Library Notes Week of February 22

February 26th is Tell a Fairy Tale Day. This is a day that Fairy Tales are made of (and for). This is a great opportunity to read your kids. If the kids aren't around, it’s certainly okay to read them alone. We all know that everybody loves a good fairy tale. To qualify as a fairy tale, a story does not have to begin with "Once upon a time.....". But, they usually do. It is a requirement that the story has a happy ending. There's nothing better than a good story that ends with "and they all lived happily ever after". So Friday the 26th, cozy up under a blanket with the kids and read a fairy tale book you checked out of the library.

We have lots of new books in the library. If you enjoy biographies you may enjoy one of these recent additions to our new book shelf.

Here’s the Deal: Don’t Touch Me by Howie Mandell. Eleven years ago, Mandel first told the world about his “germophobia.” He’s recently started discussing his adult ADHD as well. Now, for the first time, he reveals the details of his struggle with these challenging disorders. He catalogs his numerous fears and neuroses and shares entertaining stories about how he has tried to integrate them into his act. “If I’m making myself laugh,” he writes, “then I’m distracted from all the other things going on in my head that are, at times, torturous.” And he speaks frankly and honestly about the ways his condition has affected his personal life–as a son, husband, and father of three.

Official Book Club Selection: a Memoir according to Kathy Griffin by Kathy Griffin. Kathy reveals intimate details about her life before and after she made the big time. She opens up about everything from growing up with a dysfunctional family in suburban Illinois to bombing as a young comedian in L.A., from her well-publicized plastic surgery disasters to her highly publicized divorce, and more. Only in this book will you learn how the dinner table is the best training ground for a career in stand-up, how speaking your mind can bite you on the ass and buy you a house, and which people in Kathy’s life have taught her the most valuable lessons—both inside and outside the entertainment industry.

Losing Mum and Pup by Christopher Buckley. In twelve months between 2007 and 2008, Christopher Buckley coped with the passing of his father, William F. Buckley, the father of the modern conservative movement, and his mother, Patricia Taylor Buckley, one of New York's most glamorous and colorful socialites. He was their only child and their relationship was close and complicated. As Buckley tells the story of their final year together, he takes readers on a surprisingly entertaining tour through hospitals, funeral homes, and memorial services, capturing the heartbreaking and disorienting feeling of becoming a 55-year-old orphan.

Library Notes Week of January 11

It is that time of year again. Time to think about doing your taxes. If you need a form we have some of the basic forms and a few publications. Anything we don’t have you can access on-line at http://www.irs.gov/. Come in and use our computers if you don’t have one at home, we would be happy to help you.

Be sure to check the new book shelf next time you are in. Here are a few titles you might want to check out.

A Change in Altitude by Anita Shreve. Margaret and Patrick have been married just a few months when they set off on what they hope will be a great adventure-a year living in Kenya. Margaret quickly realizes there is a great deal she doesn't know about the complex mores of her new home, and about her own husband.

Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry. Danish billionaire Henrik Thorvaldsen, a friend of Malone's, has become consumed with finding out who masterminded the slaughter outside a Mexico City courthouse two years earlier that killed seven people, including his young diplomat son. Once he learns that a wealthy British aristocrat was behind the outrage, Thorvaldsen gets entangled in a conspiracy that involves an elite group of ruthless financial experts planning to destabilize the global economy, a terrorist plot to destroy a European landmark, and a legendary cache hidden by Napoleon. Malone soon finds himself in a desperate struggle to save not only Thorvaldsen's life but the lives of countless innocents as well.

A Cousin’s Prayer by Wanda Brunstetter. Katie Miller is traumatized after her boyfriend is killed in a van in which she was also a passenger. How will she find her way out of the valley of her depression? Freeman Bontrager will make any excuse to be near to Katie, hoping to win her love. But how far will he go to gain her trust. . .and her heart? What will bring this girl out of the shadows of fear, and open her heart to life—and love?

Library Notes Week of December 29

As we are getting ready to start a new year, I hope you plan to make the library a regular stop. We always have new books, audio books, and videos just waiting to be checked out. Here are a few titles you might be interested in. Happy New Year!!

