a tapestry of ambition and greed while, at the same time, foreshadowing the current conflict in the region.”
-Publishers Weekly

Fun Stuff to do with Kids!

The weekend is here and once again you have oodles of time to spend with your favorite short people. What are you going to do?

FamilyFun.com has some wonderful ideas! Parents (o and teachers and babysitters too) can search for activities based on the age and interests of your child. Get ideas for parties, Halloween costumes, snacks, arts & crafts and more! This site is run by the Disney corporation so you know it's chock full of fun, wholesome ideas!

COMING SOON! (November 2008)

The Fourth Time is Murder : a Posadas County Mystery by Steven F. Havill

Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman is always busy, but more so now than ever. The sheriff is still not completely recovered from his stay in the hospital, and she is recovering from a hospital stay herself. After a long day at work, Estelle is happy to clear off her desk and drive home, where her beloved family waits. She hears her cell phone ringing as she pulls into the driveway. A truck has gone off the road and the driver’s body found near the wreck. Back on the job, Estelle drives to the scene, where she finds more questions than answers.

Was the truck’s going over the hill really an accident? And why was there a single footprint on the man’s body? An autopsy spurs further puzzles.

Steven F. Havill paints a vivid portrait of this small New Mexico town in the sixth entry of this atmospheric, entertaining series.-- From Amazon.com

Book of the Day!

sTORI telling by Tori Spelling with Hilary Liftin

Looking for something light and fluffy to read?

Portraying Donna Martin on Beverly Hills, 90210, Tori Spelling became one of the most recognizable young actresses of her generation, with a not-so-private personal life every bit as fascinating as her character's exploits. Yet years later the name Tori Spelling too often closed--and sometimes slammed--the same doors it had opened. sTORI Telling is Tori's chance to finally tell her side of the tabloid-worthy life she's led, and she talks about it all: her decadent childhood birthday parties, her nose job, her fairy-tale wedding to the wrong man, her so-called feud with her mother. Tori has already revealed her flair for brilliant, self-effacing satire on her VH1 show So NoTORIous and Oxygen's Tori & Dean: Inn Love, but her memoir goes deeper, into the real life behind the rumors: her complicated relationship with her parents; her struggles as an actress after 90210; her accident-prone love life; and, ultimately, her quest to define herself on her own terms. --From amazon.com.

Attention High School Juniors and Seniors

College Board
Sign up for the SATs, send your SAT scores to a college, find scholarships, fill out a college application, and more.

College Net
Find the college, find the money to attend, and even apply to the college of your choice online.

FinAid
Looking for ways to finance your education? Search for scholarships that match your profile? Don't know a PLUS from a Perkins or a Stafford? Look here for information about student financial aid.

COMING SOON! (October 2008)

The Smart Cookies' Guide to Making More Dough : How Five Young Women Got Smart, Formed a Money Club, and Took Control of Their Finances by the Smart Cookies with Jennifer Barrett

Let The Smart Cookies show you how to eliminate debt, spend smarter, save better, and achieve financial freedom-without sacrificing your social life or your sanity!

They were five dynamic young women: smart, successful-and secretly drowning in debt. Inspired by an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show on personal finance, Andrea, Angela, Katie, Robyn, and Sandra formed a money club, together developing strategies for turning their finances around. Just one year later they had dramatically improved their financial situations-and had made major developments in their careers, relationships, and life goals to boot. Their proven recipe for success has since been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, MSNBC, and in the New York Daily News.

How did they do it? These five women-with varied careers in marketing, public relations, social work, and TV production-joined forces to create a fun, simple, effective strategy for achieving financial success, forming a money club and supporting each other every step of the way. Now, in this extraordinary hands-on guide, the women, who soon dubbed themselves The Smart Cookies, share the secrets of their success.

Weaving anecdotes from their own lives with practical, how-to advice, The Smart Cookies offer strategies that cut across the financial spectrum, whether you-re deeply in debt or just want to manage your money better. Tackling the unique financial challenges facing women today, they offer easy-to-follow advice on everything from creating a spending plan to boosting your income to starting your own money club.


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Book of the Day!

Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler

When Chelsea Handler needs to get a few things off her chest, she appeals to a higher power--vodka. Welcome to Chelsea's world--a place where absurdity reigns supreme and a quick wit is the best line of defense. In this collection, Chelsea mines her past for stories about her family, relationships, and career that are at once singular and ridiculous. Whether she's convincing her third-grade class that she has been tapped to play Goldie Hawn's daughter in the sequel to Private Benjamin, deciding to be more egalitarian by dating a redhead, or looking out for a foulmouthed, rum-swilling little person who looks just like her, only smaller, Chelsea has a knack for getting herself into the most outrageous situations. --From publisher description.

Twilight Anyone?

The movie opens in less than a month, but I know all you Edward and Bella fans are in need of a little something to tide you over. Twilighters Anonymous is a wonderful site filled with everything and anything Twilight! Read the news blog for all the latest gossip, join the forum and debate whether Bella should be with Edward or Jacob and play games (So are you more of an Alice or Rosalie?) There's even a Twilipedia for all those die hard fans who can't get enough of this juggernaut series!

