Looking for something?

Ever see something on our website or blog, then want to look at it again later, but you just can't seem to find it? Or maybe you want to get a specific piece of info ASAP without a lot of aimless clicking.

Well, did you know that you can search our entire website (PerrotLibrary.org), as well as our blog (perrotlibrary.blogspot.com), in one fell swoop? Give it a try here!

A Christmas Recommendation and New Great Reads List

Feeling a little disgruntled about all your Christmas work?

Try On Strike for Christmas, by Sheila Roberts. It's a fun fun, witty book about a group of women who meet for a knitting club and decide to organize and go on strike for Christmas. They all have their own complaints about how much work it is (and it always seems to be "women’s work") to make Christmas happen each year. Who does the shopping, the cleaning, the cooking, and gift wrapping if they are on strike? These ladies come up with a solution, but it may just backfire! Just a quick, fun read.

Also, view the rest of the Reference Librarians' List of Great Reads for December/January here.

Missing something?

. . .maybe it's at the Library. Inquire at the Adult Circulation Desk about our Lost & Found. We may just have that set of keys or glasses you can't seem to find.

Thanks!

Recommended Literature Websites

We received a tip to look at www.todayinliterature.com-- a website that promotes books, authors and reading. There is a daily highlighted story about a literature fact for that day in history. There are articles, quotations, and more-- and if you subscribe, there is total access to full stories, and to the archives. This arrives in your e-mail daily. What a great way to start your day!

Another book-oriented site is www.bookbrowse.com: “Your guide to exceptional books.” There are books and book group areas to explore, including interviews for book clubs, lists of recommended books, recent paperback and hardcovers, and lots more.

Both of these websites have at least a certain level of access for free, otherwise there is a membership charge.

--The Reference Librarians

Flute Sweets and Tickletoons

Yesterday, our youngest patrons and their families were given a wonderful treat: a fun and festive musical visit from Barbara Siesel and Keith Torgan, otherwise known as Flute Sweets and Tickletoons! Their performance for preschool children included lots of interaction, play and music, and their performance for older children explored the festivals of several different cultures via music and storytheater. Click here to see/hear just a little of the fun we all had.

This event was made possible by the generous donations of the members of the Perrot Memorial Library Association. Are you a member? THANK YOU!

Winners of the Bi-Annual Y2C2 Jeopardy Challenge!

(drumroll please . . . .)
We are pleased to announce the winners of our bi-annual Young Young Critics' Club (Y2C2) Jeopardy challenge and the current holders of the Wonderful Golden Y Award!

Although they faced serious competition from Team Bookworms, Team Bouncing Bananas, and Team Stinky Cheese, it was Team Four, with members Sarah, Karla, Emily B., Mary, Cristian, and Thomas, that emerged victorious.

Congratulations to the winning team!

A Reminder About Winter Weather Delays and Closings

There are several ways you can find out about a weather-related delayed opening or closure at Perrot:

• Call us at 203-637-1066, to hear a recording listing a delay or closure
• Check Channel 12 News on TV, or look at their website
• Listen to AM Station WSTC 1400 or WGCH 1490

Remember that our delayed openings and closures are not necessarily concurrent with those of the Greenwich Public School system.

Here is our Cancellation Policy for our Youth Services Programs:

• For Preschool storytimes at 10 A.M., 11 A.M., and 1 P.M.: Programs are cancelled if the Greenwich Public Schools are closed due to weather conditions. Programs will be held if the Greenwich Public Schools have a delayed opening due to weather conditions. 1 P.M. programs will be cancelled if the Greenwich Public Schools are released early due to weather conditions.
• For School-Age storytimes at 4 P.M.: Please call the library in the late afternoon to find out if programs will be held.
• For PJs at Perrot: PJs will be cancelled if Greenwich Public Schools are closed or released early due to weather conditions.

Youth Services' Holiday Gift-Buying Guide 2007

ACK! Time is running out to get presents for EVERYONE on your list! Good thing we've come to your rescue with a list of our favorite gift of all-- books!

Check out Youth Services' Holiday Gift-Buying Guide for 2007 here, or pick up a copy of the list at the Youth Services Circulation Desk.

Happy Shopping!

New York Times' 10 Best Books of 2007

The New York Times has announced its list of the 10 Best Books of 2007. The list will run in the Book Review on December 9th, but you can get started reading right away!

Fiction:

• Man Gone Down, by Michael Thomas: On the eve of the unnamed narrator's thirty-fifth birthday, he finds himself broke, estranged from his white wife and three children, and living in the bedroom of a friend's six-year-old child. He has four days before he's due in Boston to pick up his family, four days to try to make some sense of his life.
• Out Stealing Horses, by Per Petterson, translated by Anne Born: Trond is living in self-imposed exile in a primitive cabin, but his solitude is interrupted when he meets his only neighbor, the brother of his childhood friend, who forces him to remember the fateful summer of 1948.
• The Savage Detectives, by Roberto Bolaño, translated by Natasha Wimmer: Bolano traces the hidden connection between literature and violence in a world where national boundaries are fluid, and death lurks in the shadow of the avant-garde.
• Then We Came to the End, by Joshua Ferris: No one knows us quite the same way as the men and women who sit beside us in department meetings and crowd the office refrigerator with their labeled yogurts. Every office is a family of sorts, and the ad agency Ferris depicts is family at its strangest and best.
• Tree of Smoke, by Denis Johnson: This is the story of William "Skip" Sands, CIA-- engaged in Psychological Operations against the Vietcong-- and the disasters that befall him. The 2007 National Book Award Winner.