Last Words by George Carlin. As one of America's preeminent comedic voices, George Carlin saw it all throughout his extraordinary fifty-year career and made fun of most of it. Last Words is the story of the man behind some of the most seminal comedy of the last half century, blending his signature humor with never-before-told stories from his own life.

The Time of My Life by Patrick Swayze. A behind-the-scenes look at a Hollywood life and a remarkable love, this memoir is both entertainment and inspiration. Patrick and Lisa's marriage is a journey of two lives intertwined and lived as one--throughout their years in Hollywood and at home on their working ranch outside Los Angeles, and culminating in the hope and wisdom they've imparted to all who know them.

Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi. Agassi’s incredibly rigorous training begins when he is just a child. By the age of thirteen, he is banished to a Florida tennis camp that feels like a prison camp. Lonely, scared, a ninth-grade dropout, he rebels in ways that will soon make him a 1980s icon. He dyes his hair, pierces his ears, dresses like a punk rocker. By the time he turns pro at sixteen, his new look promises to change tennis forever, as does his lightning-fast return.And yet, despite his raw talent, he struggles early on. We feel his confusion as he loses to the world’s best, his greater confusion as he starts to win. After stumbling in three Grand Slam finals, Agassi shocks the world, and himself, by capturing the 1992 Wimbledon. Overnight he becomes a fan favorite and a media target.

Library Notes Week of December 14

The library is hosting its annual Family Fun Day at the Library. Come by the library Tues., Dec. 22nd anytime between 2 and 6 p.m. We will have “make and take” projects for the kids, games, puzzles, and refreshments. It will be our way of wishing you a great holiday season.

KJ Cooper, our Children’s Specialist has been reading some of the books in our Young Adult collection. Here are a few of her reviews.

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen. Dessen delivers another of her perfectly crafted stories. This one features Auden, an insomniac, who will be going off to college in the fall. Auden has not slept at night since her parents started fighting. They are now divorced and her father has a new family. Auden decides to spend her summer with them and explore some of the teenage pleasures she has missed—most notably, riding a bike and having actual friendships. Then, she meets a fellow insomniac, Eli, a loner with problems of his own.

Maze Runner by James Dashner. Thomas wakes up in the lift remembering only his first name. When the doors open, he is surrounded by boys, Gladers, who also have no memories of how they got there. They live in the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls. Every morning, the stone doors to the surrounding maze are opened. Every night, they are tightly closed. Every 30 days, a new boy arrives in the lift. The pattern is disrupted when a girl with a message is sent up the very next day. In this thrill ride of a story about problem-solving. The ending nicely sets up for the next book in this trilogy, tentatively called, “The Scorch Trials.”

Hollywood is Like High School with Money by Zoey Dean. When twenty-four-year old Ohio native, Taylor Henning lands her dream job as an assistant at a major movie studio, she finds that she hasn’t left the “Mean Girls” contests of high school behind. The stakes are just higher. Taylor wasn’t one of the queen bees in high school and is ill-prepared to play the same tired games. Then, she meets her boss’s popular daughter, Quinn who takes Taylor under her wing, teaching her one lesson a week until Taylor finds herself swimming gracefully with the sharks. Dean delivers a Devil Wears Prada type story in a funny, quirky easy read.

Library Notes Week of November 18

November is Native American Heritage Month. We have a wonderful database – the American Indian History Online--which has access to more than 15,000 years of the culture and history of the American Indian. There are biographies, images, maps, charts and other wonderful information. You can find it on our website www.lclib.lib.wa.us under Homework Help. It is password protected, but just give us a call and we can tell you how to get in. This wonderful resource is paid for by the La Conner Rotary.

Here are a few books from the new book shelf. Come in and check one out.

Moon River and Me by Andy Williams. When in the mid-1950s Andy Williams reached a low point in his career, singing in dives to ever-smaller audiences, the young man from Wall Lake, Iowa, had no inkling of the success he would one day achieve. Before being declared a national treasure by President Ronald Reagan, Williams would chart eighteen gold and three platinum albums, headline at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas for more than twenty years, and host an enormously popular weekly television variety show.

Amelia Earhart: The Mystery Solved by Elgen M. Long. A detailed chronicle of the last days of Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, and what went before, based upon an exhaustive 25-year study. Celebrated pilot Elgen Long and his coauthor wife, a public relations consultant with the Western Aerospace Museum, claim that the solution of the mystery surrounding the disappearance of the Electra, Earhart's plane, has never been found until now.