COMING SOON! (November 2008)

A Dangerous Friendship by Jeffrey Ashford

Detective Constable Andy Gregg is security officer for Kent County CID, and takes his responsibilities, which include conducting security surveys for vulnerable premises. But when Querry Brade, a late fifteenth-century manor house, full with priceless antiques, is broken into just five days after Andy's most recent survey, tongues start wagging.

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Book of the Day!

The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly

When Hollywood lawyer Jerry Vincent is murdered, Mickey Haller (of "The Lincoln Lawyer" fame) inherits his biggest case yet: the defense of Walter Elliott, a prominent studio executive accused of murdering his wife and her lover. But as Haller prepares for the case that could launch him into the big time, he learns that Vincent's killer may be coming for him next. Enter Harry Bosch. Determined to find Vincent's killer, he is not opposed to using Haller as bait. But as danger mounts and the stakes rise, these two loners realize their only choice is to work together.

Review
"The answer to every Connelly fan's dream: Hieronymus Bosch meets the Lincoln Lawyer....By turns wary, competitive, complementary, cooperative and mutually predatory....Connelly brings his two sleuths together in a way that honors them both" (Kirkus Reviews)

"Connelly is firing on all cylinders in this epic page-turner. The intriguing story line, the chance to view Bosch from another perspective, and Haller's reappearance as a main character add up to a fantastic read. One of the best thrillers of the year." (Library Journal, Jeff Ayers)

"A beautifully executed crime thriller....Bosch might have met his match in the wily Haller, and readers will delight in their sparring." (Publishers Weekly)

This Day in History

History.com offers users a look at the past. Every day the site features a brand new series of videos documenting historical events that took place on this very day. The site highlights one major event in recent times, and provides a short list of past events. It also features special entries about this day in crime, entertainment, war, literature, sports and old west among others!

COMING SOON! (On Order Now!)

Generation Dead by Daniel Waters

Romero zombies are unfeeling monsters with limited intelligence who hunger for human flesh. Who could have ever imagined a world where zombies and humans would want to be friends? Daniel Waters, that’s who. In Generation Dead, a strange phenomenon is occurring all over the country. Dead teenagers aren’t staying dead. And now those termed “living impaired” or “differently biotic” are seeking a way to fit in to a society that doesn’t want them.

At Oakvale High, Phoebe, a pale-skinned Goth, has never been a member of the “in” crowd. As the new school year begins, Phoebe finds herself drawn to Tommy Williams, one of the “living impaired.” Tommy, the leader of the “DB” kids at Oakvale, is trying to break the Romero stereotype by going out for the football team. The punishing blows he’s taken on the football field do not faze Tommy. However, society at-large does not view being “DB” as an asset. To the religious zealots, it is an abomination. A sign of the apocalypse. Integration is not something that the living should have to tolerate.

Waters spends a great deal of the novel’s word count building compelling characters and allowing the story to unfold through dialogue as well as internal monologue rather than subjecting readers to lengthy bits of exposition. For the most part, the pacing of story not an issue. However, while the story comes to a satisfying resolution, the change in pace at the transition to the story’s climax felt a bit rushed.

(from: Dark Scribe Magazine)

Book of the Day!

Shape of Water by Anne Spollen

"I had come to know silence well during those months after my mother died. When you sit in silence long enough, you learn that silence has a motion. It glides over you without shape or form, but with weight, exactly like water."

Magda's mother always said the world was full of strange and beautiful secrets only the two of them could see. But now she's gone and Magda's world is flooded with anxiety and loneliness—and maybe, madness. As an imaginary family of bickering fish begins to torment her, Magda's only outlet is starting beautiful but destructive fires in the marshes near her house. The Shape of Water is a darkly lyrical and surprising tapestry of the mundane and the surreal, in which Magda begins to untangle her family's secrets and search for a stable place in the world.


Review
"Spollen interweaves elemental, evocative images of what is formless and boundless—water, air, grief, death—with what is solid and limited-earth, objects, human love and forgiveness. This enchanting novel starts quietly, draws the reader in and weaves a seductive spell that holds until the last page."--Kirkus (starred review)

Fun Stuff for Little Ones on the Internet

Kid Space: KidSpace has lots of sites that are just plain fun (and kid safe)!

PBS Kids: A safe place for kids to explore and play hundreds of fun educational games with their favorite PBS KIDS characters.

Kid Sites: A guide to the best in web sites for kids.

National Geographics Kids: Features different people, animals, and places each month with facts, games, activities, and related links.

Kids Know It Network: Children's Learning Activities. Kids Learning Websites. Making education fun and free. Free educational Websites For the young, and the young at heart!