Non-Fiction:

• Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone, by Rajiv Chandrasekaran: The Washington Post's former Baghdad bureau chief takes us with him into the Zone: into a bubble, cut off from wartime realities, where the task of reconstructing a devastated nation competed with the distractions of a Little America.
• Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression, by Mildred Armstrong Kalish: Filled with recipes and how-tos for everything from catching and skinning a rabbit to preparing homemade skin and hair beautifiers, apple cream pie, and the world's best head cheese, Little Heathens portrays a world of hardship and hard work tempered by simple rewards.
• The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court, by Jeffrey Toobin: Based on exclusive interviews with the justices themselves, The Nine tells the story of the Supreme Court through its outsized personalities.
• The Ordeal of Elizabeth Marsh: A Woman in World History, by Linda Colley: Conceived in Jamaica and possibly of mixed race, Elizabeth Marsh (1735-1785) traveled farther than the majority of men in her day. She was the first woman to publish in English on Morocco, and the first to carry out extensive explorations in eastern and southern India.
• The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, by Alex Ross: A history of the twentieth century, as seen through its music.

DVD Diva: Holiday Classics

With the Holiday Season just around the corner, why not plan on seeing some of these holiday favorites:

It's a Wonderful Life * Miracle on 34th Street * Scrooge * A Christmas Story * Home Alone * Home Alone 2: Lost in New York * Eight Crazy Nights * Kwanzaa * There's No Such Thing as a Chanukah Bush, Sandy Goldstein * National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation * Elf * Santa Clause 2

One day you’re ‘in’ . . .

This week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine (November 30), the one with J. K. Rowling, EW’s choice for Entertainer of the Year, on the cover, includes a regular "What’s In, What’s Five Minutes Ago, and What’s Out" feature by Jessica Shaw. So what’s IN? "Getting a library card"! So "Five Minutes Ago" is reading in the bookstore, while buying books online is OUT!

Visit us soon to get or use the coolest card you can carry!

Brian Selznick Visits the Book Clubs

Author and illustrator Brian Selznick visited with the Young Critics' Club and Young Young Critics' Clubs on Friday, November 16th, 2007. Selznick has illustrated books like The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins, Walt Whitman: Words for America, and When Marian Sang, and has both written and illustrated a few books, too-- including the innovative novel of words and pictures, The Invention of Hugo Cabret (voted Y2C2's favorite book of 2006-2007 [and YCC's 2nd-favorite book]). Brian Selznick talked to the book clubs about his inspiration(s) for the book, how he created the illustrations, and how he traveled to Paris for research.

You can see video and sound clips of the visit here!

Books on Entertaining

Thanksgiving is just the start of a season of occasions and holidays ahead. Now is the time to make your plans for entertaining!

Here are some books that may help (click on each title to place a request):

• Perfect Tables : Tabletop Secrets, Settings and Centrepieces for Delicious Dining, by William Yeoward


• Table Flowers, by Paula Pryke


• Napkins with a Twist : Fabulous Folds with Flair for Every Occasion, by David Starke


• What to Drink With What You Eat : the Definitive Guide to Pairing Food with Wine, Beer, Spirits, Coffee, Tea-- Even Water-- Based on Expert Advice from America's Best Sommeliers, by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page


• Perfect Parties: Tips and Advice from a New York Party Planner, by Linnea Johansson

Stop by and see our selection of cookbooks, books on entertaining, and more.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Belated List of National Book Award Winners

The National Book Awards were presented on November 14th, 2007.

Fiction Winner:

Tree of Smoke, by Denis Johnson
This is the story of William "Skip" Sands, CIA-- engaged in Psychological Operations against the Vietcong-- and the disasters that befall him.

Non-Fiction Winner:

Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA, by Tim Weiner

Tim Weiner offers the first definitive history of the CIA-- and everything is on the record. Legacy of Ashes is based on more than 50,000 documents, primarily from the archives of the CIA itself, and hundreds of interviews with CIA veterans, including ten directors of central intelligence.

Poetry Winner:

Time and Materials: Poems 1997-2005, by Robert Hass

The poems in this collection-- Robert Hass' first to appear in a decade-- are grounded in the beauty and energy of the physical world, and in the bafflement of the present moment in American culture. This work is breathtakingly immediate, stylistically varied, redemptive, and wise.

Young People's Literature Winner:

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
Based on the author's own experiences, this Young Adult novel chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy attempting to break away from the life he was destined to live.

Try out our new Early Literacy Station!

Perrot is now the proud owner of an AWE Early Literacy Station! This PC has been specially configured to run 34 different games and activities in seven different curricula. Kids-- toddlers through second-graders-- will enjoy learning on their own at the ELS. They can even print to the ELS's dedicated color printer! Come on in today and give it a try.

