Good Reads Blog

Downloadable Audio Books and Movies Free at PDL!

2008-05-26T11:17:00.000-04:00

I’d like to take this chance to remind our patrons that you can borrow downloadable Audio Books (as well as popular eBooks) from the library, free of charge. You can listen to them on your computer, or burn them to disk and use them in your car or on your MP3 player.

We have great titles: New audio books from John Lescroart, Fern Michaels, and Dean Koontz, non-fiction like the “For Dummies” series or business titles. Even children’s books.

This service has expanded, now offering movies that you can view on your computer or a portable device.

You can get to the MLC Overdrive collection by going to http://ebooks.mlcnet.org/ or clicking the "Audio Book Downloads" link on our Good Reads page. Browse until you find something you like, download and install the software to play or read it, then the file.

Overdrive books are not currently compatible with iPods. Some of the books can be downloaded any time, others need to be reserved. Check your email frequently if you reserve one -- you have 48 hours to pick it up once the book is reserved in your name.

Also: This article, Download and Listen to Audiobooks, in PC world, mentions the audio book download service that we use as a great place to get free books. It's a good overview of how the author listens to audio books, and contains a couple of links to other sources of free audio books in the public domain.

Two recomendations

2008-05-21T14:41:00.002-04:00

Over the weekend, I took out of town visitors to the Air Zoo. Not only did they have a great time, but we went to their annex in back, where they have a great aerospace exhibit, and displays of early twentieth century stuff, which includes a plane you can walk aboard.

They're still running their promotion where you get half off when you show your Portage District Library Card.

Also, Joe Schrieber, an author who's read for the library, is publishing a serialized novel titled The Triggerman on his website. He has posted four chapters as of today. If you like Stephen King, or thrillers, go take a look at his free novel being published one chapter a weekday.

New Collections in the Atrium

2008-05-19T18:01:00.001-04:00

Now available in the New Book section of the Atrium are New Talking Books on CD and New Large Print. We are putting the newest arrivals on CD and in Large Print on the last section of shelving in the New Book Section. New Items will remain in the new section for 6 months and then will be removed and placed in the regular collection.

Also available are a print list of Talking Books on CD and Large Print books. These will be updated quarterly. They are located on the end columns by their collections.

Book Discussion in a Bag New titles

2008-05-14T16:35:00.004-04:00

Attention Book Groups! Need titles for lively book discussions? Try the library’s newly stocked Book Discussion in a Bag collection of sixteen bags. Each bag holds ten copies of a single title, plus the author’s bio and discussion questions and author interviews when available. Those titles include novels, memoirs, poetry, and nonfiction by local, bestselling, classic and award winning authors. Each bag holds ten copies of a single title, plus the author’s bio and discussion questions and author interviews when available. All you need is wine and cheese and you have all the fixings for a rousing discussion. Each bag checks out for a month. Here is the new list of titles:

Book Discussion in Bag Titles 2008

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (nonfiction) by Barbara Kingsolver
This book chronicles the year that Barbara Kingsolver, along with her husband and two daughters, made a commitment to become locavores–those who eat only locally grown foods. This first entailed a move away from their home in non-food-producing Tucson to a family farm in Virginia, where they got right down to the business of growing and raising their own food and supporting local farmers. The book's bulk, written and read by Kingsolver in a lightly twangy voice filled with wonder and enthusiasm, proceeds through the seasons via delightful stories about the history of their farmhouse, the exhausting bounty of the zucchini harvest, turkey chicks hatching and so on.

The Crows (mystery) by Maris Soule (local fiction writer)
Described by some as a psycho9logical cozy, The Crows is part mystery, part suspense. Wry humor is combined with fast paced events giving the reader a view of life in a rural Michigan farming community. Follow P.J., a C.P.A who discovers a man dying in her dining room after coming home from an afternoon walk in the woods, as she learns that what appears to be true could be deceiving.

Eat, Pray, Love (memoir) by Elizabeth Gilbert
At the age of thirty-one, Gilbert moved with her husband to the suburbs of New York and began trying to get pregnant, only to realize that she wanted neither a child nor a husband. Three years later, after a protracted divorce, she embarked on a yearlong trip of recovery, with three main stops: Rome, for pleasure (mostly gustatory, with a special emphasis on gelato); an ashram outside of Mumbai, for spiritual searching; and Bali, for "balancing." These destinations are all on the beaten track, but Gilbert's exuberance and her self-deprecating humor enliven the proceedings

Great Gatsby (fiction) by F. Scott Fitzgerald
In 1922, F. Scott Fitzgerald announced his decision to write "something new--something extraordinary and beautiful and simple + intricately patterned." novel became The Great Gatsby. A portrait of the Jazz Age in all of its decadence and excess, Gatsby captures the spirit of the author's generation and earned itself a permanent place in American mythology. Self-made, self-invented millionaire Jay Gatsby embodies some of Fitzgerald's--and his country's--most abiding obsessions: money, ambition, greed, and the promise of new beginnings. "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning--" Gatsby's rise to glory and eventual fall from grace becomes a kind of cautionary tale about the American Dream.

Inheritance of Loss (fiction) by Kiran Desai
Desai's second novel is set in the nineteen-eighties in the northeast corner of India, where the borders of several Himalayan states—Bhutan and Sikkim, Nepal and Tibet—meet. At the head of the novel's teeming cast is Jemubhai Patel, a Cambridge-educated judge who has retired from serving a country he finds "too messy for justice." The tranquility of his existence is contrasted with the life of the cook's son, working in grimy Manhattan restaurants, and with his granddaughter's affair with a Nepali tutor involved in an insurgency that irrevocably alters Jemubhai's life. Briskly paced and sumptuously written, the novel ponders questions of nationhood, modernity, and class, in ways both moving and revelatory.

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid (nonfiction) by Bill Bryson
Few childhoods are interesting to anyone other than the individuals that lived them. Even a mundane childhood, though, can be made interesting through good writing, and Bill Bryson’s memoir fits this category. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid is Bryson’s nostalgia-soaked story of his childhood in 1950s Iowa. Bryson describes his family, friends, and the city of Des Moines with reverence for the profound effect they had on his life.

One Oar (poetry) by Marie Bahlke (local poet)
Marie Bahlke has created a powerfully graceful collection of reminiscence as she describes caring for her husband as he slips deeper into Alzheimer’s disease. Marie shares with us her moving journey into the heart of grief, loss and unrelenting love.

Out of the Dust (fiction-poetry) by Karen Hesse (Newbery Award Book)
Karen Hesse has taken the Dust Bowl and narrowed her focus to a single family living in Oklahoma in 1934. Through the eyes of fourteen-year-old Billie Jo, the reader is treated to a series of poems describing the catastrophic events that come from living in a world of dust. Each poem is a small masterpiece, slowly expanding to give the inhabitants of Billie Jo's small Okalahoma town depth and purpose. You meet families migrating west to California, bums on railroad tracks. There are abandoned babies and musicians with names like Mad Dog Craddock and the Black Mesa Boys. To read this book is to find yourself completely immersed in the Depression.

Pomegranate Soup: A Novel (fiction) by Marsha Mehran
The Irish hamlet of Ballinacroagh is the unlikely new home for three Iranian sisters and their new Babylon Cafe. Twenty-seven-year-old Marjan, the most skilled in the kitchen; Bahar, the tentative middle sister; and Layla, the charming teenager, fled the Iranian revolution and, after some years in London, have arrived determined to succeed. Initially wary natives soon fall under the spell of the cafe's cardamom- and rosewater-scented wonders, But town bully Thomas McGuire, who loathes "feckin' foreigners," and gossip Dervla Quigley, who thinks "they're all sluts," will do anything to drive the sisters away.

Q Road (fiction) by Bonnie Jo Campbell (instructor Kalamazoo College)
A farm in rural Kalamazoo County, Mich., provides the backdrop for this May-December love story. Rachel Crane, a homely, motherless, foul-mouthed teenager, lives on a houseboat with her reclusive mother, Margo. They are tenants of George Harland, whose wife abandoned him to maintain his declining farm alone. George becomes irresistibly drawn to Rachel and asks her to marry him; she accepts, but just so she can inherit "his damned land." Only when her young friend David's life is imperiled, does Rachel begin to allow herself to feel genuine love for anything but the land.

Solace of Leaving Early (fiction) by Haven Kimmel
A romance evolves in the wake of a domestic shooting in Kimmel's intelligent and compassionate debut novel, which brings two friends of one of the victims together in a small Indiana town. Amos Townsend is the male protagonist, a 40-ish preacher who counseled the late Alice Baker-Maloney as her frayed marriage degenerated into a fatal confrontation with her controlling husband, Jack.

A Thousand Splendid Suns (fiction) by Khaled Hosseini
Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate. With heart-wrenching power and suspense, Hosseini shows how a woman's love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love, or even the memory of love, that is often the key to survival.

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations...One School at a Time (non fiction) by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin Some failures lead to phenomenal successes, and this American nurse's unsuccessful attempt to climb K2, the world's second tallest mountain, is one of them. Dangerously ill when he finished his climb in 1993, Mortenson was sheltered for seven weeks by the small Pakistani village of Korphe; in return, he promised to build the impoverished town's first school, a project that grew into the Central Asia Institute, which has since constructed more than 50 schools across rural Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Water for Elephants (fiction) by Sara Gruen
Jacob Jankowski is living out his days in a nursing home, hating every second of it. He is reminiscing about his life in the circus. After his parents were killed in an automotive accident, Jacob ran away and joined the circus when he was twenty-one. As a veterinarian student he is put in charge of caring for the animals. The animals are mangy, underfed or fed rotten food, and abused. Uncle Al, the circus impresario, is a self-serving, venal creep who slaps people. August, the animal trainer, is a certified and cruel paranoid schizophrenic Jacob is the only person in the book who has a handle on a moral compass. According in Publishers Weekly, the ending is absolutely ludicrous and really quite lovely.

The Women were Leaving the Men (fiction – short stories) by Andy Mozina (English Department, Kalamazoo College)
Andy Mozina draws readers into the everyday lives of characters that are instantly relatable but intriguingly flawed. Knocked beyond the brink by departed family members, curious obsessions, and unruly physical attributes, Mozina‘s characters climb and scrape their way toward intimacy, sanity and redemption against the often-absurd odds of their lives in this quirky, humorous and poetic collection.

Year of Wonders (fiction) by Geraldine Brooks
Geraldine Brooks' Year of Wonders describes the 17th-century plague that is carried from London to a small Derbyshire village by an itinerant tailor. As villagers begin, one by one, to die, the rest face a choice: do they flee their village in hope of outrunning the plague or do they stay? The rector, Michael Mompellion, argues forcefully that the villagers should stay put, isolate themselves from neighboring towns and villages, and prevent the contagion from spreading. His oratory wins the day and the village turns in on itself. Cocooned from the outside world and ravaged by the disease, its inhabitants struggle to retain their humanity in the face of the disaster.

You might want to invite local authors to your book groups. Most authors visit groups for food and the opportunity to join into a discussion about their work.

After Hours Coffee House Jazz

2008-05-14T10:58:00.004-04:00

Enjoy a cup of coffee or tea and listen or dance to the WMU Jazz Trio featuring Ryan Andrews: A jazz ensemble in the classic piano trio format of piano, acoustic bass and drums, featuring students from Western Michigan University's internationally acclaimed jazz program.

Drawing from a repertoire of old and new standards from the Great American Songbook as well as classic jazz compositions by the great jazz legends, this ensemble will have you tapping your toes to the rhythm of America's own classical music: jazz!

For adults, please register at the Adult Information desk at the Portage District Library, 329-4542 X 600.

Friday, May 16, 2008 6:30 to 8:30 PM
Registration starts May 1, 2008
Location: Senior Citizen Center located next to the Portage District Library.

SURVEY SAYS PORTAGE DISTRICT LIBRARY IS HITTING THE MARK

2008-05-12T09:32:00.000-04:00

Portage District Library is conducting a number of surveys this year because we want to be sure that what we are doing is worthwhile to you and that you are feeling satisfied (or better) with your library. We have just received the results of a recent mail survey in which we asked some general and specific questions about the library and offered an opportunity for respondents to give feedback in open-ended questions. Since our goal was to obtain opinions and preferences about the library from a representative cross-section sampling of our library patron population, this survey was mailed to 2,000 randomly selected registered borrowers. Out of those, we received 397 responses - a sufficient number to get a good assessment. Once again, the library was assisted with our survey by Dr. David Hartman (Director) and his staff at the Kercher Center for Social Research at Western Michigan University who administered the survey tool and compiled, organized and analyzed the responses. Here are some interesting statistics from that survey:

> When asked HOW OFTEN they used the library, 48.2% answered "once a month" and 24.7% said at least once a week.
> When questioned about their primary use of the library, 73.1% said for personal enjoyment and 14.4% said for children's use.
> When asked "WHY do you usually visit the library?" 89.6% responded it was to borrow materials; 35.2% said it was for reference/research; 21.5% said it was to use the Youth Services area; and the balance of respondents indicated a variety of other reasons including: to attend programs, to study/work, to use the Internet, to read magazines & newspapers, to get homework help, to use the Business Room, or to meet and relax with friends.
> When questioned about what services they used when visiting the library's website, 45.8% said they searched the library catalog, 32.7% said they checked their account or reserved books, 21.9% said they found out about events and classes and 13% said it was to find out about open hours or location.
> When asked: "How easy is it to find what you are looking for?" 51% of respondents said it was extremely easy and 48.5% said moderately easy, which indicates to us that we have done a good job of making our collections, resources and public spaces user friendly.
> The very BEST outcome of this survey was responses to the questions: "Are the library facilities welcoming, clean and comfortable?" (99.5% said Yes!) and "Is the library staff responding quickly to your inquiries and requests?" (94.1% said Yes!)

These responses indicate to us that patrons are using the library and our website in ways that we anticipated they would and that we are allocating our budgetary resources in appropriate areas. The high ratings confirm that we are hitting the mark in our goals of making the library a desirable destination and optimizing patron access to library services and resources… and this is GREAT NEWS for our community! Thanks to everyone who participated in this survey and I encourage all of you to continue to share your opinions.

