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Dec

2009

The Christmas Train

Written by P.D., A/V Division

Journalist, Tom Langdon, has been banned from flying due to an incident of rage at an airport. Desiring to spend Christmas with his current girlfriend, who resides in Los Angeles, he decides to take the train cross-country from Washington, D.C. to L.A., and gather information for an article on train travel at the same time. Tom encounters a varied assortment of fellow travelers including an older woman who seems to spend most of her life riding the train, an eloping couple who plan to marry on the train, a legendary film director, Eleanor, his old (but not forgotten) girlfriend, and some quirky railroad employees. Eleanor is not as thrilled to see Tom as he is to see her. When items begin disappearing from passenger’s compartments, it is suspected there is a thief on board as well. The railroad officials are watching the weather forecast as a blizzard is expected to hit the mountain pass the train must go through. Light-hearted intrigue, romance and comedy kept me reading and laughing. It’s a heartwarming story that will put you in the holiday spirit. The title is available as an audiobook on both CD and cassette, as well as a printed book.

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Nov

2009

Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story

Written by Sue, Main Library

Sometimes there is a divine convergence between reader and material on an audiobook. Think Jim Dale and the Harry Potter books, or Judy Kaye and the Stephanie Plum novels. Author Leonie Swann and reader Josephine Bailey have divinely converged in this audiobook to wonderfully entertaining effect. The novel, which concerns the mysterious death of an Irish shepherd and the subsequent unraveling of the murder plot by his sheep, is delightful enough when read in print. But hearing how Josephine Bailey constructs the personality of each sheep and trips lightly through the many accents of the surrounding humans adds just that much more delight. This is one of the rare audiobooks that, at its finish, I popped right back into the player again. Leonie Swann’s depiction of the inner life of sheep is clever, plausible, and laugh-out-loud funny at times. And what the sheep make of the humans they encounter is truly eye-opening. Of course, this is all conjecture. At least I hope it is.

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Nov

2009

A Dirty Job

Written by Bonnie, Main Library

Christopher Moore, author of "You Suck," "Lamb," and most recently "Fool," has a cult following, and for good reason. His rambunctious sense of humor isn't for every reader; his works can be a little bawdy, a little surreal and just a bit skeptical of the status quo. Take "A Dirty Job," his 2006 book on the fine art of death and dying... well, death anyway. Charlie Asher is a shy, neurotic everyman who owns a second-hand shop in San Francisco. Charlie is about to become a father for the first time when it goes all wrong. In one awful moment, Charlie suddenly finds himself a widower, a single father-- and a death merchant. He and his fellow merchants have to unite the souls of the newly-dead with the people they belong to, while keeping the souls safe from the ancient evil spirits known as the Morrigan. He's lost the instruction book to tell him how it all works, but with a supporting cast of his sister Jane, daughter Sophie, Lily the Goth girl, the hellhounds, the squirrel people, and the Emperor of San Francisco, Charlie is making his way. Moore's writing is vivd and funny, conveying just how lost Charlie is in every aspect of his confusing new life. The audio edition, read by Fisher Stevens, engages the imagination. Minor characters like Minty Fresh and the Emperor have voices as rich and real as those of daughter Sophie or Charlie himself. If you are a fan of audiobooks, this 10-disc set is well worth the listen; if you prefer reading, check out the book instead.

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Oct

2009

The Ninth Life of Louis Drax

Written by Melissa, Belmont Branch Library

Louis Drax is the amazing accident prone boy. This self described “deeply disturbed child” has had many nearly fatal accidents in his short eight years of life including nearly suffocating in his crib, food poisoning, tetanus, botulism, and meningitis. On his ninth birthday Louis falls off of a cliff and after nearly drowning, ends up in the coma ward with Dr. Pascal Dannacher. His father is the main suspect but unfortunately has disappeared. His mother, terrified that Louis will die, is extremely vulnerable and creates the impression that she needs protected herself. Dr. Dannacher uses some unorthodox techniques to communicate with Louis and discover the disturbing family secrets that hold him in his comma. The book alternates between the voices of Louis (read by Jeff Woodman), who humorously describes his life of accidents, and Dr. Dannacher (read by Gerard Doyle), who is falling in love with Louis’s mother. This is a gripping mystery that will keep you guessing to the end. This book is also being made into a movie, which will be released in the UK later this year.

