From Book to Movie...

Coming in November 2013

Some of the best movies started out as books. 

Check these out now, before the movies are released!

As I Lay Dying

James Franco will direct and star in the movie adaptation of William Faulkner's classic. The matriarch of the Bundren family has died and her final request was to be buried in a town 40 miles away from the family farm. This is the story of the family's journey to her final resting place, and the challenges they face along the way.

 

Ender's Game

Ender Wiggin, child genius, has been chosen by the military to save the human race from alien invasion. He is placed in a Battle School located on a ship in the Earth's orbit to train. This science fiction classic is Orson Scott Card's best-known work. The film stars Asa Butterfield, Abigail Breslin, and Harrison Ford.

The Wolf of Wall Street

The Wolf of Wall Street is the true story of Jordan Belfort, a multimillionaire stockbroker who had it all, then lost it all after getting caught cheating investors out of $200 million. The movie, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Belfort, follows his rise and fall during the decade of the 1990's.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Part 2 of The Hunger Games trilogy, Catching Fire picks up the story after Katniss and Peeta have won The Hunger Games, ensuring a lifetime of wealth and safety for them and their families. But the country is rebelling against them, protesting the methods they used to win, in another action-packed tale of survival. Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth.

The Book Thief

Set in Nazi Germany during World War II, The Book Thief tells the story of a foster child named Liesel who turns to books in order to escape the horrors of her surroundings. The movie version stars Sophie Nelisse, Geoffrey Rush, and Emily Watson.

The Monuments Men

The Monuments Men tells the true story of a group of men and women who were assigned the task of saving the art of Europe from Nazi destruction during World War II. George Clooney directs and stars in the movie adaptation, with Matt Damon and Cate Blanchett.

Which do you think is better -- the book or the movie?  Tell us!

Banned Books Week 9/22 - 9/28

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. It highlights the value of free and open access to information. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community –- librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types –- in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.

Here are the top 10 most frequently challenged books from 2012.

1. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey.
2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie.
3. Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Ash
4. Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James.
5. And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson.
6. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini.
7. Looking for Alaska, by John Green.
8. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
9. The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls
10. Beloved, by Toni Morrison

How many of these have you read?   Check out our display of banned and challenged books at the Library.

10 authors I'd like to have coffee with

1. L. Frank Baum.  Yes, the Wizard of Oz is a great movie, but the book is better!  And he wrote at least 14 books about the Land of  Oz series.  I'll bring the green eyeglasses!
2. Jo Nesbo.  He's Norwegian like me; he's a rock star; and I like Inspector Harry Hole.
3. A.A. Milne.  I would like to thank him for the stories and poems of my childhood.  You should hear Gene Kelly sing some of the poems from "When We Were Very Young."   Just wonderful!
4. Mary Doria Russell.  She writes science fiction so I can read it.  And I fell in love with Doc Holliday. 
5. Robert B. Parker.  I would like to find out how much of Spenser's character is made up and how much is Mr. Parker.
6. Jodi Picoult.  Who wouldn't want to have coffee with her?  She's interested in so many different topics!
7. Sophie Littlefield.  It would never be a "Bad Day" for coffee with her.
8. Shel Silverstein.  Creative genius who wrote the song, "A Boy Named Sue."
9. Anne Morrow Lindbergh.  She had a fascinating life and I would love to talk to her about it.
10. Frances Mayes.  I would be happy to meet her in Italy for some espresso! 

What authors would you like to have a cup of coffee with?

Jane

Fun Time to be a Comics fan.

Who would have thought that something that was considered highly nerdy when I was in elementary school, would catapult to the forefront of entertainment today? With movies like Marvel's The Avenger's and DC's Dark Knight Trilogy just smashing in the box office, Agents of Shield being primed for TV, and the new Captain America being shot right here in Cleveland? It's safe to say that comics are "in" right now.

It'd been a long time since I sat down with comics, but with our Clevnet system holding so many trade paperbacks and my love of the comic world freshly renewed? I eagerly jumped back into universes of some of my favorite series, and thought I'd share some of the series I've been brushing up on....
 

Ultimate X-Men: Ultimate Collections

If you were like me and were in school in the 90's, then you no doubt remember the X-men animated series. It was a franchise loosely based on the comic storylines but remained pretty faithful to the characters.

The Ultimate X-Men series is a reboot of that traditional franchise. Those familiar with the X-men mythos will find a number of the arcs familiar but the character designs and backstories have new modernized feeling to them. The area a number of subtle changes too that I found very interesting. It also ties in to the rest of the Marvel universe as well, so its not uncommon to see certain very famous avengers make an appearance as well. I very much got into the Ultimate series.

Deadpool

Don't let the name fool you, Deadpool is really funny. I've been driving my library's circulation staff insane with the number of these I've ordered. Marvel's "Merc with a Mouth" has really been growing in popularity recently and after reading through a number of his comics and can clearly see why. Pool has a pretty convoluted back story and plays second fiddle to a large number of bigger Marvel heroes and villains. So why is he so popular?

Because he's what you might call "Completely Unhinged." In between a super human healing factor and incredible combat skills, Pool will often argue with voices in his head with separate thought bubbles. He frequently references pop culture known to us the reader but not the universe, and on several occasions he just straight up bulldozes the fourth wall, because he seems to be the only one in his world who knows he's in a comic. You can pick up any issue of Deadpool and have it be funny, but our system has a lot of the classics and newer stuff to get, so feel free to start anywhere.

  

Marvel Zombies
 

Something else that is super popular right now is zombies. Not an interest many of my co-workers share with me but none the less, with the constant stream of films, books, comics and TV shows, its hard to deny that people love them undead walkers.
 

Marvel Zombies features the writing of Robert Kirkman, who some of you might know as the comic artist for the popular The Walking Dead series. And unlike most zombie stories, this one takes place from the perspective of the "heroes" after they have been infected. Zombies are bad enough, but zombies with super human powers and an uncontrollable hunger? Yikes.
 

As you might expect from a zombie comic, this series is a skosh on the violent side. And by a skosh I mean a lot. There is blood and gore, and a lot of it so you might want to keep this one clear of the younger kiddos. The series as a whole really is one massive exercise on how much worse things can get, but it's still a really fun read to see how storied heroes cope with becoming monsters. They also produced an offshoot where the Marvel Zombies take on Ash from Evil Dead/Army of Darkness which I found to be absolutely hysterical.

 

So there's just a sampling of some of the stuff I have been reading in my down time. Clevnet provides a great selection of trade paperbacks and graphic novels so you can get big chunks of the stories in each, and many of the characters have multiple issues available.  Remember folks, comics aren't just for kids and it's never too late to get started. So read some comics!

Summer Reading: Indiana Jones-Archaeologist

After hearing stories, we made our own cartouches and mummies!

Rawr!



Summer Reading: Dirt Dwellers

We made our own dirt dwellers.....ants!

 

We also searched the Library for the longest worms.....

And we always get a book:

Next time: pet rocks and bat caves!

Summer Reading: In the Garden

Our second summer reading program took us In the Garden. Ms Beth led a few projects....

Beginning with GARDEN BINGO...

Next we planted bean seeds.

Even this leopard planted seeds:

Then we made fingerprint flowers:

We ended with edible compost (Oreos and gummy worms).

And everyone takes home a book.

See you in the garden!