Investor Education at the Library

2008-03-31T12:00:00.002-04:00

Have you worried lately about where you are as far as investing for retirement is concerned?

Maybe you think you are on track but would welcome more information or a knowledgeable second opinion.

On Monday, April 7 at 6:00 p.m. at the Portage District Library you have the opportunity to learn more about the world of investing and have your personal financial situation evaluated by a seasoned counselor—for free! We are proud to provide a program developed by The Investor Protection Trust and the American Library Association, and provided by the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Services.

The 90- minute seminar will offer participants a chance to learn about common investment terms, where wealth comes from, the fundamentals of stocks, bonds and mutual funds, diversification, and how to select a financial services provider. Then, afterward, you have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with a financial expert from the state of Michigan, who will review your finances with you—at no charge. Space is limited for this event, and only people who respond by March 30 will be eligible for the free personal financial evaluation. On registration, we will let you know what financial information the counselors will need. This is a rarely available, wonderful opportunity!

Speaker: Mark Robinson, Executive VP of Ferris, Baker, and Watts, Host, Investing Fundamentals on WWJ Radio

Monday, April 7, 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM

Registration Begins February 21, 9:00 AM

Location: Lower Level Meeting Room

Cost: Free

Teen Program: Get a Job!

2008-03-31T11:58:00.001-04:00

Effective Teen Job Searching

Looking for your first job (summer or now)? Maybe an internship? Want to start earning a paycheck but aren’t sure how to begin?

Come to this hands-on workshop, led by Cecilia Phillips, Case Manager and Trainer for Youth Opportunities, Unlimited, a career counseling agency geared to youth. Learn to put together a resume and cover letter, successfully fill out an application (not to mention what to wear to that interview), and be on your way to your first career! If you have a resume, bring it--we will look it over for you. Munchies will be served.

Monday, April 7 2:00 -3:30 p.m.
Location: Portage District Library

Eyes on the World

2008-03-31T11:54:00.002-04:00

a photojournalism exhibit

This photography show features winners of a scholarship grant from the Alexia Tsairis Foundation for World Peace and Cultural Understanding. Parents of Alexia Tsairis, who was killed by a terrorist’s bomb aboard the Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie Scotland, established this student competition to give voice to social injustice, history, cultural

differences and to promote global understanding through photojournalism. This exhibet runs March 10th to April 15th.

On Sunday, April 6, at 3:00 pm, there will be a reception featuring a presentation by Peter and Aphrodite Tsairis, founders of the Alexia Tsairis Foundation for World Peace and Cultural Understanding.

Read and listen to children's books online through our website!

2008-03-26T16:27:00.000-04:00

The Portage District Library would like to introduce you to TumbleBooks. TumbleBooks are animated picture books online. Their collection includes storybooks like Dinosailors and Diary of a Worm. They also have classics like Aesop’s Fables, Alice in Wonderland, and the Wizard of Oz in audiobook format. Play a game or read a story in another language. All of the TumbleBooks play on your computer, without the need to download special software.

To reach TumbleBooks, visit the Portage District Library’s website, click on Kids Connect and then Good Books. The TumbleBooks link is at the bottom of the page. Enjoy!

4th Annual Easter Egg Hunt

2008-03-10T16:34:00.000-04:00

Sponsored by the Friends of the Portage District Library

Saturday, March 22nd, 2008
Portage Celery Flats Historical Area
10:00 am- 12pm

The park will open at 10:00 am for hot chocolate and fun! The Red Robin and the Old Country Buffet Bee will be visiting, as well as the Easter Bunny. Photo opportunities with the Easter Bunny will be from 10:30-11:30 am. Please bring your own camera; there will not be photographers available at this year’s event.

Egg Hunt Events by Age Group*

11:00 am 2-5 yrs old
11:15 am 6-9 yrs old
11:30 am 10-12 yrs old

On site parking is limited; additional parking is available at Portage District Library, First Reformed Church of Portage, and Portage City Hall. You can walk the trail approximately 3 blocks from the library.

If weather conditions seem unfavorable, please visit the Event Calendar at www.portagelibary.info for cancellation information. If you are interested in volunteering to help with this event, please contact Fran Cooper at 353-8419.

*Events start promptly and are over very quickly. To assure that all children have an enjoyable time, some emergency eggs are held back for late arrivals. See any volunteer at the event for more information.

2008 Winter / Spring Adult Programs

2008-03-06T11:11:00.000-05:00

For more information about Portage District Library Programs, you may go here.

Art Exhibits

March 10-April 15

Meet the Artist Reception/Presentation
Brian Tilbury
Oil Acrylic

Eyes on the World: a photojournalism exhibit (Reading Together Program)
Black and white photography
Sunday, April 6 3:00 -4:00 pm

Meet the Artist Reception /Presentation

Peter and Aphrodite Tsairis, founders of the Alexia Tsairis Foundation for World Peace and Cultural Understanding, will explain why they established their foundation and what it has a student competition to give voice, through photojournalism, to social injustice, history, and cultural differences and to promote global understanding

Genealogy

Genealogy: Why America Hunter shafted my great, great, great, great grandfather, Cortice Hunter, her brother-in-law. How happiness was found on a summer's day in a room full of Public Records.

By traveling to a county court house and digging into the public records with your own hands, you may find very informative bits of knowledge beyond the mundane standard data. This information will fill in the genealogical skeleton that you are building of your ancestors. Metaphorically, you are going from a black and white to a color photograph. This knowledge will help you understand your forefathers' life experiences.

Wednesday, March 12
6:30- 8:00 pm

Environmental Programs

Sustainable Exterior Scapes for a Green Environment

Join us for a panel discussion on the use of affordable, sustainable, attractive resources in residential yards and gardens including planting native plants, rain gardens, and building to suit the land. The discussion will also address exterior building materials including roofing, windows, and siding. Panelists will include a landscape designer, an architect, a specialist in rain gardens, a master gardener and founders of the Wild Ones. Area conservation organizations and residential exterior building and garden retailers will host informational tables from 6:00 -6:30 pm.

Thursday, March 20
6:00 -8:30 pm

Literary Programs

Open for Discussion 2008

Come join us for this monthly drop-in book discussion series.

Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

On December 30, 2003, Joan and her husband, John Gregory Dunne, were just sitting down to dinner about 9:00 pm. They had returned from visiting their daughter, Quintana, who was comatose in an ICU in New York City. They were having a conversation as Joan put dinner on the table. She looked up; it was very quiet. John was not responding.

She realized all was not well, and in that instant her life changed. This book is a memoir of Dunne’s death, Quintana’s illness, and Didion’s efforts to make sense of a time when nothing made sense.

One Oar: A Journey With Alzheimers by Marie Bahlke (local poet)

Winner of the annual Writer’s Digest contest for “International Self- Published Book Awards,” One Oar is a compilation of candid, deeply moving poetry and verse by Marie Bahlke. This collection springs from caring for her husband as he slipped into Alzheimer’s disease expressing how they both dealt with finding threads of joy and connection in the midst of day to day survival.

Discussion Leaders: Lindy Rose, Hospice Volunteer and Andrea Heerdt, Executive Director of Covenant Senior Day Program with special guest Marie Bahlke

Tuesday, March 18
10:30-11:30 am

Wednesday, March 19
7:00-8:00 pm

John Rybicki and Bill Olsen: a reading, book signing and reception

John Rybicki currently teaches creative writing at Alma College. He has taught inner-city children in his hometown of Detroit and serves as a guest lecturer at schools across the country. His first book of poems, Traveling at High Speeds (New Issues Poetry Press), appeared in 1996, followed by Fire Psalm; Yellow-Haired Girl with Spider and his latest collection, We Bed down into Water.

Bill Olsen is the author of five collections of poetry, The Hand of God and a Few Bright Flowers (Illinois, 1988), Vision of a Storm Cloud (Triquagrterly, 1996), Trouble Lights (Triquarterly, 2002) and most recently Avenue of Vanishing. He is co-editor, with Sharon Bryan, of Planet on the Table: Poets on the Reading Life (Sarabande, 2003).He teaches at Western Michigan University and the MFA Program at Vermont College.

Monday, March 10
6:30-8:00 pm

Fiction Writers Group

The Fiction Writers Group is a monthly group created to help writers meet fellow writers, workshop each other’s work, discuss and encourage writing and have fun in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere.

Group leader: Kate Rizor. Kate’s first novel is The Governor’s Wife. She is a former newspaper reporter, editor and trainer. She teaches “Elements of Fiction Writing” at the Portage Community Education Center.

For more information, please call Kate Rizor at 271-2948 or contact her website: http://www.katerizor.com/ .
Third Wednesday evening of the month, January-May
6:00 - 8:00 pm

Our Lives Through the Seasons: Writing Spiritual Autobiography

These monthly gatherings are open ended and on-going, serving as a supplement or introduction to writing spiritual autobiography. Both newcomers to the process of writing spiritual autobiography and individuals who have begun the process are welcome. Poetry, prose and writing exercises will be used to share experiences and delve deeper into the seasonal patterns of our lives.

Group leader: Kim Sanwald is owner/facilitator of Full Circle Workshops. Her writing workshops are created as a tool for growth, intimacy and healing. Kim has been published in Messages from the Heart, a journal dedicated to the art of letter writing. and Voices of Michigan: An Anthology of Michigan Writers Volume I & II.

Last Monday of the month, February-May
6:30-8:00 pm

Computer Classes and Workshops

Portage Computer Users Group

Join the Portage Computer Users Group on Thursday mornings, from10 am-12 pm, in the meeting rooms at the Portage District Library. Share information about computers and learn new things about your PC with live demonstrations.

Every Thursday morning, January-May
10:00 am – 12:00 pm

No registration necessary.

Computer Classes For Seniors and Other Beginners

Join us once a month on a Monday afternoon as we take you through a number of topics to help you get comfortable using your computer. Please register in advance. If there are fewer than 3 reservations, classes will be cancelled.

The first 13 patrons to show get a laptop with which to work along. You may bring your own laptop and work along with some classes.

Once a month on Monday afternoons
2:00-3:30 pm

How to use a word processing program

Some experience necessary

Learn how to create and save a document, and some simple formatting techniques, in a hands-on computer class.

Monday, March 17
2:00 – 3:30 pm

Web 2.0: New Ways To Use The Web

What is web 2.0? Web 2.0 is a catch phrase that incorporates all the new ways people are finding to use the web. Web 2.0 is about internet users giving feedback, providing content, and using interactive tools. Youtube, Myspace, and Google maps are all about web 2.0.

Web 2.0 classes are lecture style classes with participation. The presenters will talk, but give you a chance to follow along on a laptop or create stuff if you are so inclined. All of our resources should be available through the internet or are standard on many home computers.

Join us on select Wednesday evenings, 7:00-8:30 p.m.

You should be fairly comfortable using a computer if you want to follow along.

Ways to Share Photos on Flickr

Some experience necessary

You have a digital camera, a load of old photos, and a scanner. How do you share them quickly and easily? Many services will allow you to upload and share pictures with the whole world or just a few friends. Come and learn how to use Flickr, and some other sites like it.

Wednesday, March 5
7:00-8:30 pm

Meet the Chef series begins with Food Dance Cafe

2007-08-30T15:24:00.000-04:00

Meet the Chef Series

Food Dance Cafe (at the newly remodeled Food Dance Café, 401 East Michigan)
Foods in Season: Matt Overdevest
Executive Chef Matt Overdevest
Pre-registration begins on Wednesday, September 5
$10.00 fee required at the door
Wednesday, September 12
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

Fandango’s Tapas Bistro (at the Portage District Library)
Tapas from Around the World: Will Canter, Executive Chef
Pre-registration begins on Tuesday, October 9
$5.00 fee required at the door
Tuesday, October 16
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

R. Stanley’s Diner and Gourmet Desserts (at the Portage District Library)
Soul Food: R. Stanley, Owner & Executive Chef / Howie Peak, Chef de Cuisine
Pre-registration begins on Tuesday, November 6
$5 fee required at the door
Tuesday, November 13
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

2007-07-27T16:52:00.000-04:00

Hey, this if for the science fiction readers. One of those little librarian finds.

The Magazine Fantasy and Science Fiction is online, short stories, reviews and all, in the Masterfile Premier index and General Reference Center Gold.

So, how do you get to them? Go to your library's website. The link is to Portage's article search page. If you're doing this from home, you'll need your library card. You can also go to Mel.org, and you will need a Michigan library card or driver's license to sign in.

If you're using our Masterfile, click on the title of the database. Under Masterfile Premier, there should be a link that says Title List. Click that, and in the search bar titled Browse Publications, type Fantasy & Science Fiction. Click the browse button. Click the title of the magazine. See the column of dates on the right? Click any one, and it will give you a list of that year's issues. Click the issue to get a list of articles and stories. Click the pdf link under a article or story to download a pdf file of the article. They index 1994 to the present, full text.

If its General Reference Center Gold (via Mel.org in Michigan), then get into the database. On the basic search screen type Brin into the Find search bar, and Fantasy & Science Fiction into the Publication search bar. Click the search button. Under the title of an article, it should say About this publication. Click that. Use the drop down menu of years, and the column of dates at the bottom of the page, to navigate between issues.

Happy Reading!

Michigan Writers News and...

2007-06-29T16:30:00.000-04:00

Local author Jacqueline Carey publishes a new book in her Kushiel saga.

and

Acclaimed Children's Writer Sarah Stewart Wins 2007 Michigan Author Award

and...

I updated the science fiction awards post.

Book Discussion in a Bag

2007-06-20T18:28:00.000-04:00

Check out Portage District Library’s new Book Discussion in a Bag kits. In each bag you will find ten copies of a book title, an author bio, book reviews, discussion questions, and further reading all ready for you to sign them out to book group members and dig into a rousing discussion.
Book Discussion in a Bag kits may be checked out at the Adult Information Desk for two months.

Book selections include:

Poisonwood Bible (fiction) by Barbara Kingsolver
When Barbara Kingsolver sends missionary Nathan Price along with his wife and four daughters off to Africa in The Poisonwood Bible, you can be sure that salvation is the one thing they're not likely to find. The year is 1959 and the place is the Belgian Congo. Nathan, a Baptist preacher, has come to spread the Word in a remote village reachable only by airplane. In addition to poisonous snakes, dangerous animals, and the hostility of the villagers to Nathan's fiery take-no-prisoners brand of Christianity, there are also rebels in the jungle and the threat of war in the air. Could things get any worse?