Part-time Job Opening in Youth Services

Part-Time Library Program Aide

Perrot Library is looking for a program aide to conduct literature-based storytimes for young children in a library setting. Love of children's literature is essential. Some work experience with groups of young children is desirable. 10 to 15 hours per week, with some flexibility. Hours subject to change with the library programing seasons. Storytimes are offered September through November, January through May, and during the month of July. $19-$24/hr DOE. Complete an official Town of Greenwich employment application (available online here), and submit it to: Town of Greenwich, Human Resources Department, 101 Field Point Road, Greenwich, CT 06830, by 12/1/07.

Love's Labour's Lost Shakespeare Colloquy

Anne Gilhuly will present our latest Shakespeare Colloquy on the play Love's Labour's Lost this month. Known as a "feast of language," this is one of the bard's earliest comedies, in which four bachelors who have dedicated themselves to chastity and scholarly pursuits soon encounter the women of their dreams. This event will take place in the library, on Wednesday, November 28th, 2007, at 7:30 P.M. Free copies of the play are available at the Adult Circulation Desk.

1,000th Download Prize

You could win an MP3 Player just by downloading an audiobook. . .

The patron who checks out the 1,000th downloadable audiobook or eBook from the Greenwich Library System's digital library will win a Creative MuVo MP3 player.

Go to it!: http://www.greenwichlibrary.org/downloadablelibrary.asp

DVD Diva: Thanksgiving DVDs

Why not take home some Thanksgiving movies to watch after filling up on turkey? It’s a looooong weekend. . .

Here are a few Thanksgiving-themed suggestions:

Pieces of April
Family outcast April lives in a beat-up apartment in New York's Lower East Side with her boyfriend, Bobby. In order to spend some time with her dying mother, April invites her conservative suburban family to her place for a Thanksgiving feast.

More at Internet Movie Database (IMDb)



Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Neal Page (Steve Martin) wants to fly home to spend Thanksgiving with his family. Del Griffith (John Candy) leads Page on a hilarious cross-country wild goose chase that keeps him from tasting his turkey.

More at IMDb




Hannah and Her Sisters

During a Thanksgiving Day party we make acquaintance with a numerous and problematic family. The leading characters are three sisters: Lee, Holly and Hannah. Nominated for seven Academy Awards.

More at IMDb





What’s Cooking

In L.A.'s diverse Fairfax district, four households celebrate Thanksgiving amidst family tensions.

More at IMDb

Here are some sites that can help you prepare for the holiday:

* Decorating ideas
* Great recipes
* Fun games

Thanksgiving Closing Reminder

Perrot will be closed on both Thursday, November 22nd, 2007, and Friday, November 23rd, 2007, for the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Annual Lion's Club Grapefruit Sale

The Old Greenwich Lion's Clubs is selling grapefruits and oranges, as part of its annual fund-raising effort to flight blindness worldwide.

Grapefruits and oranges are available for purchase at Perrot (ask at the Adult Circulation Desk). The fruit is $16 per carton, or $8 for a half carton.

Everybody Cooks . . .

Thanksgiving is right around the corner! Involve your kids in the holiday meal preparation and make more than dinner– make family memories! Here are some of our favorite books to give you an idea or two:

THERE’S A CHEF IN MY WORLD, by Emeril Lagasse (J 641.59 LAGAS)
HONEST PRETZELS, by Molly Katzen (J 641.5 KATZE)
EVERYBODY COOKS RICE, by Norah Dooley (EASY J 641.5 DOOLE)


While you’re cooking up your own rice, do something good for somebody else: visit Free Rice at http://freerice.com/index.php to test your vocabulary and support the United Nations World Food Program. For each word you define correctly, you’ll donate 10 grains of rice to the program-- it adds up fast! Let us know how well you do by leaving a comment below-- how many grains of rice will YOU provide?

(Stroller) Parking Woes

Parking woes at the Library, as you can see, are not confined to the parking lot!

Winner of our Youth Services Blog Giveaway!

Andrew S., age 8, was the first to send us an e-mail and won a copy of the book Extreme Dinosaurs! Watch the blog for chances to win other cool books n' stuff!

A Fourth Book in the Inheritance 'Trilogy'

Random House has announced that there will be a fourth book in Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Trilogy (I guess it's not a trilogy anymore. . .). The third book will be released in September 2008; there is no release date yet for the fourth book. Paolini, who started writing the series when he was 15, says he realized that he wouldn't be able to fit all the things he wanted into book 3, necessitating a fourth book: "In order to be true to my characters and to address all of the plot points and unanswered questions Eragon and Eldest raised, I needed to split the end of the series into two books." You can see a video announcement of the news on Paolini's website, here.

New Great Reads List

Take a break from eating all that leftover Halloween candy... and find a good book to chew on. This months' Great Reads from the Reference Librarian's is ready for you here!

Flute Sweets and Tickletoons

FLUTE SWEETS AND TICKLETOONS

will present two storytelling and music performances at Perrot on

Sunday, December 9th, 2007:

"Little Kids, Little Songs," a program for children ages 2-5, will take place at 1:30 P.M.:

Rolling in mud, climbing trees, flying like an airplane and getting rid of monsters – is what “Little Kids Little Songs” is all about. Each original song was created to engage the imagination of the very young. Soft, sweet, playful and funny- the original music and storytelling of Keith Torgan and the virtuosity of flutist Barbara Siesel will tickle the newest and youngest of audience members.


