The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

If you enjoy British humor and science fiction, you must read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The main character is Arthur Dent, who travels the galaxy with his brave pal, Ford Prefect, an alien from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse. The pair wreak havoc as they get into one hilarious mess after another. If you've had enough of the dark world of vampires and demons and wizards and would like to read something light hearted, check out this book. Other titles in our library collection by Douglas Adams are: Life, the Universe, and Everything and Mostly Harmless.

Douglas Adams was the creator of all the various manifestations of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy which started life as a BBC Radio 4 series. Since its first airing in March 1978 it has been transformed into a series of best-selling novels, a TV series, a record album, a computer game and several stage adaptations.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy's phenomenal success sent the book straight to Number One in the UK Bestseller List and in 1984 Douglas Adams became the youngest author to be awarded a Golden Pan. He won a further two (a rare feat), and was nominated - though not selected - for the first Best of Young British Novelists awards.

You can check out Adams' biography here: http://www.douglasadams.com/dna/bio.html

Persepolis

Graphic novels are not all Manga, and some are actually non-fiction. Take Persepolis, for example. Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi's memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. In black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah's regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq.

In Persepolis, you can learn about daily life in Iran and of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life and of the enormous toll repressive regimes exact on the individual spirit. It is a reminder of the human cost of war and political repression. But it is also the story of a little girl.

If you like Maus, by Art Spiegelman, you will most likely love Persepolis.

As always, I'd like to know what you think!

Vampire Academy

If you've read the entire Twilight Series and you're still thirsting for more vampire action, try reading the Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead, New York Times and USA Today's best selling fantasy author. You can check out her website at http://www.richellemead.com/.

In the Vampire Academy Series, Two races of vampires walk our world. One, the Moroi, are alive and wield elemental magical. The other, the Strigoi, are undead and evil--feeding on the innocent to survive. Rose Hathaway--a half-vampire with poor impulse control--is training to be a bodyguard for a Moroi princess. Learning to decapitate and stake is hard enough, but Rose's real danger may lie in an illicit romance with one of her instructors...

This series, whose titles are listed below, have recently arrived in the Library:

1. Vampire Academy

2. Frostbite

3. Shadow Kiss

4. Blood Promise

The fifth title in the series, Spirit Bound, will be released May 18, 2010. Happy Reading!

Erinn

Erinn is one of our most enthusiastic library patrons.  She posed for us recently with a book she enjoyed. One of Erinn's favorite authors is Ted Dekker. Why not check out this author and see if you agree with Erinn.

An Afghan in the Library

An Afghan recently visited the Library. I made the mistake of referring to him as an Afghani. He corrected me and told me that Afghani is the name of their money. The people of Afghan are referred to as Afghans. Thanks for the lesson Mr. Radulski!

Halloween 2009 in the Library

     Joe Torre played for the Braves, the Cardinals, and the Mets before managing all three teams. From 1996 to 2007, Torre managed the New York Yankees. As pictured here, he is currently the manager for the Los Angeles Dodgers. In this book co-written by Tom Verducci, Torre gives the behind the scenes tale of his time with the Yankees. When Joe Torre took over as manager of the New York Yankees in 1996, they had not won a World Series title in eighteen years. The notoriously brutal New York media, cited Torre's record as the player and manager who had been in the most Major League games without appearing in a World Series.

Twelve years later, Torre left the team as the most beloved and successful manager in the game. The Yankees had twelve straight playoff appearances, Six American League pennants, and Four World Series titles. Torre forged a united team and made the Yankees, arguably, the greatest team in sports. Now with the 2009 World Series Title under their belts, you don't want to miss this book about the Yankees!