Devil in the White City (nonfiction) Larson
Author Erik Larson imbues the incredible events surrounding the 1893 Chicago World's Fair with such drama that readers may find themselves checking the book's categorization to be sure that The Devil in the White City is not, in fact, a highly imaginative novel. Larson tells the stories of two men: Daniel H. Burnham, the architect responsible for the fair's construction, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer masquerading as a charming doctor.

The Sparrow (science fiction) by Russell
In 2019, humanity finally finds proof of extraterrestrial life when a listening post in Puerto Rico picks up exquisite singing from a planet which will come to be known as Rakhat. While United Nations diplomats endlessly debate a possible first contact mission, the Society of Jesus quietly organizes an eight-person scientific expedition of its own. What the Jesuits find is a world so beyond comprehension that it will lead them to question the meaning of being "human."

The Faith Club (nonfiction) (by Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver, & Priscilla Warner)
After September 11th, Ranya Idliby, an American Muslim of Palestinian descent, faced constant questions about Islam, God, and death from her children, the only Muslims in their classrooms. Inspired by a story about Muhammad, Ranya reached out to two other mothers -- a Christian and a Jew -- to try to understand and answer these questions for her children. The Faith Club is memoirs of spiritual reflections in three voices that will make readers feel as if they are eavesdropping on the authors' private conversations, provocative discussions, and often controversial opinions and conclusions.

One Oar (poetry) Marie Bahlke (local poet)
Marie Bahlke has created a powerfully graceful collection of reminiscence as she describes caring for her husband as he slips deeper into Alzheimer’s disease. Marie shares with us her moving journey into the heart of grief, loss and unrelenting love.

Shadow in the Wind (mystery) by Carlos Zafon Ruiz
Ruiz Zafón's novel, a bestseller in his native Spain, takes the satanic touches from Angel Heart and stirs them into a bookish intrigue a la Foucault's Pendulum. The time is the 1950s; the place, Barcelona. Daniel Sempere, the son of a widowed bookstore owner, is 10 when he discovers a novel, The Shadow of the Wind, by Julián Carax. The novel is rare, the author obscure, and rumors tell of a horribly disfigured man who has been burning every copy he can find of Carax's novels.

Solace of Leaving Early (fiction) by Haven Kimmel
A romance evolves in the wake of a domestic shooting in Kimmel's intelligent and compassionate debut novel, which brings two friends of one of the victims together in a small Indiana town. Amos Townsend is the male protagonist, a 40-ish preacher who counseled the late Alice Baker-Maloney as her frayed marriage degenerated into a fatal confrontation with her controlling husband, Jack.

The Transit of Venus (fiction) by Shirley Hazzard
National Book Critics Circle Award-winner Hazzard here tells of two sisters, Grace and Caroline Bell. Born in Australia and orphaned at an early age, the two make their way to England. There Grace opts for marriage and its securities; Caroline reaches for more and loves not always wisely but well. A strong, deep, poetic, vibrant novel.

All But My Life (memoir) by Gerta Weissman Klein
This book is a remarkable slice of time and life, written by a spirited young Jewish woman's survival of the Holocaust including her imprisonment in slave labor camps and a three month forced march from Germany to Czechoslovakia. As she wades through the atrocities of a Nazi occupation, concentration camps, and a death march amidst freezing temperatures, to be liberated by her one true love, she is true to her mother's request to be strong. This is an amazing story of courage, endurance and faith.

Personal History(biography) by Katherine Meyer Graham
Katharine Meyer Graham was a woman born into a world of wealth and privilege that raised four children, was an active volunteer, and ended as the head of a powerful newspaper. Graham's father, a wealthy entrepreneur, bought the struggling Washington Post in 1933. This is the story of a newspaper's rise to power, the rise and fall of a marriage and of Graham’s rise as a powerful woman in her own right. Graham writes about her personal life and the lives of others, ranging from presidents to household help, with insight and grace.

Founding Mothers (history) by Cokie Roberts
Drawing on personal correspondence, diary entries and even recipes, Roberts wrote a collection of stories of some of the women who had significant but often unrecorded roles in Revolutionary War America. While the men went off to war or politics, the women ran the family farms, managed businesses, wrote political pamphlets, and defended their families and homes making it all possible for the men to muster the armies and political clout to defeat the English.

Quite a Year for Plums (fiction) by Bailey White
Bailey White introduces us to the peculiar yet lovable people who inhabit a small town in South Georgia. Serious, studious Roger is a peanut pathologist and unlikely love object of half the town's women. Roger's ex-mother-in-law, Louise, who teams up with an ardent typographer in an attempt to attract outer-space invaders with specific combinations of letters and number. Della, the bird artist captivates Roger with the sensible but enigmatic notes she leaves on things she throws away at the Dumpster. A regular commentator on National Public Radio, White is also the author of Mama Makes Up Her Mind and Sleeping at the Starlite Motel

Clue Trail Starts June 16th

2007-06-04T18:25:00.000-04:00

2007 Adult Summer Reading Programs

Get a Clue at the Library
2007 Summer Events
For Adults & Families

Taste of Portage District Library
A Kickoff to Summer Fun in Portage
Saturday, June 9th 1:00 -9:00 pm

At the Donald Overlander Bandshell behind the Portage City Fire Station
Gate fee: $2 per person, children 12 and under free when accompanied by an adult. Food tickets $1.00.
Great Food, Great Art, and Great Entertainment are what community members can expect at the 2nd annual Taste of Portage. Sample some of the best flavors in Portage while enjoying local musical entertainment. Discover the art lover in you as Artisans from Southwest Michigan display their work for your enjoyment and purchase. Then plan to kick up your heels and dance under the stars as local favorite band Endless Summer takes the stage to close out the festivities.

1:00-9:00 pm Local food vendors
1:00-9:00 pm Artisan fair
1:30-9:00 pm Musical entertainment

Adult Summer Reading Program 2007
June 12th –August 15th

Read your favorite books all summer long and participate in a drawing every week.
Register in person, over the phone or online beginning June 12th. Check out the library’s website at: www.summerfun.portagelibrary.info

Co-sponsored by Kazoo Books

Clue Trail
June 16th – August 2nd
X Hits the Spot Ice Cream Social
Thursday, August 2nd 6:30 – 7:30 pm

Portage District Library and the City of Portage are hosting a type of letterboxing program from June 16th through August 2nd. Letterboxing is an intriguing mix of treasure hunting, art, navigation, and exploring interesting, scenic, and often familiar places in a more detailed way.
Here's the basic idea. Waterproof boxes will be hidden in Portage parks and cultural centers like Celery Flats and the Portage District Library. Clues to find these boxes will be available at the Portage District Library and City of Portage and on their websites. Each box will contain a logbook and a carved rubber stamp.
Once the clues are written, hunters in possession of the clues attempt to find the boxes. In addition to the clue and any maps or tools needed to solve the puzzle, the hunter should carry at least a pencil, his personal rubber stamp, an inkpad, and his personal logbook. When the hunter successfully deciphers the clue and finds the box, he stamps the logbook in the box with his personal stamp, and stamps his personal logbook with the box's stamp. The box's logbook keeps a record of all its visitors, and the hunters keep a record of all the boxes they have found, stamping their personal logbook with the stamp in the box.
The program will culminate in an X Hits the Spot Ice Cream Social on August 2nd from 6:30-7:30 pm. There will be a raffle and opportunity to compare notes and adventures. Please pre-register by July 26th by calling 329-4542 ext 600.
What Do I Need to Participate in the Clue Trail?
Blank book (passport)
Stamp & dye-based acid free ink pads (you can use several colors of ink. Be creative!)
Compass
Map of city parks and cultural areas

Associations Unlimited

2007-05-31T09:39:00.000-04:00

Come in to the library and use associations unlimited!

Ever been looking for specialized knowledge about a hobby or profession, or even a specialized type of equipment? One resource in the library that you might not have thought about using in your search is the Associations Unlimited database, available from any computer used in the Portage District Library. It is a digital version of The Encyclopedia of Associations.

How is it helpful? Well, lots of times the real experts on a topic are enthusiasts and practitioners. They band together in associations which have web pages, newsletters, and other publications which emphasize a more specialized niche of a subject.

An example I use in classes I teach is that all of us are interested in keeping cold foods cold. We look for information on refrigerators and freezers in general interest publications like Consumer Reports, which suit our needs perfectly.

However, the people who operate ice cream trucks have a much more specialized need for powerful, dependable, portable freezer machinery. They might need reviews that would not appear in Consumer Reports. To find the publications that would contain these types of reviews, you might look for associations of ice cream vendors.

You can choose an international, national, or state and regional group. You find their web pages, their publications, their newsletters, upcoming meetings and conventions near you, etc. Whether you are looking for information on that traveling freezer, or on a breed of dog you might be considering adding to the family, this is an excellent resource—for the businessperson, the hobbyist, or the specialized information seeker.

Air Zoo Ticket Discount

2007-05-28T18:20:00.000-04:00

The library has made an agreement with the Air Zoo for all registered library cardholders to receive a 50% discount on regular admission rates. To take advantage of this offer, you must present your library card when purchasing your admission. Adults must also present a photo ID. Discounts can only be offered to each cardholder, not to all members of a party. This promotion is in effect through December 31, 2007, at which time the agreement will be reviewed for possible extension.

Upcoming Book Sale

2007-05-25T18:26:00.000-04:00

The next Friends of the Library book sale is Saturday, June 2 from 9 am to 3 pm at the Portage District Library, in the lower level meeting rooms. If you are a member of the Friends, you are also eligible to attend an “early bird” sale on Friday, June 1 from 4 to 5:30 pm. For more information or to volunteer to help at book sale, contact Arlene Norman, Book Sale Chairperson at 327-2525. To become a member of the Friends of the Portage District Library, click here to link to the Friends online registration form.

Book sale dates for the rest of 2007 are as follows: August 4, October 6, and December 8. Come join the fun and help support your library!!

Summer Computer Classes

2007-05-24T16:10:00.000-04:00

Some experience is necessary

What we generally mean by this is that you’ve touched a computer before, used a computer program, and are comfortable using a mouse.

If you’ve never used a mouse before, it requires a whole different kind of dexterity, so practice is a good idea if you want to take one of our other classes. You can use the computers at the library to get mouse practice if you don’t own a computer. If you know how to use a search engine, Google “mousercize” to find a selection of web pages that offer learn-as-you-go practice tutorials. Or ask a librarian at the desk how to mousercize, and they’ll get you started on one of our computers in the library.

Portage Computer Users Group

Join the Portage Computer Users Group Thursday mornings, from 10-12, in the meeting rooms at the Portage District Library. Share information about computers and learn new things about your PC with live demonstrations.

Every Thursday morning, June-August
10 AM – 12 PM
No registration necessary.

Computer Classes For Seniors and Other Beginners

June 11^th - How to Use a Mouse
2 – 3:30 PM
No experience necessary

Take the time to find out how to use a mouse, sometimes the trickiest but always the most basic computer skill. Learn how to use the device that opens most other computer functions in a hands-on computer class.

June 25^th – Using the Internet
2 – 3:30 PM
Some experience necessary

Learn how to surf the web, finding informational and recreational resources in a hands-on computer class.

July 9^th – Customizing the Look of Your PC
2 – 3:30 PM
Some experience necessary

Learn how to change the pictures on your desktop, as well as the size of text on your desktop or in your browser.

July 30^th– How to use a word processing program
2 – 3:30 PM
Some experience necessary

Learn how to create and save a document, and some simple formatting techniques, in a hands-on computer class.

August 13^th – How to use cameras and music players with your computer
2 – 3:30 PM
Some experience necessary

Do you have a device that you can’t quite get to work with your computer? We’ll help you with some of these, including cameras and music players that attach to your computer through a USB port. We’ll show you how to attach and detach the device, show you examples of some of the handiest ones, and show you how to find and recognize a drive for a portable device.

August 27^th - Finding Newspapers and Magazines on the Web
2-2:30 PM
Some experience necessary

The library buys online subscriptions to magazines and newspapers for the public just the way we buy paper subscriptions – except we can keep a lot more titles and back issues in electronic format! Learn how to access thousands of magazine and newspaper articles from library databases, both in the library and from the comfort of your own home.

MelCat is available at the Portage District Library!

2007-05-18T17:28:00.000-04:00

Items can be delivered to your home library, usually within two to three business days. Available from the library or from your home, business or school at http://elibrary.mel.org/search, this service provides access to millions of items, including valuable local history materials and audio visual items not available at your home library.

For more information about accessing materials through interlibrary loan at Portage Distirct Library visit our Interlibrary Loan page.

Portage District Library is now a member of MeLCat for statewide lending of library materials. MeLCat allows registered borrowers at participating libraries to search for, locate and request materials from a comprehensive catalog that includes the holdings of libraries around the state.

Green Building and Sustainable Lifestyles

2007-05-11T09:36:00.000-04:00

May 15th 6 – 8:30 p.m. at the Portage District Library

What is ‘green building’ and what does it have to do with you as a community member? Following opening remarks by Mayor Peter J. Strazdas of the City of Portage, Jim Nicolow, AIA, LEEDAP leads us in a community discussion with a diverse panel of experts to learn about these new trends and how they relate to us. Experts will include a residential contractor specializing in green building, landscape architect, Energy Star home inspector, architect, and representative of the Kalamazoo Nature Center. Join us for this informative presentation and lively community discussion. Refreshments will be served and additional take-home resources will be available to share with family and friends. The event is free of charge. It is co-sponsored by AIA Southwest Michigan, City of Portage & Portage District Library.

Jim Nicolow, AIA, LEEDAP is a nationally recognized expert on sustainable design strategies. Jim is a frequently published author and noted presenter at conferences nationwide. He leads the sustainability initiative of the Ann Arbor architecture firm of Lord, Aeck & Sargent.

Get a Clue at the Library

2007-05-07T09:08:00.000-04:00

Gardening mysteries to put you in the mood for spring.