"Green Golly and the Treasure of Light," a program for school-aged children, will take place at 3:00 P.M.:

In this enchanting sequel to “Green Golly & Her Golden Flute,” Green Golly escapes the tower, goes “on tour” and discovers the “treasure of light”- a chest filled with dusty old scrolls of sheet music that when played (with heart) transport the player to holiday celebrations near and far. Delight in the ways people from all over the globe celebrate their holidays– and sing along! {It is not necessary to see part one to appreciate part two.}

These events were generously sponsored by the Perrot Memorial Library Association.

Sign up for tickets to both events at the Youth Services Desk!

LET’S GET COOKING!

Now that there’s a snap in the air, I can see myself cooking more. In the summer, it’s so easy to just fire up the outside grill or make salads – all wonderful of course, but isn’t there something more homey about making soups, stews, quiches, etc?

So here we have some of the latest cookbooks for you:
The Ski House Cookbook: Warm Winter Dishes for Cold Weather Fun, by Tina Anderson and Sarah Pinneo, 641.5 ANDER
You’ll find slow cooked meals, après-ski snacks, beverages and more.

Talk with Your Mouth Full: The Hearty Boys Cookbook, by Dan Smith and Steve McDonagh, 641.5 SMITH
The authors are two former actors who waited tables in between acting jobs. The Hearty Boys was the name of their catering company once they got into the food business. This book provides recipes, of course, and also some great menu ideas, with insights into the lives of the two authors.

Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill Cookbook: Explosive Flavors from the Southwestern Kitchen, by Bobby Flay, with Stephanie Banyas and Sally Jackson, 641.5784 FLAY
From the man who gave us a new appreciation of all things Southwestern– his first Mesa Grill opened in 1991. The menu has evolved over the years, but stays true to its Southwestern roots.

Cristina’s Tuscan Table, by Cristina Ceccatelli Cook, 641.59455 COOK
With many menus from her restaurant in Sun Valley, Cristina gives us true Tuscan delights. She describes the food and wine that accompanies it. She puts so much of her own personality into her restaurant.

--The Reference Staff

Our Picks!: Books About Food

Check out our brand-new Youth Services' Our Picks! list for November 2007-- it features tasty books about food. You can view the full list here.

Also, you might want to check out some of the very newest additions to our kids' cookbook collection:

• Cool Lunches to Make and Take: Easy Recipes for Kids to Cook, by Lisa Wagner, J 641.53 WAGNE
• Cool Meals to Start Your Wheels: Easy Recipes for Kids to Cook, by Lisa Wagner, J 641.53 WAGNE
• Cool Sweets and Treats to Eat: Easy Recipes for Kids to Cook, by Lisa Wagner, J 641.53 WAGNE
• Lunch Munch, by Bobbie Kalman, J 641.5 KALMA
• The Spatulatta Cookbook, by Isabella and Olivia Gerasole, J 641.5 GERAS
  

The Books Are Weeping

"The Books Are Weeping," by Brenda Scott Royce, at the Huffington Post.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brenda-scott-royce/the-books-are-weeping_b_70465.html

"My first visit to a school library forever changed the way I think about books. After giving us a tour and describing the Dewey decimal system in terms kindergarteners could understand, the librarian told us that while some books were always in demand, others had never been checked out at all. She said that if you listened closely, you could actually hear these overlooked books crying."

Scariest Characters in Literature

Just in time for the scariest night of the year, abebooks.com polled visitors on the 10 scariest characters in literature.

The results:
1. Big Brother from 1984 by George Orwell
2. Hannibal Lecter from the novels by Thomas Harris
3. Pennywise the Clown from It by Stephen King
4. Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
5. Count Dracula from Bram Stoker's Dracula
6. Annie Wilkes from Misery by Stephen King
7. The demon from The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
8. Patrick Bateman from American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
9. Bill Sykes from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
10. Voldemort from the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling

What's in a Name?

Sophie? Caitlin? Fiona? Matthew? Cody? Cameron? Zarabella? These are just some of the names given to babies born recently at Greenwich Hospital (source: Greenwich Time, Sunday, October 28, 2007)

One of the most entertaining of book quests is a look for books featuring characters with kids’ very own names (which might be a little tough for Zarabella, but we could try for Arabella, or Zara, or Bella, or even Ella!).

As an example, let’s look at a few picture books with a ‘Sophie’ connection:
WHAT TO DO? WHAT TO DO? (E TEEVI)
THERE’S A DRAGON DOWNSTAIRS (E MCKAY)
DON’T LET THE PEAS TOUCH! (E BLUME)
And there are at least 39 other books in Perrot’s YS collection that have a Sophie as the author or as a featured player!

So what’s in a name?
Maybe a book!
Come pay us a call –
we’ll help you look!

TALES FROM... NIGHTMARES

TERRIBLE TALES FROM.....

N I G H T M A R E S

• CLICK TO HEAR. . . THE SORCERESS OF SILVERMINE. She tells the tale of a man who lived near a graveyard. Every day he cut through the graveyard to get to work, but then he began hearing a voice calling, "TURN ME OOOOOVER. . ."
  
  
  
• CLICK TO HEAR. . . THE HAG. She tells us of one very mean teacher, whose fate rests in the hands of her students. . .
  
  
  
• CLICK TO HEAR. . . THE CRONE OF COS COB. Lady Mary is engaged to be married, but doesn't know much about her suitor. That is, until she visits his castle and finds a room full of bloody corpses. . .
  
