Making 2016 a Year to Remember: Part 4 – Special Interest & Hobbies

OOPS!!!  We’ve been unforgivably lax in getting posts up for the last few months.  But I would say that there is an EXTREMELY good reason.  We’ve got some EXCITING new construction happening here at the Main Library and our focus has been pulled towards the ever changing and evolving landscape and all of the things that go along with that (signs directing people, grabbing photos, seeking out musical rhythms in the mechanical noise ;), etc…).  More on this to come.

So, with that thought – please enjoy perusing this listing of special interest and hobby titles.  Book descriptions are taken from the library catalog listings.

 

Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Minecraft Mods Programming by Rogers Cadenhead

Ideal for Minecraft users, young and old, who are new to programming. Clear and friendly style assumes no prior programming knowledge.  Rogers breaks down Minecraft mods programming concepts and terms into short, easily understandable lessons.  

Bats, Cats and Crows Bring Spooky Reading!

We’re getting into that time of year when the days are shorter and cooler. The stores are stocking up on apple cider and pumpkins. Children are getting excited to go trick-or-treating. People are decorating for Halloween…and there’s a stray black cat hanging around the neighborhood. The only thing that’s missing is a spooky story! So I polled the CCPL staff and in this post we are sharing some of our favorite reads that are a bit mysterious, thrilling, chilling, scary or spooky.

Kate (PR) likes:
Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley
Flavia is up to her old tricks. This time her investigations take her inside a 500 year-old crypt.

The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
The Cask of Amontillado, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Black Cat…what more can I say?

Acceptable Risk by Robin Cook
Under pressure from his backers to complete research on an anti-depressant drug, Dr. Edward Armstrong experiments on himself with disastrous effects.

Helga (Circulation) likes:
Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman
Jane Hudson went to school in the Adirondacks and left after a tragedy took place. She returns years later as a Latin teacher. The past comes back to haunt her as girls start dying again.

“Library” Books

Once I started working at the library, it didn’t take long for me to notice that many books feature librarians or are set in a library. So just for the fun of it, this is a short list of books the CCPL has on the topic.

The Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk

Sam, a shy but creative mouse who lives in a library, decides to write and illustrate his own stories which he places on the shelves with the other library books but when children find the tales, they all want to meet the author.

The Library by Sarah Stewart

Elizabeth Brown loves to read more than anything else, but when her collection of books grows and grows, she must make a change in her life.

The Forbidden Library by Django Wexler

When her father is lost at sea shortly after meeting a very unusual visitor, Alice must leave her home to live with an “uncle” whose rural Pennsylvania estate includes a massive and mysterious library that holds much more than books.

More Summer Reads for Summer (??) Days

So, I’m not really sure what is going on with temperatures and such here this summer – but between the rain and the general cold, it seems like summer is on a vacation!  Hopefully it will be short-lived.  One positive to the dreary days is that they are the perfect companion to a good book.  Rather than lounging by the pool or beach with a good read, why not curl up on the couch or in your favorite chair with a cuppa and try one of these works, recommended by Cathy R. from our Reference Department.

Think of a Number, by John Verdon – cleverly plotted contemporary suspense

An extraordinary fiction debut, Think of a Number is an exquisitely plotted novel of suspense that grows relentlessly darker and more frightening as its pace accelerates, forcing its deeply troubled characters to moments of startling self-revelation.  A work that defies easy labels — at once a propulsive masterpiece of suspense and an absorbing immersion in the lives of characters so real we seem to hear their heartbeats – Think of a Number is a novel you’ll not soon forget.  (From www.goodreads.com)

Lottery, by Patricia Wood – feel-good fiction

Perry’s IQ is only 76, but he’s not stupid.  His grandmother taught him everything he needs to know to survive: She taught him to write things down so he won’t forget them. She taught him to play the lottery every week.  And, most important, she taught him whom to trust. When Gram dies, Perry is left orphaned and bereft at the age of thirty-one.  Then his weekly Washington State Lottery ticket wins him 12 million dollars, and he finds he has more family than he knows what to do with.  Peopled with characters both wicked and heroic who leap off the pages, Lottery is a deeply satisfying, gorgeously rendered novel about trust, loyalty, and what distinguishes us as capable.  (From www.goodreads.com)

Part Three – Recommended Summer Reads

As promised, here are some more titles that Reference Librarian Cathy R. recommends putting on your list of books to read this summer.  Look for a final installment next week.  In the meantime, feel free to share your thoughts on these, or any other reads that you would recommend.