Susan Wittig Albert: Herb shop owner China Bayles solves crimes in Pecan Springs, Texas. Bloodroot, Love Lies Bleeding, seventeen more on our shelves

M.C. Beaton: Dry humor makes Agatha Raisin and her Cotswalds neighbors a delight. Death of a Snob, The Skeleton in the Closet, 59 more on our shelves

Jill Churchill: Cat-loving housewife Jane Jeffry solves Chicago-area mysteries. War and Peas, Grime and Punishment, 12 more on our shelves

Carola Dunn: Daisy Dalrymple’s husband is Chief Inspector of Scotland yard; these couldn’t be more English. The Winter Garden Mystery, Mistletoe and Murder, nine more on our shelves

Richard Forrest: Death Under the Lilacs, Death in the Secret Garden

Janis Harrison: Missouri florist Bretta Solomon deals with trouble in River City. Roots of the Murder, Murder Sets Seed, 3 more on our shelves

Cynthia Riggs: Martha’s Vinyard is home to 92 year old deputy sheriff Victoria Trumbull. Deadly Nightshade, Jack in the Pulpit, eight more on our shelves

Ann Ripley: Louise Eldridge is the host of a PBS gardening show who keeps digging up mysteries. Death of a Garden Pest, Summer Garden Murder, six more on our shelves

2007-05-04T09:42:00.000-04:00

Also, I updated the list of Awards Pages for Science Fiction. Browse for the best!

Portage Residents: Be sure to VOTE for library trustees!

2007-05-04T09:21:00.000-04:00

Election May 8, 2007

Oversight and stewardship of the Portage District Library is a very important responsibility and on May 8th, citizens will have the opportunity to go to the polls in Kalamazoo County to elect representatives to assume four vacant seats on the library board.

The candidates whose names will appear on the ballot for the 2007 election are: Laurie DeHaven, Betty Lee Ongley, Scott Pierangeli, Alisha Siebers, Babbette J. Smith and Samuel Stoneburner.

The four candidates who are voted onto the 7-member Library Board will be sworn in and will take oaths to serve their four-year terms according to the requirements of the 1989 Michigan District Library Public Act 24, the Michigan Open Meetings Act and the Freedom of Information Act.

Trustees also follow guidelines in the Michigan Public Libraries trustee manual and conduct their meetings using Roberts Rules of Order. Library trustees fulfill various duties such as: adopting and maintaining board bylaws, setting library policies, appointing, super-vising and evaluating the Library Director, approving an annual budget, controlling expenditures and establishing a long range vision for the library.

Operating with the Carver Policy Governance method, trustees determine "Ends" (outcomes to be achieved) for the library and formulate "Executive Limitation Policies" to direct library administration. These policies are monitored for compliance at board meetings held every 4th Monday of the month at the library.

Portage District Library has been very fortunate to have devoted advocates on its board and that will surely continue with the trustees elected in 2007. Please remember to vote!

PDL Announces: Rosetta Stone Language Learning on CD-ROM

2007-04-21T17:23:00.000-04:00

Are you interested in learning a new language? Going to Italy next summer? Trying to get ahead in your job by learning Spanish? Or helping somebody with English as a Second Language? The Portage District Library is excited to announce the arrival of several language packages by Rosetta Stone. Rosetta Stone is the #1 language-learning software in the world, used successfully by millions of people in 150 countries, and adopted by government agencies and corporations—including Deutsche Telekom, IBM, and Lockheed Martin—and thousands of schools and universities around the world. It is a total-immersion language approach on CD-ROM which

Immerses you completely in your new language so you’ll learn quickly and retain what you learn

Provides constant feedback so you’ll feel confident in your ability to speak, listen, write, and read your new language accurately

Guides you logically through a carefully structured curriculum so you’ll learn vocabulary and grammar effortlessly, without memorization

Try one out at Portage District Library!

Investor Education at Your Library

2007-04-18T13:24:00.000-04:00

Have you worried lately about where you are as far as investing for retirement is concerned? Maybe you think you are on track but would welcome more information or a knowledgeable second opinion. On Monday, April 30 at 6:00 p.m. at the Portage District Library you have the opportunity to learn more about the world of investing and have your personal financial situation evaluated by a seasoned counselor—for free! We are proud to provide a program developed by The Investor Protection Trust and the American Library Association, and provided by the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Services.

The 90- minute seminar will offer participants a chance to learn about common investment terms, where wealth comes from, the fundamentals of stocks, bonds and mutual funds, diversification, and how to select a financial services provider. Then, afterward, you have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with a financial expert from the state of Michigan, who will review your finances with you—at no charge.

Space is limited for this event, and only people who respond by Friday, April 20 will be eligible for the free personal financial evaluation. On registration, we will let you know what financial information the counselors will need. This is a rarely available, wonderful opportunity!

Call (269)329-4542 ex. 600 to register.

2007-04-12T08:02:00.000-04:00

"Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder 'why, why, why?' Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand."

- Cat's Cradle

Kurt Vonnegut, 1922-2007

If You Like lists Up-dated

2007-04-09T11:12:00.000-04:00

You just read the last book on the shelf by Mary Higgins Clark, and you need a new book to take home. Who can you read that writes like Mary Higgins Clark? Check out the “If You like…. Author ” page on our website. Click on your author’s name and you will be taken to a list of authors that write just like your favorite.

Authors added include: Nevada Barr, Jackie Collins, Robin Cook, Clive Cussler, J A Jance, Judith Krantz, John Macdonald, and Robert James Waller, plus many more.

Love to read books by genre, but have exhausted the authors you know that write fantasy or historical fiction? Check out the “If You Like…Genre” page. Click on your favorite topic and it will whisk you away to authors who write in your favorite style of literature.

New genres added include: books about animals, chick lit, westerns and many more.

You can get to either page by clicking on the Good Reads link at http://portagelibrary.info/.

April Adult Programs

2007-04-05T10:29:00.000-04:00

April Adult Programs

March 5 – April 14
Point of View: a look at the creative process
Kalamazoo Book Arts Center Member Exhibit
Handmade books and paper
Paper sculpture
Mixed media

MRC student artists at Park Trades
Mary Whalen and students
Photography

Ted Cavanaugh
Photography

Thursday, April 12
Where Susan Ager Went (and where she might go next)

Accompanied by her husband as driver and photographer, Detroit Free Press columnist Susan Ager spent last summer traveling Michigan based on "Tell Susan Where To Go" suggestions from readers. She hopes to repeat the adventure this summer and will describe the kinds of stories she collected and the stories she's hoping to collect this summer. Maybe you can help direct her to her next destination.

Speaker: Susan Ager, a lifestyle columnist for The Detroit Free Press. Susan has won numerous local, state and national writing awards, including the National Headliner Award for feature writing (twice), and the National Journalism Writing Award. An anthology of her work, At Heart, was published in 1996. She lives in northern Michigan with her husband, Larry Coppard.

Thursday, April 12
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

April 17 – June 15
Spring Show
Artists & Illustrators Collaborative
Mixed media

Reception
Sunday, April 29
2:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Great Books Discussion Group
From the Great Books Foundation: “Many great minds have wrestled with the search for meaning – now you can, too. Great Books reading and discussion programs provide you with the essential tools for joining the great conversation about ideas: outstanding literature and a discussion approach that helps you truly connect with literature.” Readings will be taken from the Third Series of the Great Books.
Discussion leader: Ken Fischer, Portage District Library Staff

Discussions - 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. Discussion schedule includes the following Sundays:

April 1 Reading Six (Clausewitz – “What is War?”)
April 15 Reading Seven (Chekhov - Uncle Vanya)
April 29 Reading Eight (Maimonides “On Evil”)

Tuesday, April 17
Wednesday, April 18
Marley & Me by John Grogan
Grogan, a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, and his wife, Jenny, decide that owning a dog would give them a taste of parenthood. The result was Marley, a loveable, hyperactive Labrador retriever, who was more than they bargained for.

Tuesday, April 17 10:30 -11:30 a.m.
Wednesday, April 18 7:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Sunday, April 22
Everyone Has a Story… What’s Yours ? : Memoir Writing Workshop
This workshop will help you get started sifting through family tales and memories and will highlight techniques to piece together and preserve your families’ life stories.

Workshop leader: Donna Odom, President of the Southwest Michigan Black Heritage Society and Museum Educator at Kalamazoo Valley Museum

Sunday, April 22
2:30 - 4:00 p.m.

Memoir Programs at the Library

2007-04-02T09:03:00.000-04:00

Memoirs continue to be popular among diverse age groups. From Angela’s Ashes: A Memoir by Frank McCourt to Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris, there are so many that we can live long lives without worry of running out of thought provoking characters and anecdotes to turn to when we need advice, inspiration, escape, or affirmation. Isabel Allende tells us, “You have to write the truth before you can write the Truth.

The library is hosting three programs about memoirs in April:

Where Susan Ager Went, is a lecture by Detroit Freepress columnist, Susan Ager, who traveled around Michigan last summer collecting the stories of everyday people with extraordinary lives. She will talk about how she captures these stories and intertwines enough fact and feel to deliver a full bodied description of a person or event.

Thursday, April 12

6:30-8:00 pm

Everyone Has A Story…What’s Yours?: A Memoir Writing Workshop Donna Odam, President of the Southwest Michigan and Museum Educator at Kalamazoo Valley Museum, will help us get started sifting through family tales and memories and will highlight techniques to piece together and preserve our families’ life stories.

Sunday, April 22

2:30-4:00 pm

Spiritual Autobiography

Kim Sanwald, a workshop leader and owner of Full Circle Workshops will lead a monthly spiritual autobiography workshop using poetry, music and meditation to evoke life stories and expose threads that could lead to a better understanding of our personal journeys.

April 24^th and running the fourth Tuesday of the month 6:30-8:00 pm

About our hours of operation - Online Survey

2007-03-28T16:20:00.000-04:00

10 quick questions

Please take a moment and go online to the library website and fill out a brief survey in regards to the current library hours of operation.

We appreciate your participation

Submit your name and address for weekly prizes!

$25.00 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble Booksellers

Click Here and then on the pop up window.

March Programs

2007-03-05T17:13:00.000-05:00

March 5 – April 14
Point of View: a look at the creative process
Kalamazoo Book Arts Center Member Exhibit
Handmade books and paper
Paper sculpture
Mixed media
(See art classes under How-to Programs)

MRC student artists at Park Trades
Mary Whalen and students
Photography

Ted Cavanaugh
Photography

Reception
Sunday, March 11
2:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Great Books Discussion Group
From the Great Books Foundation: “Many great minds have wrestled with the search for meaning – now you can, too. Great Books reading and discussion programs provide you with the essential tools for joining the great conversation about ideas: outstanding literature and a discussion approach that helps you truly connect with literature.” Readings will be taken from the Third Series of the Great Books.
Discussion leader: Ken Fischer, Portage District Library Staff

Discussions - 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. Discussion schedule includes the following Sundays:

March 4 Reading Four (Bible “Gospel of Mark”)
March 18 Reading Five (Thucydides The Peloponnesian War)

Poet Cullen Bailey Burns: A Homecoming
Former Kalamazoo resident, Western Michigan University graduate and the author of Paper Boat (2003), Cullen Bailey Burns will read from a new manuscript of poems. Some of these poems have appeared in Rattle, The Denver Quarterly, Court Green, and Rhino. She currently teaches English and creative writing at Century College in St Paul, Minnesota.

Wednesday, March 7
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

Seeing life through different eyes: the power of graphic novels to relay complex life stories and unique perspectives (in conjunction with Reading Together)

These books deal with difficult subject matter including child abuse and lesbianism in a tasteful and powerful manner. This program is for 16 year-olds and adults.

A look at amazingly deep and illuminating graphic novels that use words and pictures to approach controversial topics in a very human, personal manner. Some of the graphic novels we will survey are Madison Clell’s Cuckoo, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and Fun Home by Alison Bechdel.

Speakers: Paul Sizer and Jane Irwin are comics creators who live and work in Kalamazoo, Michigan. They met through comics and believe that everyone should be exposed to the possibilities of this very powerful form of literature.

Thursday, March 8
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

Kalamazoo Book Arts Center Presents: Bookbinding
Make your own handmade books! In this workshop participants will learn a special non-adhesive binding technique to make a hard cover book that can be used as a journal or sketchbook.

Instructor: Jeff Abshear is a nationally recognized book artist with an MFA in painting and printmaking from Western Michigan University.

Cost: $45.00
Call to pre-register
Saturday, March 10
1:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Saturday, March 10

Kalamazoo Book Arts Center Presents: Bookbinding
Make your own handmade books! In this workshop participants will learn a special non-adhesive binding technique to make a hard cover book that can be used as a journal or sketchbook.

Instructor: Jeff Abshear is a nationally recognized book artist with an MFA in painting and printmaking from Western Michigan University.

Cost: $45.00
Call to pre-register
Saturday, March 10
1:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Tuesday, March 13

Kalamazoo Book Arts Center Presents: You Can Draw--Design for Beginners
Afraid to start an art project? This visual design class is for you. Learn basic skills using collage, copy, and drawing techniques in a non-threatening environment. You can then apply them to papermaking, bookmaking, and more. Let yourself go!

Instructor: Michael Dunn earned his MFA at Western Michigan University and creates prints using woodcut, intaglio and lithography techniques.

Cost: $45.00
Call 383-8563 to pre-register
Tuesday, March 13
6:00 - 8:30 p.m.

Kalamazoo Book Arts Center is a collective of artists and writers who have joined together to create a community workshop and educational center dedicated to furthering book design and its related arts: fine printmaking, papermaking, book binding, and creative writing. For more information on course offerings, events, and readings visit the KBAC website: www.kalbookarts.org .

Wednesday, March 14
Reading Together 2007 Selection
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon
When Christopher Boone, the autistic 15 year-old narrator, discovers his neighbor's dog stabbed to death, he decides to use the reasoning of his favorite detective, Sherlock Holmes, to solve the crime. As the mystery unravels, so do the secrets of his parents’ broken marriage. Experiencing this chaos through Christopher's eyes thrusts the reader into his perspective and the world of autism.