  
  
  [All sound clips are in MP3 format.]

Book Recommendation: My Dearest Friend

My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams, edited by Margaret A. Hogan and C. James Taylor

Ms. Hogan is Managing Editor and Mr. Taylor is Editor in Chief of the Adams Papers at the Massachusetts Historical Society. Exciting for us also at Perrot is the fact that Margaret Hogan was a former library page in the 1980’s. Nice to think we started her on her literary career! This book has been very well received in the review media. John and Abigail Adams really had a partnership. She was his chief advisor and confidante on political matters and policies. This is an intimate look at their relationship during the years of the creation of the United States.

October is Family History Month

October is Family History Month and there are many ways to celebrate this:

This is the best time to get together family photographs and start a scrapbook of extended family members to help tell their stories to the next generation. You may also want to chart your family tree, if you haven’t already. A form to do this is available online at Ancestry Library.
The Library also has numerous genealogy books that you can borrow. If you are new or fairly new to family history research, there are two books that can be of help:

• Family History 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Finding Your Ancestors is a great book resource to start with. Written by Marcia Melnyk, this book helps you along with the beginning steps of family research using both online and other resources
• The second “beginner’s” book is Genealogy for the First Time: Research your Family History, by Laura Best. Hers is a more illustrated book, with her own family pictures and antiques in the background. She shows Heritage scrapbooking, which is a relatively new concept, as a means to preserve and protect personal and family histories. This can be a fun and meaningful activity for the family.

Continue your search with our two genealogy databases:

• Ancestry Library: This database allows for a search by name to get birth, marriage and death records. If you can supply at least a birth date, you can narrow the results to get a more likely return. There is also census information and immigration information, such as the names of passenger ships, and a section for school yearbook photographs. This database is only available inside the Library.
• HeritageQuest: By checking all U.S. Census data, you can search from 1790 to 1930 for family histories. It also includes primary sources in full image. One can search in the section for periodicals or books to get information about family members. HeritageQuest is available both inside the Library and remotely.
  

Anne Enright Wins Booker Prize

Irish author Anne Enright won the Man Booker Prize yesterday for her book The Gathering. The Booker prize, Britain's best-known literary award, is given annually to a novel written by an author from Great Britain or Ireland.



A Synopsis: "The nine surviving children of the Hegarty clan are gathering in Dublin for the wake of their wayward brother, Liam, drowned in the sea. His sister, Veronica, collects the body and keeps the dead man company, guarding the secret she shares with him— something that happened in their grandmother’s house in the winter of 1968." Click here to request this book.

The Scariest Books of All Time

While poking around on the internet, we found CNN's list from a few years ago, called The Scariest Books of All Time.

The scariest books were...

• Dracula, by Bram Stoker
• The Shining, by Stephen King
• The Exorcist, by William Peter Blatty
• The short stories of Edgar Allan Poe
• The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson

Which book gets your vote for the most terrifying ever? Comment on this post!

DVD Diva: Ready for Halloween?

With Halloween approaching, why not start thinking about inviting some friends over for a horror movie night. Create a scary costume for yourself and even a costume for your pet. You can find some great recipes and ideas for a Halloween party at: http://familycrafts.about.com/od/halloweentreats/

Then sit down and watch some good-old-fashioned horror movies that are available at Perrot:

• 28 Days Later


• From Dusk Till Dawn


• Psycho


• Alien


• The Shining (or try the original Stephen King)


• Dawn of the Dead
  

And for some Halloween comic relief:

• Young Frankenstein (or is that “-steen”...)
  
• Fright Night


• Attack of the Killer Tomatoes


• Shaun of the Dead


• Hocus Pocus

A list of the top 50 horror movies can be found at the Internet Movie Database.

New Perrot Library Tote Bags

Announcing... brand new Perrot tote bags available for sale! Our new bags are canvas and washable, and feature the Perrot cupola logo at left. They're big enough to fit quite a few books. They're also great for toting toys or groceries, or for going trick-or-treating!

Bags are available for sale at both the Adult and Youth Services circulation desks, and are only $5 each.

Literary News x2

Both the National Book Award Finalists and the winner of the Nobel prize in Literature have been announced...

The National Book Award is given annually to an American-born author in each of the following categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, and Young People’s Literature. The winners will be selected in November. The Fiction finalists are:

• Fieldwork, by Mischa Berlinski
• Varieties of Disturbance, by Lydia Davis
• Then We Came to the End, by Joshua Ferris
• Tree of Smoke, by Denis Johnson
• Like You’d Understand, Anyway, by Jim Shepard

View the rest of the finalists at the National Book Award website.

Also, the Nobel Prize Winner in Literature was announced-- British author Doris Lessing. At age 88, Lessing is the oldest person to win the Literature award. She is most famous for her 1962 novel, The Golden Notebook.

Cover of the Fourth Percy Jackson Book Revealed

The cover of Rick Riordan's fourth Percy Jackson and the Olympians book has been revealed! The book is entitled The Battle of the Labyrinth. Riordan says, “It’s the beginning of a big war between the titans and the gods, and Percy must come to terms with his role in this perplexing world. There’s an invasion in the works and Percy takes his crew into the most dangerous place known in mythology—the labyrinth. This was a fun one to write.” Watch for it in May of 2008!