COMING SOON! (November 2008)

2666 by Roberto Bolaño

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Last year's The Savage Detectives by the late Chilean-Mexican novelist Bolaño (1953–2003) garnered extraordinary sales and critical plaudits for a complex novel in translation, and quickly became the object of a literary cult. This brilliant behemoth is grander in scope, ambition and sheer page count, and translator Wimmer has again done a masterful job. The novel is divided into five parts (Bolaño originally imagined it being published as five books) and begins with the adventures and love affairs of a small group of scholars dedicated to the work of Benno von Archimboldi, a reclusive German novelist. They trace the writer to the Mexican border town of Santa Teresa (read: Juarez), but there the trail runs dry, and it isn't until the final section that readers learn about Benno and why he went to Santa Teresa. The heart of the novel comes in the three middle parts: in The Part About Amalfitano, a professor from Spain moves to Santa Teresa with his beautiful daughter, Rosa, and begins to hear voices. The Part About Fate, the novel's weakest section, concerns Quincy Fate Williams, a black American reporter who is sent to Santa Teresa to cover a prizefight and ends up rescuing Rosa from her gun-toting ex-boyfriend. The Part About the Crimes, the longest and most haunting section, operates on a number of levels: it is a tormented catalogue of women murdered and raped in Santa Teresa; a panorama of the power system that is either covering up for the real criminals with its implausible story that the crimes were all connected to a German national, or too incompetent to find them (or maybe both); and it is a collection of the stories of journalists, cops, murderers, vengeful husbands, prisoners and tourists, among others, presided over by an old woman seer. It is safe to predict that no novel this year will have as powerful an effect on the reader as this one. (Nov.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


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Book of the Day!

The book of lies by Brad Meltzer

From Publishers Weekly
Bestseller Meltzer (The Book of Fate) deserves credit for an audacious conceit—wedding the biblical fratricide of Abel by his brother Cain with the unsolved 1932 homicide of the father of Jerry Siegel, the creator of iconic comic book hero Superman—but the results are less than convincing. A highly tenuous link between the two murders revolves around the mysterious weapon Cain (the world's greatest villain) used to kill his brother. One of numerous theories is that the weapon was a divine book containing the secrets of immortality. After coming to the aid of a shooting victim, Calvin Harper, a homeless volunteer working in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., soon finds himself hopelessly caught up in a life-and-death quest for the ancient artifact that includes the obligatory secret societies, Nazi conspiracies, enigmatic villains and cryptographic riddles à la The Da Vinci Code. A glut of two-dimensional characters and a plot riddled with coincidences don't help. (Sept.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Computer Help!

Is your PC being a pest? Does your Dell making you dizzy? Are you about to attack your Mac? Don't dispair!

ComputerHope.com is a collection of free services that allows users to access a database of extensive computer related information. The company offers free technical support, computer product information, free online forums, computer product buying tips, third-party computer company information, driver listing, computer dictionary, news, and a weekly computer newsletter.

So make that PC, Mac or Dell work for you!

Book of the Day!

Gossip of the Starlings by Nina de Gramont

When Catherine Morrow is admitted to the Esther Percy School for Girls, it's on the condition that she reform her ways. But that's before the charismatic and beautiful Skye Butterfield, daughter of the famous Senator Butterfield, chooses Catherine for her best friend. Skye is a young woman hell-bent on a trajectory of self-destruction, and she doesn't care who is taken down with her. No matter the transgression—a stolen credit card, a cocaine binge, an affair with a teacher, an accident that precipitates the end of Catherine's promising riding career—Catherine can neither resist Skye's spell nor stop her downward spiral.

De Gramont's chilling novel is a portrait of an adolescent girl so thoroughly seduced by a peer that she willingly follows her to ruin. Caught in a world that is both appealing and astonishing, these young women are sexual beings with the minds of teenagers: willful, selfish, daring, and cruel—all the while believing they're utterly indestructible.

Review
"De Gramont skillfully sustains a tension that leads to an explosive ending while providing us with characters that go well beyond many recent examples of upper-crust East Coast teenage life. Think Donna Tartt and Bret Easton Ellis with the wisdom of hindsight....A compelling coming-of-age novel....[Gossip of the Starlings] excels in its honest depiction of the interrelationships among teens and with their families and circumstances."—Library Journal (Library Journal)

"Memorable . . . When de Gramont focuses her gaze on her naïve, doomed muses, the book soars. . . . A transfixing confessional about the secret lives of dangerous girls."—Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews)

COMING SOON! (December 2008)

Chasing Smoke by Bill Cameron

Portland homicide detective Skin Kadash just wants to survive cancer treatment so he can get back to work. But when his partner tries to drag him into an unofficial investigation of a series of deaths, he's not interested, he's dead-dog sick and doesn't need the grief until she tells him the victims all suffered from cancer themselves, and all shared one grim thing in common with Skin. His doctor.

The police have closed the books on the deaths, all apparent suicides, yet a mysterious young woman, daughter of the first victim, surfaces and insists that the dead men were all murdered. Before her story can be probed more deeply, she disappears, leaving Kadash with no support from the cops and little to go on except a nagging belief the missing woman knew more than she revealed.

Kadash is left to chase elusive leads among the bitter and broken widows of the dead men. Struggling with his own illness and with a growing rift between himself and his partner, Kadash finds himself entangled in a web of resentment, jealousy, and deceit. Ultimately, he finds that not is he only seeking a missing woman and the truth about the dead men, but also the meaning of his own life in the face of his impending mortality.

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