Wednesday, March 14
7:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Tuesday, March 20
Explore Fish and Seafood Cooking (at the Park Club in Kalamazoo)
Chef: Craig Girolami, General Manager, Chef & COO, The Park Club

Chef Girolami will share the logic and techniques of selecting, storing, menu planning and cooking with seasonal fresh fish and seafood items.
Located in the heart of downtown Kalamazoo, The Park Club has been a landmark and one of Michigan’s finest private dining clubs for over one hundred years. Housed in a gorgeous Victorian mansion, the Park Club is located at 219 W. South Street across from Bronson Park and the Kalamazoo Public Library.

Pre-registration begins on Tuesday, March 13
$10.00 fee required at pre-registration
Tuesday, March 20
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

Wednesday, March 21
The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin
Daniel, an ex-Hewlett-Packard communiqué encoder, is a savant whose closely proscribed world is bounded on every side by neuroses and obsessions. He cannot cross the street except at driveways symmetrically opposed, and he cannot sleep unless the wattage of the active light bulbs in his apartment sums to 1,125. Slowly, through his neighbors, the Rite Aid pharmacist, and other people he begins to know and care about, Daniel begins to emerge from the safety of logic, magic squares, and obsessive counting.

Wednesday, March 21
7:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Friends - Book Sale Dates

2007-02-19T10:06:00.000-05:00

The Friends of the Library hold book sales five times a year from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Portage District Library, in the lower level meeting rooms. The first sale this year is February 24, 2007. If you are a member of the Friends, you are also eligible to attend an “early bird” sale on the afternoon before the main book sale, from 4 to 5:30 p.m.

Note that the link in the title of this post goes to an page on our website that's always there for you to check the dates.

There are thousands of books for sale at great prices. The books are organized by category to make browsing easy and fun. The book sales are run by volunteers, and every penny generated by the sale goes to the Portage District Library. We depend on your generous donations for the books being sold.

Sale dates for 2007 are as follows:

February 24
June 2
August 4
October 6
December 8

Our New Filtering Options

2007-02-16T10:05:00.000-05:00

Internet Filtering In the Library: It’s Your Choice

A system is in place that allows users to identify a filtering level for their internet access that will be applied to their computer usage anywhere in the library. Although there are many benefits to wide open access to the internet, the library is legally responsible for offering protective measures for minors using our public internet access. This filtering system works in tandem with the parental consentforms already required for minors, by allowing parents to choose the level of access and filtering their child has on any computers used in the library. The new filtering options do not interfere with the possibility of unfiltered access for adults, although anyone can choose to apply a level of filtering that will help minimize the intrusion of objectionable material during their internet usage.

What is internet filtering?

Internet filtering is a method that allows the library to block different types of content from being accessed through the internet. The software that manages this function for the library is able to provide a variety of levels of filtering of predefined types of internet content. Although filtering may provide a sense of safety, it is not a foolproof method of blocking objectionable material. Also, filtering may inadvertently block legitimate health related information.

What levels of filtering are available?

0 No access to the internet
1 Access to the library website, catalog, and databases only--links from our website to other websites will be blocked
2 Eliminates all sites judged by the filtering software to be potentially liable, objectionable or controversial--this goes above and beyond CIPA requirements
3 Eliminates only sites judged by the filtering software to contain adult materials, nudity, or pornography--complies with CIPA
4 No filtering applied

CIPA is the Children’s Internet Protection Act; a federal law established to address concerns about access to offensive content over the Internet on school and library computers. In addition, Michigan State Law prohibits viewing inappropriate material where children can view it. Please visit our website, www.portagelibrary.info, to view the Library’s Internet Policy.

What level of filtering do I have and how do I change it?

All adult members of the library as of February 19, 2007 are set to unfiltered access. An adult may change their filtering level at any time by showing their library card to staff at any information desk.

Children and teenage members who have signed parental permission to use the internet on file prior to February 19, 2007are set to level three filtering. Children and teens must have documented parental consent, along with their library card, in order to change their filtering level.

Children and teenage members who do not have a signed parental consent form on file will not have access to the internet, but they will be able to use our computer workstations for word processing and other available programs. Parental consent forms can be picked up or turned in at any information desk.

How do I access the internet or use a computer at the library?

You must be a registered library user to utilize our computers or our wireless internet access. To register, you must present appropriate identification at the Checkout Desk. Although you may not qualify for a full membership, all visitors will be granted computer access.

All members of the library or those that have registered for guest pass are able to use the barcode number on the back of their library card in conjunction with a PIN to gain access according to their filtering type. By default, your PIN is the same as the last four digits of the telephone number you have on file in your library account; you can change this number at any time. If you have any difficulty gaining access, please seek assistance at any information desk.

There are many computer workstations available throughout the library, although the computers on the lower level are primarily for the use of children, teens, and families. Registered library users may utilize our wireless network to gain internet access with their own computer. Those who have a full membership to the library can borrow a laptop for use in the library only. All you need is your library card and appropriate identification—ask about this service at the Checkout Desk.

Reading Together - Book Discussion in a Bag

2007-02-13T07:44:00.000-05:00

To coincide with the area Reading Together program, the Portage District Library will be offering kits containing 10 copies of the The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. These kits will contain an author bio, book reviews, discussion questions, and suggestions for further reading all ready for you to lend them to your book group members. We’re making it easy to be part of the Reading Together experience in Kalamazoo County. Our Reading Together kits will be available in February.

Called “Book Discussion in a Bag,” these kits may be checked out at the Adult Information Desk for two months. No more than one kit at a time may be checked out to an individual. Kits may not be reserved nor renewed. Borrowers will be charged $1.00 a day for an overdue kit. The entire
kit must be returned on the due date. The person who checks out a Book Discussion in a Bag kit is responsible for returning the entire kit. Kits include a signup sheet to help borrowers keep track of the books. Book clubs may keep the folder of materials when they return the books and bag.

For more information, call the Adult Reference Desk at 329-4542 ext 600 to find out more about Book Discussion in a Bag. For a complete list of Book Discussion in a Bag titles, please visit our website www.portagelibrary.info and click on the square labeled Book Lovers then click on Book Groups.

Reading Together - Programs

2007-02-13T07:42:00.000-05:00

Reading Together - Programs

Therapy Dog: Medicine for the Soul
A look at how and why animals and humans bond and the capacity of dogs to heal and comfort us, a panel of volunteers, therapists, and other professionals who train and share their pets to help those who are grieving, hospitalized, in counseling and living in elder-care facilities.
Thursday, March 1
6:30-8:00 pm

Point of View: a look at the creative process
Through seeing how others express their experiences, their emotions, and their vision, we can broaden our understanding of those around us and where we fit in the mix. This exhibit features works by Kalamazoo Book Arts Center members; the MRC Artists’ Co-op; Mary Whalen and students; Ted Cavanaugh; plus a Kalamazoo Institute of Arts ARTreach exhibit titled “Face-to-Face: People into Portraits”.
Exhibet: Monday, March 5 to Saturday, April 14
Reception
Sunday, March 11
2:00 - 4:00 p.m.

‘Sensory Experience Classroom’
Understand one aspect of autism by participating in this brief classroom experience that includes a wide variety of sensory stimulation, allowing alternative perceptions commonly experienced by people on the autism spectrum.

Monday, March 5
1:30 – 2:30 p.m. and 6:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Kalamazoo Book Arts Center Presents: Bookbinding
Make your own handmade books! In this workshop participants will learn a special non-adhesive binding technique to make a hard cover book that can be used as a journal or sketchbook.

Instructor: Jeff Abshear is a nationally recognized book artist with an MFA in painting and printmaking from Western Michigan University.

Cost: $45.00
Call to pre-register
Saturday, March 10
1:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Kalamazoo Book Arts Center Presents: You Can Draw--Design for Beginners
Afraid to start an art project? This visual design class is for you. Learn basic skills using collage, copy, and drawing techniques in a non-threatening environment. You can then apply them to papermaking, bookmaking, and more. Let yourself go!

Instructor: Michael Dunn earned his MFA at Western Michigan University and creates prints using woodcut, intaglio and lithography techniques.

Cost: $45.00
Call 383-8563 to pre-register
Tuesday, March 13
6:00 - 8:30 p.m.

Kalamazoo Book Arts Center is a collective of artists and writers who have joined together to create a community workshop and educational center dedicated to furthering book design and its related arts: fine printmaking, papermaking, book binding, and creative writing. For more information on course offerings, events, and readings visit the KBAC website: www.kalbookarts.org .

Open For Discussion: Reading Together 2007 Selection
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon
When Christopher Boone, the autistic 15 year-old narrator, discovers his neighbor's dog stabbed to death, he decides to use the reasoning of his favorite detective, Sherlock Holmes, to solve the crime. As the mystery unravels, so do the secrets of his parents’ broken marriage. Experiencing this chaos through Christopher's eyes thrusts the reader into his perspective and the world of autism.

Wednesday, March 14
7:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Reading Together

2007-02-05T09:21:00.000-05:00

This March The Portage District Library, in conjunction with the Reading Together program, invites people of all ages, from all walks of life, to read and discuss important issues raised by a single book. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon, is the 2007 Reading Together book.

This year, we are offering two ways to participate in this program.

Portage District Library is offering Book Discussion in a Bag kits with 10 copies of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. You can share with your book group, a group of friends, co-workers, or any group you want to share the book with.

In addition, we are offering a wide variety of programs that relate to the themes of The Curious Incident: how people relate to animals and deal with disability .

Reading Together is a collaboration of libraries, health and social service agencies, the media, local governments, educational institutions, civic, cultural, and religious organizations, and businesses throughout Kalamazoo County who offer programs and book discussions featuring the current year's book. You can find more information on the Reading Together web page, including a handy calendar of events, a pull down menu with events by location, previous years programs, and more information as the program opens officially in March.

February Book Discussion Groups

2007-02-02T10:12:00.000-05:00

Great Books Discussion Group
From the Great Books Foundation: “Many great minds have wrestled with the search for meaning – now you can, too. Great Books reading and discussion programs provide you with the essential tools for joining the great conversation about ideas: outstanding literature and a discussion approach that helps you truly connect with literature.” Readings will be taken from the Third Series of the Great Books.
Discussion leader: Ken Fischer, Portage District Library Staff

Discussions - 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. Discussion schedule includes the following Sundays:

February 4 Reading Two (John Mill On Liberty)
February 18 Reading Three (William Shakespeare Hamlet)

Open for Discussion: The Portage District Library Book Discussion Group
A Team of Rivals: the Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
This is a biography of the entire team of personal and political competitors that Lincoln put together to lead the country through its greatest crisis. In her book, Doris Kearns Goodwin profiles five of the key players, four of whom contended for the 1860 Republican presidential nomination and all of whom later worked together in Lincoln's cabinet.

Tuesday, February 20 10:30 -11:30 am
Wednesday, February 21 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Awards time for science fiction readers

2007-01-30T16:52:00.000-05:00

If you're a science fiction reader, and don't know what to read next, click on the links below to see what great new stories you might have missed last year.

Arthur C. Clarke Award
Preliminary Nebula Award Ballot
Locus Awards Winners (updated 6/20/2007)
Sidewise Nominees
Crook Award
Horror Guild Finalists (added 6/20/2007)
Hugo
Prometheus Award
Nebula Award
Arthur C. Clarke Award (Clarke short list)

February Adult Programs

2007-01-29T10:08:00.000-05:00

A Grammar To Waking: a reading by poet Nancy Eimers
A Grammar to Waking is Nancy Eimers’ third book of poetry. She is also the author of Destroying Angel and No Moon, winner of the 1997 Verna Emery Prize. Nancy has been the recipient of a Nation “Discovery” Award, two National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowships and a Whiting Writer’s Award. She teaches creative writing at Western Michigan University.

Thursday, February 1
7:00 -8:00

A Celebration of Chocolate for Your Sweetie
Chef Candace Strong, former pastry chef and current caterer

Pastry chef, caterer, and instructor Candace Strong studied under Parisian chef and restaurateur Madeleine Kamman from 1983-84. She has been a pastry chef at the Black Swan, Kalamazoo Country Club, and Water Street Coffee Joint. She is currently a popular caterer in the Kalamazoo area.

Pre-registration begins on Wednesday, February 1
$5.00 required at pre-registration
Thursday, February 8
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

How to Use Lighting, Color, Texture, Furniture and Art to Create Intriguing Focal Points and the Ambience You Desire
Learn how to design lighting to accent art, architectural detail and how to display art and configure furniture to create the ambience that fits your style and moods.

Instructors: Erich Adelbert, Owner, Lyman Lamps and
Michael Harrell of M. Harrell Interior Design & Furnishings

Thursday, February 15
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

Words and Songs That Settled the American West
A look at immigrant journals and letters; Native American poetry, chants and prayers; pulp westerns; cowboy poetry; and modern westerns

Speaker: Laurie A. Cerny, special writer for The Kalamazoo Gazette, journalism instructor at Western Michigan University, professional writing instructor at Davenport University, member of the Western Writers of America

Sunday, February 18
2:00 - 3:30 p.m.

Journeys: A program for Grieving Children, Teens and Their Families
Is your child or teenager hurting after the death of a loved one? Do you wish it was easier to talk to your children about death, dying and grieving. Please join us for an informational session about “Journeys” presented by Hospice Care of Southwest Michigan.
Speaker: Julie Waldron, Journeys Program Coordinator and Grief Counselor

No registration required-free
Tuesday, February 20
6:30-8:00 p.m.

Great books coming up in 2007

2007-01-26T10:37:00.000-05:00

My last post about books highlighted the best of 2006. Click on the list above for an article about books that are anticipated in 2007.

3rd Annual Easter Egg Hunt

2007-01-26T10:07:00.000-05:00

In preparation for the 3rd Annual Easter Egg Hunt, the Friends of the Portage District Library need volunteers to count and fill Easter eggs with candy. Any members of the community are welcome to assist with this project on Sundays, February 4th and 11th from 2-4 p.m. This is a great opportunity for students to acquire volunteer time to meet school requirements and have fun at the same time.

This year’s Egg Hunt will be held at the Celery Flats on Saturday, March 24, 2007. Please watch for further announcements about the activities schedule for this event. If you are interested in helping with the actual Easter Egg Hunt planning or activities, please contact Fran Cooper 353-8419 or Karen Hickman 323-397.