Jumping Jack-o-Lanterns!

If you buy your pumpkin at a grocery store, it probably hails from Illinois, California, Ohio, or Pennsylvania. These states produced more than 9 million pounds of pumpkins in 2005! (Source: Real Simple magazine, October 2007)

For more fascinating facts about cultivating, collecting, and carving these traditional October-time orbs, visit our YS Halloween book collection. We also have titles on costume-making, trick-or-treat baking, and skeleton-shaking!

Here are a couple of particularly tempting treats:

• Dracula and Frankenstein Are Friends, by Katherine Tegen (E TEGEN)


• Aliens Don’t Carve Jack-O-Lanterns, by Debbie Dadey (J-3 DADEY)


• 101 Costumes for All Ages, All Occasions, by Richard Cummings (J 792.02 CUMMI)

Banned Books Week: Youth Services

Who challenges books? Why? What’s the difference between a challenge and a ban?
Take our quick quiz, below; then visit http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bannedbooksweek.htm to learn all about it!

Banned Books Quiz:

1. What is the most challenged children’s book title of 2006?

2. Which popular early chapter book character is being accused of talking trash?

3. Fund-raiser fraught with issues: which ‘classic’ high school novel is consistently challenged?

4. Which wizard’s seven stories top the list as the MOST CHALLENGED books of the 21st century?

5. What’s normal? Can you name this highly-challenged children’s book on human development?

Answers:
1. And Tango Makes 3, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson

2. Junie B Jones series, by Barbara Parks

3. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier

4. Harry Potter series, by J. K. Rowling

5. It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris

Banned Books Week: September 29th-October 6th, 2007

What do the following books have in common?

The Catcher in the Rye. . . Of Mice and Men. . . The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. . .

. . .They were all banned books at one time. They have recently been joined by Beloved and The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison, and the Gossip Girls series by Cecily Von Ziegesar– all of them are among the 10 most challenged books of 2006.

According to the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, more than a book a day faces removal from free and open public access in U.S. schools and libraries. During Banned Books Week, thousands of libraries and bookstores throughout the nation will celebrate a democratic society’s most basic freedom– the freedom to read.

Join us to show you agree with this freedo – come check out a banned book! For this week only, we will display books in the Rand Room that have been challenged at one time or another. --Linda

Shortlist for the Business Book of the Year

The Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award, established in 2005, "aims to identify the book that provides the most compelling and enjoyable insight into modern business issues, including management, finance and economics." Here is the shortlist for the 2007 award:

• Zoom: The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future, by Iain Carson and Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran (Twelve)
• The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Freres & Co., by William D. Cohan (Doubleday)
• The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World, by Alan Greenspan (Penguin Press)
• Immigrants: Your Country Needs Them, by Philippe Legrain (Princeton University Press)
• The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (Random House)
• Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything, by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams (Portfolio)

The winning author will receive £30,000 (US$60,000), and the other five shortlisted authors will each receive £5,000 ($10,000). The winner will be announced in London on October 25th, 2007.

DVD Diva: Westerns

Westerns: a genre of novels and short stories, motion pictures, and television and radio shows that are set in the American West, usually in the period from the 1850s to the end of the 19th century. Though basically an American creation, the western had its counterparts in the gaucho literature of Argentina and in tales of the settlement of the Australian outback. The genre reached its greatest popularity in the early and middle decades of the 20th century and declined somewhat thereafter. – from Britannica On-Line

Read more about Western films at: http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue10/infocus/


3:10 To Yuma (1957) As other volunteers quit or are killed, a rancher is left alone to deal with the responsibility of putting a captured outlaw aboard a Fort Yuma-bound train.

More at Internet Movie Database (IMDb)






Drums Along The Mohawk (1939) A historical drama that tells the story of a young frontier leader, his spirited wife, and their struggles in the backwoods of New York state.

More at IMDb






The Magnificent Seven (1960) Seven gunmen are hired by a small village to protect them from the bandits destroying their town.

More at IMDb






Tombstone (1993) Western drama about Wyatt Earp and the showdown at the O.K. Corral

More at IMDb

The Future of UGLIES

A most burning question for in-the-know YA readers has been, "When will there be more books by Scott Westerfeld... When will there be another sequel in the UGLIES series?" The cheering answer is here, in a Publisher's Weekly article. --Mrs. Mac

Our Picks!: Sing-Along Stories

October's Our Picks! list for Youth Services features great picture books for sing-along! This list of interactive picture books was selected by Mrs. Wynne, our preschool programmer. You can view the full list here.

Do you have some favorite picture books that make YOU want to sing along? Comment on this post and tell us what they are!

Book Review: The World Without Us

The World Without Us, by Alan Weisman

[Non-Fiction] This book didn't quite live up to its absolutely fascinating premise: what would happen to Planet Earth if all humans were to disappear overnight? The book was more of a series of loosely-connected articles on the importance of environmentalism than it was a cohesive work of non-fiction. Still, the book is full of interesting tidbits-- New York City would flood without humans to run its pumps; animals like rats that feed off our garbage wouldn't fare too well; Earth's 441 nuclear power plants would either melt or burn with no one to run them, spilling vast quantities of radioactive waste into the air; pet dogs would be killed off by predators, but cats would survive. The chapter about plastics (which as far as we know, never biodegrade-- they simply break down into smaller and smaller particles which are then consumed by animals as small as zooplankton) is particularly enlightening-slash-disturbing. Definitely worth a look, I just wish this book had been a little less disjointed. --Vicky

Open call for reviews!