Enjoy!

Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier – classic suspense

Working as a lady’s companion, the heroine of Rebecca learns her place.  Her future looks bleak until, on a trip to the South of France, she meets Max de Winter, a handsome widower whose sudden proposal of marriage takes her by surprise.  She accepts, but whisked from glamorous Monte Carlo to the ominous and brooding Manderley, the new Mrs. de Winter finds Max a changed man.  And the memory of his dead wife Rebecca is forever kept alive by the forbidding housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers. Rebecca is the haunting story of a young girl consumed by love and the struggle to find her identity. (From www.goodreads.com)

Still Life, by Louise Penny – an exceptionally well-written literary mystery

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. 

Recommended Summer Reads – Part Two

I know that our tagline says “More Than Just Books,” but c’mon, working in a library one can’t help but like reading and recommending books!  Old books, new books, bad books, and good books – they are all fair game.

So, keeping that in mind here is a group of titles submitted by one of our Reference Librarians and fearless book club leader, Cathy R.  Stay tuned for Part Three next week.  Happy reading!

Lost Lake, by Sarah Addison Allen – a bit magical

Suley, Georgia, is home to Lost Lake Cottages and not much else, which is why it’s the perfect place for newly-widowed Kate and her eccentric eight-year-old daughter Devin to heal.  Kate spent one memorable childhood summer at Lost Lake, had her first almost-kiss at Lost Lake, and met a boy named Wes at Lost Lake.  It was a place for dreaming.  But Kate doesn’t believe in dreams anymore, and her Aunt Eby, Lost Lake’s owner, wants to sell the place and move on.  Lost Lake’s magic is gone.  As Kate discovers that time has a way of standing still at Lost Lake can she bring the cottages—and her heart—back to life? (From www.goodreads.com)

Following Polly, by Karen Bergreen – laugh-out-loud funny

Would you call Alice Teakle a stalker?  Or just someone with an, um, healthy obsession with golden girl Polly Linley Dawson?  No one much notices Alice: not her boss, not the neighbors, not even her Mother.  When she loses her job and starts to follow Polly Dawson one Manhattan autumn afternoon, Alice stumbles on the object of her attention sprawled dead on the floor of a boutique.  Alice is forced to become truly beneath anyone’s notice. Invisible, in fact, because she’s accused of murder. (From www.goodreads.com)

Summertime- and the Reading is Easy

Summer will soon be upon us and that means a starter list of recommended reads from our library staff! Whether it’s in traditional format or an eBook, we hope you’ll take our suggestions, check-out and enjoy one of the titles below. Also, if YOU have any suggestions for titles to keep us entertained while sitting surfside, lounging by the pool or happily ensconced in a hammock – please post them. We’d love to hear from you. 🙂

Leslie C. – Main Library Circulation Department recommends…

 The Liar by Nora Roberts – When Shelby suddenly loses her husband in a boating accident, long hidden secrets from his past, threaten her present. She is finding out her husband was not as he seemed to be. 

Memory Man by David Baldacci – Amos Decker is a police detective that must use his perfect memory to solve his own family’s murder. 

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King – At a job fair a lone driver plows through a crowd in a stolen Mercedes, running over the innocent, backing up, and charging again. Eight people are killed; fifteen are wounded. The killer escapes…

This is the first of a trilogy; the next installment comes out in June!!! I can’t wait!

Pam W. – Park Branch recommends…

Allison Pataki’s new book the Accidental Empress is a good summer read. Biographical fiction about the Empress Elisabeth (“Sisi”) gives the reader a sense of the Austro-Hungarian Empire during the 19^th century.  Family, romance and intrigue are only a part of the story.