2006-12-26T09:46:00.000-05:00

We apologize for this interruption of our services. The Good Reads Blog has been on hiatus pending lack of reviews.

Coming January, we will be up and running again, with news and information about library services, programs, and resources, literary and reference, and news about books. We will still print reviews when we have them, so send them in if you'd like.

In the meantime, here's a set of links that I've been collecting to top ten lists: it's that time of year when people start giving out awards, remembering which books they liked best, and recomending books to buy for Christmas and all that stuff. I'll add to this as I find more.

Please feel free to comment using the comment field below.

2007 Michigan Notable Books

Award Pages

The New York Times: 100 Notable Books of the Year

and their 10 best

The Detroit News' Giftable Books List

Washington Post Best Lists

The Whitbread prize Short Lists

Saskatchewan Book Awards

For Children and Young Adults

Vanishing Point: A Sharon McCone Mystery

2006-10-24T09:53:00.000-04:00

by Marcia Muller

Rev. by L. Wright

For those of you who are waiting impatiently for the next Grafton or Paretsky, this series is a great find! Although you can start with the first of the Sharon McCone mysteries for back story, they stand alone fairly well too.

Sharon McCone is newly married and dealing with the shock of a shared life when she is hired to solve a twenty-two year-old mystery. Laurel Greenwood had disappeared without a trace, leaving her husband and two young daughters perplexed and grieving. Twenty-two years later, her elder daughter needs closure and looks to Sharon and her firm for help. As Sharon begins to dig into the family’s past, she finds that Laurel was anything but perfect, and suspects that what she discovers will bring an unexpected and unpleasant kind of closure.

Although a Michigan native, Muller has relocated to California. The coast setting of these mysteries is a prominent aspect and adds a nice dimension to her stories. Muller is also adept at running a parallel story developing McCone’s character – in this volume, the author delves into marriage, how it evolves over time, and how the partners’ personalities and history determine the flavor of the relationship.

The Shadow of the Wind

2006-10-17T06:48:00.000-04:00

by Carlos Ruiz Zafos

rev. by M. Meyer

In 1945 Barcelona, ten-year-old Daniel Sempere is taken by his widowed father to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and told to adopt one book. Daniel chooses The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax. Daniel is captivated by the book’s story of a man seeking his true father and the fate of his true love and vows to find out more about Carax. What follows is the mystery of what happened to Julian Carax and his books, and Daniel’s search for the truth while growing from boy to man.

Readalikes

2006-10-13T14:28:00.000-04:00

When a patron comes to the information desk and asks me for a book “like” another author's, I have an easy trick that I use. Even if I don’t read a particular author, I can still make a good guess about who's books might be similar, by Googling.

Reader’s advisory is a big part of what librarians do, and we love our favorite authors. Chances are, a librarian has scouted out the territory before you have and posted a list of similar titles on the web. Librarians have a “slang” term for this kind of readers advisory, or professional jargon if you prefer. It is called a “readalike”.

So this is what you do: You go to any search engine and type in your author’s name and the word “readalike.” You might want to put quotations around the name if parts of it are common. There aren’t many Grishams, but probably a lot of Kings in the world, and even in publishing. But the term readalikes is specialized enough that it will probably weed out false hits.

The Portage District Library’s own “readalikes” pages are called "If you Like..." and are organized by author or genre/subject.

Freakonomics

2006-10-10T05:17:00.000-04:00

by Steven Levitt and

rev. by R. Kapture

Steven Levitt is the youngest professor to be granted tenure at the University of Chicago. He’s been named the best American economist under the age of 40. And he’s co-authored a twisty little book called “Freakonomics: a Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything”.

Stephen J. Dubner, a writer whose interest in Steven Levitt’s considerable talent for trend-watching engendered a feature for the New York Times Magazine, convinced the unassuming economist that his impulse toward explaining human behavior through the application of economic theory would make an appealing and fascinating book.

Mr. Dubner was right. Their teamwork has produced a hilarious and always quirky little book all about Steven Levitt, who applies his superb critical thinking skills to such odd and unrelated subjects as “What do high school teachers and sumo wrestlers have in common?”, “Is a swimming pool more dangerous than a loaded pistol?” and my personal favorite, “Does a prostitute have a larger income than an architect?” (The answer is “Arrrgh, Yes”).

Marrying his boundless talent for statistical thinking with sensitive behavioral observation, Steven Levitt brings brilliant, unnerving clarity to some Gordian-knottish behavioral misunderstandings.

Mr. Levitt’s findings have spawned raging debate and the book has a “Ripley’s” readability – and that works in favor of “Freakonomics”. The book is anything but the dry, dusty tome the word “economics” conjures. It holds charm, firm scholarship, amazing interest and an object lesson for everyone who is interested in challenging what society believes about how society works. In the end, “Freakonomics” reveals some stunningly complex and unexpected answers to questions concerning what we are willing to accept as the truth.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

2006-10-06T05:47:00.000-04:00

by John LeCarre

rev. by N. Andreadis

I have always been swept away by good spy novels. The intrigue, duplicity, the characters and, in particular, the settings in cities and countries engaged in wars-cold and otherwise- always lock me in my chair for hours on end. That is when the writing is good and with John LeCarre it is invariably great. Recently, I began re-reading the George Smiley series that starts with Tinker Tailor, Soldier, Spy. The best spy stories always have a mole that has penetrated deeply and quietly into the “enemy’s” most valuable assets. Assets, I’ve learned by the way, is always a good word to use in spy stories. Sure enough, in Tinker Tailor, a Soviet mole has penetrated the British intelligence service and no one can rest easy until this underground menace is discovered and punished. Well maybe not punished. But, when there is a mole who can be trusted? Though “retired”, Her Majesty’s government calls on George Smiley to identify the villain. Each suspect is given a code name, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, etc, and off we go, I mean George of course, into the complex web of intrigue and double agents that Le Carre spins with a most graceful and precise use of the English language. It’s not just LeCarre’s creativity and imagination that carry the story but his deep understanding of the world of spy versus spy. A former member of British intelligence, Le Carre, the pen name of David Cornwell, generously shares with his readers glimpses of a world we know exists but are only willing to confront in novels. This one is a jewel.

Local Wonders, Seasons in the Bohemian Alps

2006-10-02T15:40:00.000-04:00

by Ted Kooser

review by J. Perry

The author takes the reader with him as he putters around his rural Nebraska home with his dog, Alice, or goes to his pond library to muse in his Uncle Tubby's recliner, or rambles about the countryside meeting friendly folks in person, in history, or in his past.

Each adventure has its own surprise, which keeps the book moving. There might be some humor, an apt Czech saying, a vivid description of a beetle sitting on the author's chair, or of the wild plum bushes that perfume the state's roadsides in spring. Each tale is full of rich detail. It's no wonder the book won multiple awards:its author is our nation's 13th Poet Laureate. It's a delightful metaphorical journey.

These memoirs are organized in a series of loosely connected vignettes, with the author's personal philosophy gradually revealed throughout. One cannot help but sense his appreciation for simple living and nature, his love of family and friends, and his quiet hopefulness. This book is a satisfying read.

Blog Review: Neil Gaiman's Journal

2006-09-28T17:41:00.000-04:00

When I brought up the idea of the Good Read’s blog to the Library Board, they had the funny idea that, since they were largely unfamiliar with the blog world, I should review blogs.

Because I want to keep the Good Reads blog mostly about… well, good reads, I thought I would review other blogs about books.

Neil Gaiman has been a favorite author of mine ever since he wrote The Sandman, a series of Graphic Novels about the King of Dreams. He’s written several best selling novels, too. Famously Neverwhere and American Gods, and recently Anansi Boys.

He writes a blog, too. For me, a blog is only really interesting if it’s something I want to go back to again and again. Neil’s blog is that for a couple of reasons.

He updates it frequently, first of all. It’s never good to go to a blog and find it unchanged week after week.

He’s got a nice voice: casual and funny, rarely peevish, but always forthright. He writes in his blog a lot like he sounds in person.

Lastly, he’s involved in the science fiction and fantasy communities, the fan communities. He talks about other authors, and reads them. So sometimes, you find out bits of information that you really should know.

You also get a review for a really good book every once in awhile though, long before it gets published. Or sometimes, when he’s remembering books that he loved as a kid, long after. And then they get republished.

For those who really like to meet their authors, it’s also sort of a way to meet this author. He blogs candidly but tastefully about his life and the issues that interest him, like freedom of speech causes.

And because it’s updated by Neil, it’s a trove of Neil Gaiman lore, like when which novel will be released, and what’s going on over at the Stardust movie set.

For anybody interested in SF/Fantasy, comics, or movies, it’s good for at least an occasional read. For Gaiman fans, its especially good. Definitely add it to your Feedster list.

Chasing the Dead

2006-09-25T09:13:00.000-04:00

by Joe Schreiber
rev. by Lawrence Kapture

Chasing the dead is a thriller by Joe Schreiber. It’s a short, well crafted read, with more than a few hints of Stephen King.

Susan is an ex-ambulance driver who has come into her husband Phillip’s real estate empire after he abandoned her and their infant daughter for Florida. Sue is heading home from work when she gets a phone call from a stranger.

“You have a very lovely little girl, Susan.”

As the conversation continues, Sue finds out that her daughter and nanny have been kidnapped, that the kidnapper has been in her house, and in fact seems to know quite a bit about her life. The unidentified caller tells her that as long as she does everything he asks her tonight, she’ll see her daughter again.

Otherwise, she’ll just see pieces of her daughter again.

So begins the chase: Sue is given a route through seven beat up Massachusetts towns to follow, must dig up a secret that she and Phillip had hidden for 20 years. How does her secret connect her and her daughter’s abductor? And why such a crazy route between towns? And where exactly is Phillip, anyways?

Full of twists and turns, Chasing the Dead will keep you engaged with creepy set scenes and an urgent pace. It’s so twisty that the feeling of the story changes throughout: at first, it seems like a taut psychological thriller. Only gradually does the specter of something darker express itself.

Chasing the dead is an engaging, controlled read by local talent: he graduated from Portage Northern. And as an extra bonus, Mr. Schreiber will be reading and speaking at the library on Saturday, October 14th, from 1 PM to 3 PM.

New downloadable audio books and ebooks at the library

2006-09-22T20:28:00.000-04:00

If you go to ebooks.mlcnet.org/, or click the Audio Book Download link on the Good Reads section of our web page, you will be taken to the web page of the Michigan Library Consortium's Digital Catalog and Download Center.

This doesn't sound exciting, but if you scroll down the page, you'll see why it is. Portage Library is part of a group of libraries that buy downloadable audio books and ebooks together.

That's exciting!

You can use this link to download audio books and ebooks at home for your device that plays MP3's (not an iPod, though. Steve Jobs is being stingy about letting anybody but iTunes use his file format).

When we started getting this for the library, I thought most of our users would be interested in audio books, but nearly half our downloads are for ebooks.

All of this is by way of saying that I was looking at the page today, and saw some great new ebook titles that I thought I'd share on the blog.

There are some always available titles, children's titles, and a bunch of best selling authors available to download. You'll have to put some of the titles on reserve, but once you have them, you've got four weeks to listen to them.

Audio Books:

The Burglar on the Prowl, by Lawrence Block

Emma, by Jane Austen

Some Like it Haute, by Julie Dam

The Tender Years, by Janette Oke

Ebooks:

Practical Demonkeeping, by Christopher Moore

The Book of the Dead, by Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston

Borrower of the Night, by Elizabeth Peters

Small Talk: How to Start a Conversation, Keep it Going, Build Networking Skills – and Leave a Positive Impression! by Debra Fine

Declare

2006-09-18T07:14:00.000-04:00

by Tim Powers

rev. by L. Kapture

In Declare, Time Powers mixes a spy novel with middle eastern folklore and comes up with a winning historical fantasy about Genies and Immortality, and Spies and Communism, The Berlin Wall and Baptism, and Foxes with Ghosts in them.

Kim Philby, the antagonist of Declare, is the historical curiosity of the novel. A real person, Philby spied for the British between 1940 and 1963, when it was revealed that he had been counterspying for the Soviets the entire time. Declare paints an interesting portrait of this non-fictional individual and exploits the most curious parts of his real life. Powers' afterword reveals that Philby did indeed own a fox that smoked cigars and drank whisky. After reading Declare, you might be drawn to read the many biographies and histories written about Philby the spy.

Andrew Hale, the protagonist, seems just as real. A British spy, he carries an unrequited lust for a communist spy that he met in Paris. Hale is intriguing, a man whose emotions are hampered by his conflicting loyalties. Declare is mostly Hale's story, and at some point it becomes clear that the title refers to Andrew Hale's over-arching decisions: He must decide between, and declare his intentions towards, his emotional loyalties, his spiritual loyalties, and his patriotic loyalties.

Declare is powerful reading, pun intended. It is easily one of his more complex, and engaging novels, one of a long chain of curiously evocative historical fantasies. Tim Powers knows how to draw out a mystery. The troubles of his quietly passionate characters engage the reader. The immense scope of Declare, encompassing both history and wonder, human frailty and other-worldly immensity, will interest everyone who cares about the human spirit.

Where to find book discussion questions

2006-09-14T02:05:00.000-04:00

Week after next is our library’s discussion of My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult. Because I’m running the discussion, I went looking for questions.

Book discussion groups have become so popular over the last few years that it’s a lot easier to find pages with questions. When I was running book discussion groups in New York, I really had to struggle. I often had to make up my own questions (gasp!). These days, every time I do a book discussion I google book title and book discussion and get more hits that the time before.

This time, I found four sites that looked useful, three of which would probably be generally useful when looking for book discussion questions:

Readinggroupguides.com

Bookbrowse.com (questions were the same as readinggroupguides… I don’t know if that would be true for every title)

About.com (look under Entertainment>Bestsellers>Book Club Questions. The like takes you directly to that page).

The author’s own web site (jodipicoult.com, in this case)

You can find other information on those pages, too: synopsis, newsletters, sample chapters, even links to podcasts and newsgroups. Lots of ways to help you evaluate a book before you read it, of find out what other people think about the story you just read.