The Murder of King Tut by James Patterson. James Patterson and Martin Dugard dig through stacks of evidence--X-rays, Carter's files, forensic clues, and stories told through the ages--to arrive at their own account of King Tut's life and death. The result is an exhilarating true crime tale of intrigue, passion, and betrayal that casts fresh light on the oldest mystery of all.

Library Notes week of November 9

Teen Game Night @ the Library is Friday the 13th from 6 to 8 p.m. Call and tell us you plan to be there so we know how much Pizza to order!

Saturday, November 14 is National Gaming Day @ Your Library. All ages are invited to come and have some fun. From 12 to 4 p.m. we will have table games, computer games, and the Wii set up so you can play as a family or by yourself.

So many new books arriving!! Sometimes it is hard to decide what to read next. Here are a few you might be interested in.

There Goes the Bride by M. C. Beaton. Bossy, impulsive, yet hopelessly romantic, Agatha is dreading the upcoming marriage of her ex-husband, James Lacey. Although she has set her sights on a handsome and beguiling new Frenchman, she can’t quite stop obsessing about James.

Evidence by Jonathan Kellerman. In the half-built skeleton of a monstrously vulgar mansion in one of L.A.’s neighborhoods, a watchman stumbles on the bodies of a young couple–murdered and left in a gruesome postmortem embrace. Though he’s cracked some of the city’s worst slayings, veteran homicide cop Milo Sturgis is still shocked at the grisly sight: a twisted crime that only Milo’s killer instincts–and psychologist Alex Delaware’s keen insights–can hope to solve.

Razor Sharp by Fern Michaels. When it comes to repaying a debt, the women of the Sisterhood - Myra, Annie, Kathryn, Alexis, Yoko, Nikki, and Isabelle - never forget. And now one of their allies needs help. A powerful attorney with a cut-throat reputation, Lizzie Fox has just taken on a high-profile new client - Lily Flowers, the Madam of a high-end bordello operating under the guise of a summer camp. The chips - a.k.a. the prominent Washington politicians who frequent the bordello - are stacked against Lily and her girls. But one phone call to the Sisterhood might just swing the vote. And soon, even the highest courts in the land will prove no match for seven fearless friends determined to ensure that real justice is served, Sisterhood style.

Library Notes Week of October 12

We are starting up our Teen Advisory Board after the summer break. Unfortunately the members all graduated and we need some new members. If you are or know a high school student who would be interested in planning activities in the library for our local teens have them get in touch with KJ at the library. This is a once a month meeting, you get school credit and get to plan cool activities.

KJ has provided us with some reviews this week. Pass them on to young people you know or check them out for yourself.

The Witch’s Guide to Cooking with Children by Keith McGowan.
If you’ve read and enjoyed Linda Buckley-Archer’s Fairy Tale Detectives series or Lemony Snicket’s works, you might enjoy this as well. Keith McGowan’s first novel for ages 9-14 is a modernized version of Hansel & Gretel. Fay Holaderry starts the book with a “cautionary tale” telling how she gets her victims/dinners. The story includes secrets, surprises and courageous deeds as we follow the Blink children unraveling their parents’ sinister plot.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. In this sequel to the much acclaimed Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peetta Mellark are still alive, and how they managed to stay that way has ticked off The Capitol big-time. This is fueled by the fact that Katniss has become the face of the growing rebellion among the subjects of this dystopian society.

Click by David Almond, Eoin Colfer, Roddy Doyle, Deborah Ellis, Nick Hornby, Margo Lanagan, Gregory Maguire, Ruth Ozeki, Linda Sue Park & Tim Wynne-Jones. This book is labeled, “One Novel Ten Authors.” Each author contributed a chapter of the story revolving around the death of “Gee” Keane, (a world-famous photographer) and the items he left to grandchildren, Maggie and Jason. Maggie’s legacy was a wooden box with sea seven shells that Gee had collected from around the world. Inside, was a note that told her to “throw them all back.” Jason inherited a camera and a box of photographs. From there, the novel branches off into a number of different directions. Each chapter is a spin-off of the first. Each author used his/her own style. Even so, they fit together nicely. Taken as a whole, they demonstrate how we are all interrelated in this world.