Enough about us-- what about you? Perrot wants to read reviews from our patrons! Please send us your brief reviews of books, CDs, audiobooks, or movies, to be posted right here, on Perrot's blog.

Here are the details:

• Please keep submissions to approximately one paragraph in length
• We cannot publish all submissions
• We may edit your submission for content and grammar
• E-mail your reviews (or questions) to webmaster@perrotlibrary.org

We look forward to hearing from you!

Travel Books

In honor of Passport Day this past Saturday, the Adult Reference Department put together a display of books on travel. You can now see-- and check out-- lots of titles to help you plan a trip or enjoy some armchair travels. The display is located in the Rand Room.

• Solo Traveler, by Lea Lane
  Whether you travel for business or pleasure, this book gives you some great hints.
• Rules Britannia: An Insider’s Guide to Life in the United Kingdom, by Toni Summers Hargis
  Whether you're planning a short visit or planning to relocate to Great Britain, it helps to learn their language!
• Honeymoon With My Brother: A Memoir, by Franz Wisner
  When a groom is jilted days before the wedding, with a prepaid honeymoon ready, he takes off with his brother instead of a bride! A funny look at how these two brothers learn to get along, by way of an unusual start.
• New England Hiking: The Complete Guide to More than 380 Hikes, by Michael Lanza
  This book is part of a series from Foghorn Outdoors, who produces a very complete list of trails, rates their difficulty, gives hints as to best hikes, and more.
  

Frog and Toad! Henry and Mudge! Elephant and Piggie! Ummmmmm, WHO?

This Sunday’s New York Times Book Review featured a piece on favorite early-reader series for children and introduced a hot new duo from Mo Willems, creator of the very popular Knuffle Bunny books. So we were wondering: Which dynamic duo of beginner books is YOUR favorite? (Here are some more names to get you started: Minnie and Moo; Iris and Walter; Pinky and Rex; Zelda and Ivy; Mr. Putter and Tabby.) Hit the comment button below to let us know; then stop in to revisit old favorites and make a few new easy reader friends!

The Numbers...

During Fiscal Year 2006-2007, the Library was visited 186,310 times; 239,323 items were borrowed; 21,015 reference questions were answered; and our public computers were used 20,184 times.

It makes us tired just thinking about it!

COIN-TROVERSY: Sacagawea Gets a Makeover

Poor Sacagawea– only 7 years old and she already needs nip/tuck! The dollar coin, first minted in 2000, will undergo a redesign to be unveiled in 2009. How many times have U.S. coins undergone design changes? How many of those state-themed quarters have YOU collected? Want to learn more? Visit the Youth Services "coin collection" to read about how money is made (literally) and made-over!

A few selections:

• Money, Money, Money: The Meaning of the Art and Symbols on United States Paper Currency: J 332.4 PARKE
• Eyewitness Books: Money: J 332.4 CRIBB
• Cool Coins: J 332.63 SCHEU

"Skinny Books" and Great Reads

After completing the 500+ pages of Free Food for Millionaires, by Min Jin Lee, which I enjoyed, I decided to head to smaller books as a break. Here are a few more "skinny" books for you to enjoy. . .

MISTER PIP, BY LLOYD JONES
[Fiction] This book is about a girl on a Pacific island who learns how a book transports you on many levels, physically and spiritually, to help you through life’s hardships. In spite of war and unspeakable violence, this coming-of-age and survival tale is now on the Shortlist for the Man Booker Prize.


VINEYARD STALKER: A MARTHA'S VINEYARD MYSTERY, BY PHILLIP R. CRAIG
[Mystery] This book is the 18th in Craig's series about J.W. Jackson, a former Boston policeman who currently is an unofficial detective on the Island of Martha’s Vineyard. J.W. is hired to watch over the property of Roland “The Monk” Nunes, who has had a rash of vandalism to his property. As with the other titles in this series, the writing is fun, the murders are never very grisly, and there are always some recipes in the back of the book!


THE END OF THE ALPHABET, BY C.S. RICHARDSON
[Fiction] This is a very spare little book, about a 50-ish husband given the news that he has a fatal disease and will only live for about 30 days more. He and his wife are shocked, of course, but decide to take a journey traveling the world from A to Z, to see places they always wanted to go to “some time in the future.” They reflect on their past and present as they face the inevitable together.

See the rest of our Great Reads list for September here. --Linda

Another Kids' Graphic Novel Recommendation: Robot Dreams

Did you like the Owly series? Then try this new graphic novel...