One of the websites alludes to the small danger of these pages though… they often allude to things that happen in the story. In the parlance of the internet, this is known as a “spoiler.” If you don’t like people telling what happens next in a book (I hate it!), don’t read one of these pages until you finish.

My Sister’s Keeper

2006-09-11T11:38:00.000-04:00

By Jodi Picoult

Rev. by L. Kapture

My Sister’s Keeper is about Anna and Kate’s relationship. Kate was born with a vicious form of leukemia. Anna was conceived with this in mind: her parents planned on using her umbilical cord for transplant material. Which works well, and adds to their family.

But over the years, Anna’s status as a perfect donor for Kate means that every time Kate relapses, Anna is volunteered: white blood cells, bone marrow. Now Kate is 16, and her kidneys are failing from sixteen years of treatment. Anna, of course, has a kidney to spare.

Now she has a lawyer, too. Because she is asking the court to be freed of her responsibility to donate that kidney.

I read My Sister’s Keeper for the book discussion group that we are having later this month. This isn’t my usual genre, but I was pleasantly surprised.

The characters are very engaging. Picoult tells the story from all of their perspectives, in alternating chapters. Picoult makes strong statements about grief, and family, and love, and how these three elemental substances interact. Jesse, Kate’s older brother, is a charming hooligan, and the method behind his hooliganism is tied strongly into his family’s (and his own) response to Kate’s illness.

Picoult never passes up a chance to add more tension to an already tense situation, possibly unnecessarily: who needs romantic lawyer tension when Anna is making a decision that could possibly kill her sister, who she loves, who is her only friend. At times, the plot begins to feel a little soapy. But then, it does keep you turning pages.

My Sister’s Keeper is not a feel good book, but it is a good book, and a feeling read. If you like legal thrillers, romance, or medical thrillers, this book will probably appeal to you.

Kindred

2006-09-05T00:09:00.000-04:00

by Octavia Butler

rev. by M. Meyer

The main character of this fantasy is Dana Franklin, a twenty-six year-old African American writer. Her time travel experiences begin as she and her husband Kevin are unpacking in their new Los Angeles home. She is transported to a riverbank where she hears the cries of a drowning white child. After reviving him, she is attacked by the boy’s mother who thinks she is trying to kill him. Dana faints again and finds herself back in Los Angeles.

After several more trips to the past, she learns that Rufus, the boy she saved, is a relative of hers. She is called back whenever he needs saving, and whenever she is in danger, she is transported back to the 20th century. To complicate matters, she must keep Rufus alive until he fathers her ancestor Hager with a slave named Alice, to ensure her own existence. During the time Dana is a slave her husband Kevin is also transported to the South where he is appalled at the abuse of slaves and is able to help some of them escape.

The climax of the novel comes when Dana discovers that Alice has killed herself because Rufus has threatened to sell her children away if she does not stay with him. Rufus has also made clear he intends to rape Dana, who realizes she must now put an end to Rufus, and her need to travel back to her roots.

Fall Goods Reads Programs

2006-09-02T15:14:00.000-04:00

Although it sometimes seems like libraries aren't about books so much anymore: we've got computers to use to find information, carry music, movies, and video games, and cooking programs; we still love our books, and plan plenty of programs to talk about good reads and meet the people who write them. Following is a list of all the programs about books that we'll be hosting this fall.

Jack Ridl: a Reading and Celebration of a Poetic Life

Jack Ridl just retired from teaching Poetry Writing, The Nature of Poetry, and Contemporary American Poetry at Hope College. He is also the founder of Hope College's The Visiting Writers Series, which since 1985 has brought more than 150 writers to campus. In 1996, the Carnegie Foundation named Ridl Michigan's Professor of the Year. This year he was invited to participate as a poet at the 2006 Geraldine R Dodge Poetry Festival which runs from September 28 through October 1.

His poetry collections include the chapbooks Against Elegies, which Billy Collins selected for The Center for Book Arts Award and Outside the Center Ring, a collection of circus poems, the poetry collections The Same Ghost (1985), Between (1988), the chapbook After School (1987), Poems from The Same Ghost and Between (1993), and Broken Symmetry (2006). He has been anthologized in numerous anthologies and poetry journals.

Tuesday, September 19
6:30-8:00 pm

Open for Discussion: a public book discussion
My Sister’s Keeper (fiction)
by Jodi Picoult
Anna was conceived to provide a donor match for her sister who has a rare form of leukemia. At 13, Anna sues her parents for the right to make her own decisions about how her body is used when a kidney transplant is planned.

Tuesday, September 19 10:30-11:30 am
Wednesday, September 20 7:00-8:00 pm

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (history biography)
by Jung Chang
A gripping story of how three generations of women fared in the political maelstrom of China during the 20th century.

Tuesday, October 17 10:30-11:30 am
Wednesday, October 18 7:00-8:00 pm

Gilead (inspirational fiction)
by Marilynne Robinson
Gilead is a novel in the form of a letter written by John Ames, a 76 year old preacher who has lived most of his life in Gilead, Iowa, to his seven-year-old son. It is a summing-up, an apology, a compilation of his questions, experiences, fears, loves, meditations on fathers, children, faith and the imperfections of man.

Tuesday, November 14 10:30-11:30 am
Wednesday, November 15 7:00-8:00 pm

Fiction Writers Group
The Fiction Writer’s Group is a monthly writer’s group created to help writers meet fellow writers and workshop each other’s work, discuss and encourage writing and have fun in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere.
Group leader: Kate Rizor

Kate’s first novel, The Governor’s Wife, is due out this summer. She is a former newspaper reporter, editor and trainer. She teaches “Elements of Fiction Writing” at Portage Community Education Center.

Wednesday evenings: September 20, October 18, and November 15
6:00-8:00 pm
Portage District Library
For more information, please call Kate Rizor at 269 271-2948,

Great Books Discussion Group
Discussion leader: Ken Fischer, Portage Library Staff
From the Great Books Foundation: “Many great minds have wrestled with the search for meaning – now you can, too. Great Books reading and discussion programs provide you with the essential tools for joining the great conversation about ideas: outstanding literature and a discussion approach that helps you truly connect with literature.” Readings will be taken from the Order and Chaos series.

The price of Order and Chaos is $15.95. In addition, two full length books may be read and may need to be purchased by participants. The group will meet every other Thursday from 7:00 to 8:30 pm to discuss a selection.

Before September, contact Ken Fischer at (269) 329-4524, ext 730. The first ten people will have priority. If more than ten people are interested in joining and any from the first ten do not join, the next names in line will be offered a spot. Please contact us at the number above or ask at one of the library desks for more information.

Discussion schedule includes the following Thursdays:

September 7 Initial orientation, purchasing books, etc.
September 21 Reading One (Gogol)
October 12 Reading Two (Bhagavad-gita)
October 26 Reading Three (Rezzori)
November 9 Reading Four (Euripedes)
November 30 Reading Five (O’Connor)
December 14 Reading Six (poetry selections)

The Life and Writings of C.S. Lewis (Part II)
This is a series of six lectures/discussions. Materials covered include
Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength, The Chronicles of Narnia and two readings, Till We Have Faces and A Grief Observed. The discussion will center on the key plots and Christian allegories that lie below the surface of each tale. A series of CD’s will be used to enhance the discussion.

Discussion Leader: Barbara Hemphill is an Assistant Professor Emeritus at Western Michigan University where she taught a course on spirituality to occupational therapy students. She has taught a spirituality course at Portage Senior Center and The Fountains. Dr. Hemphill has a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Ecumenical Theological Seminary in Detroit.

Every Tuesday, September 12 – October 17
6:30-8:00 pm
Sundays Live: Music in the Atrium
September 17
2:00-4:00 pm
Troubadours
Recorders

Chasing the Dead: a Reading and Discussion of Horror Fiction
by Joe Schreiber
Portage Northern graduate and author, Joe Schreiber, is returning to Portage for a reading from his new supernatural thriller, Chasing the Dead, and a discussion about the craft of writing edge-of-your-seat horror fiction.

Joe Schreiber was born in Michigan but spent his formative years in Alaska, Wyoming and northern California. Before settling in Hershey, Pensylvania, he lived in New York, Boston, Martha's Vineyard, Chicago, Los Angeles, Portland, and Philadelphia. Becoming a parent forced him to consider a career with more reliable income, and he took a job as an MRI tech at Hershey Medical Center, where he wrote a good part of Chasing the Dead on hospital computers while working the night shift.

Saturday, October 14th
1:00-3:00 pm

The Many Faces of Romance
Join Members of the Mid-Michigan chapter of Romance Writers of America as they discuss the broad range of genres that comprise the romance publishing industry today.

Participants include:

Rosanne Bittner – has written 57 books with over 10 million copies in print. She is is a prestigious Willa Literary Award finalist.

Diane Burton – a former president of Mid-Michigan Romance Writers of America, she has published with ImaJinn Books, a paranormal romance house.

Susan Charnley – writes historical, contemporary, and paranormal romance and has published with Leisure Books and Hard Shell Word Factory.

Lisa Childs – writes for both Harelquin Intrigue and Harlequin Next. Her novel Taking Back Mary Ellen Black is a finalist for numerous romance industry awards.

Dana Corbit – is writing her 9th inspirational romance for Steeple Hill, and has written one inspirational fiction title for Guideposts Books.

Nancy Gideon – award-winning author with over 50 titles to her credit, she has written Western historical, regency, paranormal (vampire), and contemporary romance. She currently writes for Silhouette.

Lucy Kubash – will see her first romance novel published with Triskelion this fall.

Loralee Lillibridge – one of the founders of Mid-Michigan Romance Writers of America, she is published with Silhouette.

Laurie Kuna - has three paranormal romances published with ImaJinn Books and a 4th due out in Fall of 2006. Her second novel was a Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice finalist.

Author book signing and reception to follow.

Saturday, October 21
1:00 -3:00 pm

James Armstrong: a Poetry Reading & Book Signing

James Armstrong’s poems sit at the knees of a mute interlocutor, full of power and restraint—the massive, indifferent, moody, beckoning Lake Superior. Influenced by Neruda, Petrarch, Lowell, and the landscape poetry of Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer, Armstrong measures the clang and conceits of civilization against the force of water.

James Armstrong is the author of Monument of a Summer Hat. His poems have appeared in Triquarterly, Gulf Coast, Orion, The Snowy Egret, the New York Times Book Review, Shade, and elsewhere. Armstrong received the PEN-New England Discovery Prize for poetry in 1996, and he has been awarded an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship in poetry and a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship in poetry. He is currently a professor of English at Winona State University in Winona, Minnesota.

Thursday, December 28
7:00–8:00 pm

The Tipping Point

2006-08-29T16:01:00.000-04:00

by Malcolm Gladwell

review by N. Sosulski

"The best way to understand the dramatic transformation of unknown books into bestsellers, or the rise of teenage smoking, or the phenomena of word of mouth or any number of the other mysterious changes that mark everyday life," writes Malcolm Gladwell, "is to think of them as epidemics. Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do."

Although I first read this a few years ago, I enjoy rereading it. Gladwell’s account of how events “tip” over into trends, is enlightening and entertaining reading. As of March 17, 2006 the paper edition had been on the bestseller list for 82 weeks. The cloth The Tipping Point spent 28 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list and more than two years on Business Week's, and today there are almost 800,000 copies in print. Companies from The New Yorker to Starbucks purchase it for their employees.

Insatiable

2006-08-25T16:48:00.000-04:00

Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess

by Gael Greene

review by N. Sosulski

The title of this book by New York magazine food critic and columnist Gael Greene says it all. It seems that the books of reminiscences I have recently read by food critics and chefs have been paeans to hedonism, and Greene’s accounts fit that description more than most. Juxtaposing interludes at table with interludes with her varied amours (or at table with said amours) the book has two audiences: foodies (who will be very happy with the recipes also included in the book), and fans of voyeuristic prose.

The Return of the Prodigal Son

2006-08-22T14:44:00.000-04:00

by Henri J.M. Nouwen

review by B. Hemphill

Henri J. M. Nouwen is a widely recognized spiritual writer. He has written over twenty-five books. His most famous work is the Wounded Healer. Rev. Nouwen has taught at universities such as Harvard, Yale, and Notre Dame.

The Return of the Prodigal Son contains nine chapters. It begins with the story of the two sons and their father. The prologue describes the encounter the author has with the painting by Rembrandt. Nenri Nouman draws from the scriptures and describes each movement of the parable: the younger son’s return, the father’s restoration of son - ship, the elder son’s vengefulness, and the father’s compassion. It is the reflection of Rembrandts’ life in light of the authors’ own spiritual journey. The themes of homecoming, affirmation, and reconciliation are reminders to the reader of their own experience of loneliness, dejection, jealousy, or anger. For those who prefer a more traditional reading this book is seen as the “ultimate revelation of the parable known to Christians throughout time.” According to the New Oxford Review, “…is a beautiful book, as beautiful in the simple clarity of its wisdom as in the terrible beauty of the transformation to which it calls us.”

Heroes of a Different Stripe

2006-08-19T14:30:00.000-04:00

How One Town Responded to the War in Iraq

by Olga Bonfiglio

review by M. Meyer

A first-person, journalistic account of how ordinary small city (Kalamazoo) Americans tried and continue to stand for peace and a more just society amid the taunts and intimidations of their fellow citizens. This personal account of the war in Iraq and how a group of people in Kalamazoo reacted takes place from January 2003 to June 30, 2004(the day of the U.S. handover of Iraq).

Garlic and Sapphires

2006-08-08T23:13:00.000-04:00

The Secret Life of a Food Critic in Disguise

by Ruth Reichl

review by N. Sosulski

I admit to being a foodie, one who loves to read cookbooks for fun, who has more cookbooks on my shelf than I will ever cook my way through. Therein lay the motivation the first time I picked up a book written by Ruth Reichl, currently the editor in chief of Gourmet magazine. Why I keep doing so is less about the prandial wonders she describes (and they are phenomenal) but because of her infectious style that draws the reader into her experience, be it travel in Morocco, or in the case of Garlic and Sapphires, her tenure for most of the 1990s as chief food critic for The New York Times--one of the most outrageously powerful positions in gastronomy. Because of the influence this person wields, in order that the critic might not accidentally dine at their established unremarked and unpampered, New York restaurant staff are routinely given dossiers about the critic that would rival those produced by the CIA: descriptions, photos, likely dining companions, previous reviews and at at least one place a $500 reward for being the first person to spot the critic in the restaurant. When the critic is “made”, phenomenal service unlike that of all other diners results: “the King of Spain is waiting in the bar, but your table is ready.”