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Jul

2009

Bois de la Brigade de Marine

Written by Steven Wilson

The above is translated "Wood of the Marine Brigade," the named bestowed by a grateful France on a mounded patch of woods barely a square mile in size located due east of Paris, but nearer to Strasbourg. It was here that the U.S. Marine Corps encountered its first heavy fighting of World War I and the bloodiest fighting in its history to that point, losing 1087 men in a single day of this month-long engagement. It came late in the war as an exhausted Germany took advantage of the Russian capitulation to shift troops against the French in the hopes of winning a decisive victory before the Americans became fully involved in the war. German forces had turned the former hunting preserve into a stronghold with more than 120 well-fortified machine gun positions while retaining the capability to direct heavy artillery fire around the woods. In multiple attacks, Marines waded through waist-high wheat in the face of withering German fire, often for hundreds of yards at a time. Combat in the wood was frequently at very close range and of a savage nature as bayonets were deployed with ferocity and more than one German machine gun crew succumbed to even the fists and feet of the Devil Dogs. It was truly "hand-to-hand" combat.

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Feb

2009

Oscar Nominees at the Library

Written by Kristen - Main Library

Yes, many of this year's Oscar nominees are too new to be out on DVD, but that doesn't mean you can't find them at the library. Check out the books and short stories on which they were based.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is based on a story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. You can find it in the collection of his work titled Novels and Stories, 1920-1922. There is also a graphic novel version.

The Reader was based on a book of the same name by Bernard Schlink. Besides being the inspiration for one of the Best Motion Picture nominees, it's also an Oprah's Book Club selection, so don't hesitate to ask your librarian to reserve it for you. You can expect it to fly off the shelves.

Frost/Nixon by Peter Morgan was a play before it was a movie, and the library has the original script.

The only movie nominated for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published that is not a Best Motion Picture nominee is Doubt. At the library you can find the script of the play, Doubt: a Parable by John Patrick Shanley. Unlike the movie, the play is staged with only four actors. All four of the actors in the movie playing the original characters from the stage version have been nominated for Oscars as well.

There isn't much time left before the awards, so get reading!

-- Kristen, Main Library

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Feb

2009

Free Tax Help

Written by Bonnie - Main Library

The city of Dayton has a set of webpages with info on the EITC (earned income tax credit.) This page has the addresses and phone numbers of the places that are providing free tax preparation services this season -- it's a list of all our old friends like the Dayton Urban League, the Job Center and Community Action Partnership! There are also "Quick Hits" on the right, to help folks find out if they are eligible.

Here is the link to the tax preparation page: http://www.cityofdayton.org/departments/pcd/ca/EITC/Pages/freetaxhelp.aspx

-- Bonnie, Main Library

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Jan

2009

Don't Act Your Age

Written by Steven Wilson

Research shows that humor plays a positive role in our health and longevity, and that we shouldn't look at our age as a defining factor in what we can and cannot do. This entertaining talk includes ideas on staying healthy and maintaining a positive outlook on life. Our presenter is Anne Holaday, of the College for Lifelong Learning at Sinclair Community College.

You have three chances to catch this great program:

Jan. 29, at 6:30 PM at the Vandalia branch library
Jan. 30, at 1:30 PM at the Ft. McKinley branch library
Feb. 25, at 6:30 PM at the Kettering-Moraine branch library

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Jan

2009

Free Your Ears with Librivox

Written by Steven Wilson

Audiobook fans (with Internet access) rejoice! You can now download free audio books to listen to on your computer or burn to CDs. (The files are probably a bit large for your portable device; but if you have the memory, go to town!)

There are tons of sites on the Internet that say they offer free audio books. Some offer one book free a month, and you pay for the rest. Some force you to subscribe to their service. Some just don't work at all. Librivox.org is the real deal. (That is all you need to type into your browser's address bar, no www or http:// needed). Started in 2005, Librivox makes use of volunteer readers who read works that are considered public domain (When an author copyrights their work, the copyright only lasts for so long. Right now almost anything written before 1923 is considered public domain. Anyone can use a public domain text in any way they want to). The volunteer readers record themselves reading a chapter or a short story or a whole novel, and Librivox makes that recording available for free online. Some works even have multiple editions recorded.

Alcott, Wodehouse, Burroughs, Verne, Gaskell, Dickens, Austen, Twain, Baldwin...the list of authors goes on and on. There is Science Fiction (Andre Norton) and Mystery (Wilkie Collins) and Children's Fiction (L. Frank Baum's OZ books, Lucy Maude Montgomery, and Frances Hodgson Burnett). Librivox even has collections of short works by various authors. You can search by author or title or genre or reader or language.

Once you fall in love with the site...you can even volunteer. Your voice reading your favorite classic novel will the be preserved for all of posterity to download and enjoy!

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