Robot Dreams, by Sara Varon

Robot Dreams is the new graphic novel from Sara Varon, author of last year's picture book format graphic novel, Chicken and Cat. Much longer than Chicken and Cat at 208 pages, Robot Dreams is a bittersweet tale about friendship and loss. Dog buys a build-your-own robot kit, and then takes his new friend with him to the beach. After a fun romp in the surf and a nap in the sand, Robot finds that his parts have rusted together and he is unable to move. Dog has to take the bus back home, but intends to come back later to retrieve his friend (he's awfully big for Dog to carry by himself). When Dog comes back, the beach is closed for the season. Dog sadly carries on, even making a few new but not-quite-right friends along the way, while Robot lies on the beach and daydreams about finding his friend Dog again. Will Robot and Dog ever be reunited? This moving, wordless graphic novel will be appreciated by both adults and kids, although sensitive types (like myself) might find themselves choking back a few tears at the end. --Vicky

Kids' Graphic Novel Recommendation: Fashion Kitty

If you liked Babymouse, you'll love Fashion Kitty!

Kiki Kittie is a pretty normal girl. She's got a two average parents, a sometimes-pesty younger sister, a pet mouse (well, maybe not so normal for a cat...), and gets to pick out her own clothes to wear to school. But, she has a secret that only her closest family knows about. . . When fashion disaster strikes, Kiki transforms into FASHION KITTY and flies off to the rescue of anyone in desperate need of fashion advice! The Bulletin of the Center of Children's books called the Fashion Kitty series of graphic novels, which are written by Charise Mericle Harper, "Absolute catnip for reluctant readers [or] budding fashion queens."



Perrot has the first two books in the Fashion Kitty Series: Fashion Kitty, and Fashion Kitty and the Fashion Queen. Watch for the third book in the series (although we're not sure when it's coming out just yet), which is called Fashion Kitty and the Unlikely Hero. --Vicky

DVD Diva: Director Stephen Poliakoff

Stephen Poliakoff was born in London on December 1st, 1952, to a Russian-Jewish father and an Anglo-Jewish mother. After abandoning his undergraduate degree at Cambridge, he established a reputation in the theatre in the mid 1970s with plays such as Hitting Town and City Sugar. Success as a television playwright followed: Stronger Than the Sun, Bloody Kids and Caught on a Train showed Poliakoff to be a versatile and original new voice. Read more about this interesting director at:
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/510844/index.html or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Poliakoff


Almost Strangers
When Daniel attends a family reunion with his parents, he discovers a world he hardly knew existed. Daniel adopts the role of go-between for his glamorous Aunt Alice and his cousins Rebecca and Charles.

More at IMDb (Internet Movie Database)





Friends & Crocodiles
Paul is the owner of an impressive house, and throws impressive parties-- as well as being impulsive, generous and imaginative. His secretary can't cope with his maverick ways and leaves under a cloud of disappointment. Yet they are fated to meet up again.

More at IMDb




Gideon's Daughter
Gideon Warner is a hugely successful public relations consultant, giving advice about hair, clothes, and social activities to the wealthy. Despite his success he has become disheartened about his business circles and more concerned over his family.

More at IMDb




The Lost Prince
Miranda Richardson and Tom Hollander star as Queen Mary and King George V. After discovering that their son Prince John suffers from epilepsy and learning disabilities, the royals have the boy sent off to be raised in a rural farmhouse, lest he tarnish the family's image of superiority. Removed from the public eye and the attention of his parents, Prince John forms a loving bond with his nurse, Lalla.

More at IMDb

Man Booker Prize Finalists

The Man Booker Prize is the UK’s annual presentation of the best in the year’s fiction. The books must be written in English (no translations) and not self-published. The authors must be from the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland. This summer the Man Booker Prize presented the Longlist of fiction titles, then whittled it down to the Shortlist – this year it consists of six titles:

• Darkmans, by Nicola Barker *
• The Gathering, by Anne Enright *
• The Reluctant Fundamentalist, by Mohsin Hamid
• Mister Pip, by Lloyd Jones
• On Chesil Beach, by Ian McEwan
• Animal’s People, by Indra Sinha *

* Coming soon to Perrot

The Booker Prize winner will be announced on October 16th, 2007.

Two Evenings, Three Books

Perrot Memorial Library
presents

Two Evenings, Three Books

with lecturer and discussion leader

Suzanne Hoover, Ph.D.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The books:

To the Lighthouse

Virginia Woolf (1882-1941)

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men

James Agee (1909-1955) and Walker Evans (1903-1975)

The Remains of the Day

Kazuo Ishiguro (1954-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two Wednesdays: October 10th, 2007, and November 14th, 2007

Starting promptly at 7:30 P.M. and running until about 9:15 P.M

in the Rand Reading Room at Perrot

The program is free and includes a copy of each book and a reader's guide. You must sign up in advance, commit to read each book, and attend both evening sessions.

You may register and pick up your materials at Perrot's Adult Circulation Desk.

Sign up soon, as attendance is limited to 25 people.

For further information (or to sign up) e-mail Karen Watt (karenbwatt at optonline.net) or Lucy Hedrick (lucy at lucyhedrick.com).

Don't Miss the Bus!

During the past week or two, the Greenwich Time has published several articles (and even a quiz) about school bus-safety awareness. Visit Perrot’s Youth Services Department to pick up a book or two about this back-to-school tradition! Here are a few to get your motor humming:

• Junie B Jones and The Stupid Smelly Bus (J-3 PARK) Uh-oh! Junie decides NOT to ride the school bus home!


• Molly Rides the School Bus (E BRILL) Molly is nervous about taking the bus until a friendly older kid reassures her.


• The Wheels on the School Bus (E MOORE) Adapted from the traditional song.