Reichl devised a defense in which she assumed six different disguises for her restaurant trips, each with a detailed identity and backstory and each gaining a different response from waitstaff and other diners. Her tales of these undercover missions to 21, Daniel, Tavern on the Green make great reading. The reader has a sense of complicity in putting one over on these temples to Bacchus—even if the fanciest place he or she ever eats is TGI Fridays. Reichl is a method actress who lives these alter egos, and her musings on how it feels to be inside each character are insightful. The format--expedition, critic’s review, recipe--is highly effective. A fun book.

The Last of Her Kind

2006-08-08T17:11:00.000-04:00

by Sigrid Nunez

review by J. Nuzzo

The Last of Her Kind recounts the story of Georgette George and her seminal relationship with freshman college roommate Ann Drayton. Both girls come of age during the climax of the turbulent and politically charged 1960’s and early 1970’s in New York City. Georgette and Ann first meet at Barnard College. Ann, a brilliant student who totally shuns the world of wealth and class from which she hails, ingratiates herself with Georgette, whose own origins are decidedly less-than-ideal. Georgette struggles to understand why Ann would negate her privileged past, and replace it with a nearly clinical obsession with social and political activism and the fight for those ostensibly less fortunate than she. Though the actual friendship is short-lived, the powerful presence of Ann’s willful personality and idealism continues to reside in Georgette as she navigates her way through life in the increasingly banal aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam and Woodstock. Grappling with her own desire to have essentially that which Ann abhors, Georgette’s stream of conscience recollection meditates on the enigmatic influence of the curiously singular Ann: the last of her kind.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

2006-08-04T11:28:00.000-04:00

by John Berendt

review by E. Dowson

In May of 1981, John Berendt, the editor of New York Magazine, took a leave of absence from his job and rented an apartment in Savannah, Georgia. Having visited the city on several previous vacations, he became so fascinated with the city and its denizens he decided to live there full time for a year and write a book about his experiences. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil chronicles those experiences.

The story begins with Berendt researching his novel by driving around town, interviewing prominent citizens, and soaking up the local culture. If the book had continued in that fashion, then a nice little book about Savannah would have been published, probably informative, but not that interesting. But fate decided to step in during Berendt’s visit to Savannah. The nice little book about Savannah turned into an absorbing first hand account of one of Savannah’s most prominent citizens and the murder scandal he became involved in during Berendt’s stay.

You still get a lot of information about Savannah’s citizens, culture, history, and landmarks in this story as John Berendt gathers information, but the wonderful thing about the book is that all of the information is woven in between the front stage story of the murder and the trial that follows. Instead of reading like a textbook, the book reads like a novel, both entertaining and educational. You will also get a great understanding of the city’s strange dynamic -- the city’s small town feel despite being a city of over 150, 000 people and their unique blend of hospitality and xenophobia. As one citizen says in the novel, “We may be standoffish, but we’re not hostile. We’re famously hospitable, in fact…”

When you meet the characters in the novel, you’ll be simultaneously moved and tickled by them; the genius who may or may not contain a means of killing the entire city, a sane man who walks an invisible dog, a priestess of the voodoo country, debutant societies and clubs, the main entertainer in the city’s gay bar, and a conman who has an ongoing party in his home all appear. So singular are these characters that I had to constantly remind myself while reading that these were all real people who lived in Savannah during this time.

The writing of this book is also one of its assets. The beautiful and strong description and imagery of Savannah’s structure, landmarks, and populace is interspersed with witty dialogue and unbiased information, which must have been difficult to achieve, considering the author is the narrator. His writing of the murder case and trial was handled brilliantly, lending itself to suspense in the right places without giving too much away. In the first chapters when Berendt is interviewing the man who will eventually become the center of the murder scandal, he says, “Don’t be taken in by the moonlight and magnolias…” and goes on to hint that Savannah has an underlying dark side. That line alone made me want to read the rest of the book.

Though John Berendt admits in the author’s notes that he took liberties with some of the sequences of events, the book is classified nonfiction. As someone who seldom reads nonfiction, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and believe it to be highly worth checking out. One warning, however: the book does contain strong profanity at times, some sexual themes, and sexual dialogue. But this book that could have been one of a thousand other informational materials about Savannah, Georgia, offers something for everyone. History buffs, fans of murder mysteries, fans of courtroom dramas, nonfiction readers, and people who just like a good story about love, hate, prejudices, humor, standing up for what’s right, and the age old showdown of good versus evil will take pleasure in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Copyrighted in 1994. Also made into a disappointing 1997 movie starring Kevin Spacey and John Cusack.

Author Blogs

2006-08-01T10:59:00.000-04:00

It has been suggested that, in addition to reviewing books on our blog, we could review blogs. I will be happy to do so, and I invite blog reviews from our readership. Because I'd like to keep this blog about books, however, I will be sticking to reviewing other blogs about books.

Some of my best light reading, as of late, has been author blogs. There's a half dozen writers whom I read on a rotating basis in the morning, or when I need to rest my eyes during the day. Authors are fun to read: they are used to translating their observations into interesting prose, and that often translates well to blogging.

I had thought, as a sort of warm-up, that I would create a list of author's blogs. However, when I researched the subject on the web, I found that several people had beat me to it! Some of them are quite comprehensive. Because I like my wheels as is, I will not reinvent them.

Also, keep in mind that if you are searching for a specific author's blog, googling their name and "blog" will often do the trick. The links below are best for lazy days and browsing.

However, I will post a list, of lists, of author's blogs. And I'll keep this in the sidebar on the left side of the screen with other blogs about books.

Author's Blogs: The most comprehensive of the bunch, and divided by genre to boot.

Internet Writing Journal - Author's Blogs: Includes Dave Barry and Neil Gaiman.

Random Bytes

Mountains Beyond Mountains

2006-07-27T09:16:00.000-04:00

by Tracy Kidder

review by M. Meyer

The an intimate glimpse of Paul Farmer, a U.S. doctor dedicated to curing infectious diseases and bringing a healthy, decent living to the poorest in the world even if it means using unorthodox methods and upsetting the established medical community. It is both a stark look at the cost of poverty and an inspiring look at one individual can do when he believes that “the only real nation is humanity.

A Million Little Pieces

2006-07-25T13:23:00.000-04:00

by James Frey

review by E. Dowson

This novel and supposed memoir by James Frey had so much buzz and controversy surrounding it I had to give it a try. It follows the story of drug addict Frey through his experiences at a rehabilitation clinic. Whether or not it’s true, and no matter the pretenses under which it was published, this is still a good read.

If you can put aside the question of its authenticity and read it as a novel, you will enjoy this book. Frey’s struggles taught me a lot about drug abuse and recovery programs. The characters that James meets in the clinic ring true and each share their engaging, heartbreaking stories. My brother, who is a college student and never reads for fun, visited me while I was reading the book, picked it up, and read the entire thing in two days (almost 400 pages).

One problem I had with the book was the writing style. It is written in stream of consciousness -- it’s written exactly as Frey's thoughts. There are no quotation marks around spoken lines and limited punctuation, which can be distracting and confusing. Also, if you’re easily offended by vulgar language, look out. The dialogue can be very stark and offensive.

Despite the scandal associated with this book, it is an emotional, important book. Read it if someone you know has a drug problem and would relate to the book, or if have little knowledge of the drug world, read it and learn.

Got Game?

2006-07-13T13:00:00.000-04:00

How the Gamer Generation Is Reshaping Business Forever

by John C. Beck and Mitchell Wade

review by N. Sosulski

Those who come to this book hoping for the validation of their opinion that the gamer generation’s work ethic is as slack as the face staring into a console will be disappointed.

Beck and Wade address the impact that gaming has had on a generation of workers, pointing out that gaming is more universal than computer use, since games include web-based, arcade, and console games, as well as the handhelds toted by every child over 6. The authors make statements that a boomer finds ominous: gaming teaches that winning is everything; gaming is a formative experience which those who do not share it don’t—and can’t—get. Expecting dire portents to follow, the reader is reassured that the results of this are not bad—just different. Some surprises: according to the research, regular gamers

• report themselves as more people-oriented than their nongaming peers.

• are much less thrown by failure than the generations before them (thus the remarkably sanguine reactions of young Silicon Valley executives to the burst of the dot.com bubble).

• are more likely than nongaming colleagues to request remuneration that is closely linked to performance.

Beck and Wade do not simply offer up a sunny view of this new sector of the workforce, but make points that a manager or coworker would find useful in motivating or collaborating with people in this group. I found it insightful and an engaging and enjoyable read.

A Wedding in December

2006-07-11T13:17:00.000-04:00

by Anita Shreve

review by J. Nuzzo

In Anita Shreve’s latest, seven once-close high school friends gather for a weekend reunion in the Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts after having their lives dramatically altered by tragedy twenty-seven years earlier. The occasion, the wedding of once-sweethearts Bill and Bridget, collides with the collective accumulation of personal disappointment and loss, set in relief against a post-September 11th backdrop, treacherously asking, “What if?”

Bridget’s illness creates a sense of urgency for the wedding that “should have been” years earlier, had it not been for a young Bill’s seemingly unforgivable transgression.

Harrison, still haunted by the tragedy at Kidd Academy, is forced to reflect on his own life and current feelings for Nora.

Nora, in turn, has begun a new life as a widow, running the inn where the friends gather, emancipated from marriage to a renowned poet.

Agnes privately bears the burden of her choice to remain in a relationship with a married man, finding solace in her personal writing of the tale of the Halifax explosion during World War I, a story interwoven with Shreve’s narrative, whose devastation parallels the events of September 11th.

Rob, a world-renowned concert pianist, surprises all by arriving with his lover, Josh.

Jerry, a successful Wall Street banker, turns the screws, forcing everyone on edge with his overbearing scrutiny.

In a weekend where friends stand on the precipice of catastrophe, regret, hope, forgiveness, and the perilous allure of second chance, a poignant story of personal loss and consequent gain is re-contextualized in an altered new world.

Three Cups of Tea

2006-07-05T19:42:00.000-04:00

one man’s mission to fight terror and build nations – one school at a time

by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

review by L. Hower

You’d think it would be hard to change the world, especially the way it is today. As it turns out it is not as hard as climbing K2, as the mountain climbing/ER nurse demonstrates in this special book. It just took determination, a lot of it. I first saw Greg Mortenson interviewed on a television program this year. I was impressed by his quiet yet intense manner and his obvious dedication to improving life in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Mortenson was born in the US, raised in Africa by his missionary parents until he returned to a much different world back in the States He discovered his passion for rock climbing and here is where the story really begins as he sets out to climb one of the highest mountains in the world - K2. In his failed attempt and subsequent rescue, he learned much about the impoverished yet culturally rich way of life of the Himalayans who have saved so many mountain climbers yet lacked health care and education themselves. Mortenson set out to improve their quality of life. In the process he learned what one person can do beginning with little else but determination and a dream to build a school. Best of all he found a way to understand their real needs and help them to help themselves. This is a thrilling, inspiring important story of a unique individual who has risked everything for larger purpose and is continuing to change part of the world through peace and goodwill.

Don't Try This At Home

2006-07-03T09:52:00.000-04:00

Culinary Catastrophes from the World's Greatest Chefs

edited by Kimberly Witherspoon and Andrew Friedman Bloomsbury

review by N. Sosulski

Misery loves company. If you are one of us who has had the sauce you made a dozen times break when your boss is coming to dinner, you will enjoy this collection of stories of kitchen disasters from the celebrity chefs that you hear about on the Cooking Channel and the Epicurious website.

Since most of these occur in restaurants that seat dozens, if not hundreds, most mishaps are on an epic scale.

A lobster dinner scheduled for 2500—and the lobster goes off. The fish delivery (somehow there seem to be quite a few seafood calamities) of 500 pounds of live eels spills in the kitchen in the middle of lunch rush. And the chefs recover—or sometimes they don’t. The time that you had to run out to the bakery at the last minute to buy some cake to pour the chocolate dessert you were going to serve over (if it had only firmed up like it was supposed to) will fade into the past, leaving behind only your feeling of fellowship as a survivor of the epicurean wars.

Q Road

2006-07-01T19:22:00.000-04:00

by Bonnie Jo Campbell

review by M. Meyer

Q Road takes place in rural Western Michigan where Potawatomi Indians once built mound gardens until they were driven off by farmers who are now working fourteen hour days trying to save their farms from encroaching land developers. It is a story of the relationships within a neighborhood of quirky characters, including a sixth generation farmer and his rifle toting child bride, an evangelical bartender, a door- to-door window salesman who loves women of all ages, his young wife who dreams of killing him or moving into a more stylish house, and an asthmatic boy who yearns for the love of a father. It is the story of the loss of an integral landmark and scene of a crime and a mysterious disappearance never quite unraveled. But mostly, it is the story of three people fiercely devoted to the land and learning to be connected as a family.

Happy July!

2006-07-01T19:20:00.000-04:00

Well.

After fiddling with blogger and my template for a large chunk of the afternoon, it was looking like we might not actually have a blog quite yet.

But I managed to get in my account, and so while here, I will post the innaugural review, and welcome the Portage District Library public to the Good Reads Blog, an ongoing internet publication dedicated to expressing the love people have for their books.

But first: for those that have clicked on this link and feel like the jargon of the information age is kicking you in the chops:

Blog: Short for weblog, an on-line web magazine or diary (usually with facilities for reader comments) made accessible through the World Wide Web.

The Jargon File. The Jargon File, 2006. Answers.com 25 May. 2006. http://www.answers.com/topic/blog

Here's how this Blog works: You click this link twice a week (at least) and I will post a book review written by one of your neighbors, or one of the PDL staff. Deal? Deal. If you want to tell everybody in the known universe about a really great book you've read, you email the library, care of lkapture@portagelibrary.info

Please read the sidebar for all the information about how to submit to the blog.