Coming soon to a shelf.....right here!

Check out some of the new books we'll be adding to our collection.  If you think you have to be a kid to enjoy some of the great Juvenile or Young Adult fiction out there, well think again. 

Timeless by Alexandra Monir (YA MON) combines a very cool piece of jewelry along with just enough romance to make this time traveling drama appeal to all ages.  This book is a perfect winter retreat where Venice Beach meets old money Manhatten and leads to a young woman learning the truth to some old family secrets.  Fantasy meets historical fiction meets urban drama! 


Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey (YA HEA) made the list of 2011 Best Fiction for Young Adults.  Healey's first book received starred reviews from all the trade journals and who could argue.  Creepy yet funny, sexy and smart, this book transends the Young Adult bookshelf and appeals to anyone who likes a good mystery with a fantasy slant.  Find out what connects a string of morbid murders with  fairy siblings and an ancient curse.

Garnering an award for 2011 Best non-fiction book is Jill Rubalcaba's Every Bone Tells a Story.  Here a real life Indiana Jones explains how the advent of new technology views how scientists study the past and how we interpret our ancestors.  Meet interesting characters like the Iceman, Turkana Boy and Kennewick Man up close and personal. 

Vibes by Amy Kathleen Ryan (YA RYA)isn't your ordinary story of high school angst. Sure it's tough being a high school senior.  Kristi worries about her weight, the new boy in school, and her parents relationship.  Add to the fact that she is all a psychic and can read minds and you've got a whole new slant on a familiar story.  If you''ve walked the hall just knowing that everyone is thinking or looking at you, then you'll be entertained by Kristi’s prickly demeanor and empathize with her image issues.  And yes, she loves opera.

If you've enjoyed other books by Jane Smiley, like The Georges and the Jewels or Horse Heaven, you may want to venture to the Young Adult section to pick up her newest book, A Good Horse.  Be prepared for lots of background on horse grooming, horse training, horse boarding... in fact if you're a horse lover then you'll enjoy this book about 13-year old Abby who must stand up to protect her colt Jack.  When facts come to light that Jack may be the offspring of a stolen mare it's up to Abby to do the right thing.Trash by Andy Mulligan(YA MUL) takes place in an unnamed third-world country in the not so distant future.  The story line of a group of kids picking through garbage dumps looking for items they can sell lends itself to a sort of Treasure Island meets Slumdog Millionaire drama when suddenly a wealthy business owner loses something that he'll pay dearly to get back.  Suddenly a ramshackle group of boys realize their greatest dreams are within reach.  This would be an excellent book discussion choice with lots of talk points. 

If you liked Impossible by Nancy Werlin then her latest book, Extraordinary (YA WER), should be at the top of your list.  Phoebe, a member of the wealthy Rothschilds family, befriends Mallory, an awkward new girl in school, and it doesn't take long before the truth to come out.  Mallory has secrets that will change Phoebe's world and when Mallory's brother shows up it's no wonder he seems to have a strange hold over what Phoebe is thinking and doing.  Fairy lit meets urban high school drama-rama.

If you're looking for more ideas check out some of the readers advisory pamphlets located in the Youth Services section.  Flyers titled Books With Beat, New Baby in the House, and the latest Zombie Invasion might just help point you in the direction of your next great read.

January means Organizing

It’s no surprise to me that the library’s two copies of The Organization Map by Pam McClellan are both missing. Everyone feels that they need more organization in their lives, perhaps a fleeting glimpse of a stress free life knowing your paperclips are sorted by color and size gives us a false sense of security and safety and we run out to find any magazine book or web site that can help us achieve that goal. Sure, my life would be great, I’d sleep nights, have time for filing my nails and reading endless books, if only I could have my closet revamped by Martha Stewart.


January offers relief from the hectic holiday shopping and family gatherings that have many of us making reindeer centerpieces that include the Halloween pumpkins that were still on the back porch, and in my case the flat of Mother’s Day pansies I never had time to plant and an Easter Egg wreath that looked quite festive after a coating of silver spray paint.

Organizing Your Day: time management techniques that will work for you by Sandra Felton and Marsha Sims notes that well-managed time reduces stress, helps you accomplish more in less time, and most importantly, gives you greater freedom to enjoy doing what you love. I suppose that’s what gets everyone thinking that a new year brings new hope for new ideas. I was all excited to look at new furniture and decorate my living space to look like the cover of a Decorating Den. But I was disappointed in Christopher Lowell’s Seven Layers of Design when I realized he was talking about paint, flooring and texture when I had in mind seven years of crappola and moving boxes that hadn’t been opened in ten years.
The Power of Slow by Christine Hohlbaum promises to reduce stress, help you accomplish more in less time and give you greater freedom to enjoy life. Sounds like a plan. I was excited to slow down the pace and have time for a real vacation until I read the inside front cover flap where tips listed included “When working on a project on your computer, close all the windows, with the exception of the one you need to do the job at hand.” What ever happened to multi-tasking? Currently I have six windows open including a book review, sports article for the Plain Dealer, a press release for On Demand Studios, a business web page I’m updating and the syllabus for an online class. I’m convinced that Hohlbaum is just a slacker is probably enjoying the fruits of publishing success while multi-tasking on a beach somewhere probably in cahoots with Dave Crenshaw, author of The Myth of Multitasking.

For those of you who still hold out hope for household organization try Cut the clutter and stow the stuff: the Q.U.I.C.K. way to bring lasting order to household chaos, edited by Lori Baird. This book includes over 1200 tips and strategies compiled from experts including how to tackle those piles of papers taking up valuable counter space. Making Room: Finding Space in Unexpected Places by Wendy A. Jordan may open your eyes to how you can make better use of space you have to tame the clutter monster. Turn that shelf in the bathroom into a bookcase or why not make that space under the staircase into an office niche?


And if crowded closets and barricades of boxes in the basement just seem like too much, consider simplifying with It's all too much: an easy plan for living a richer life with less stuff by Peter Walsh. And if you’re sorting through your piles of stuff and happen to find an overdue library book called The Organization Map please bring it back….maybe it’s the key to the life I’ve been looking for.