Meet Miss Flavia de Luce

I have not been a big reader of mysteries but Miss Flavia de Luce has completely won me over.  This 11-year-old crime solver stole my heart with her charm, wit, and passion for poisons.  I can not forget her penchant for telling fibs and oh, the cheek!

If you have not met Flavia yet, I suggest you do at once. The first four books are The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, The Weed that Strings The Hangman's Bag, A Red Herring Without Mustard, and I Am Half-sick of Shadows.  I look forward to many more.

You do not have to read the books in order and I suggest, to enjoy them even more, that you listen to them as the reader does a superb job.  The first three are available through Woodlands Downloadable Library.  The fourth will be available soon.

Titles that I am currently reading

Now that I have made a "plug" for library cards, I thought that I would share with you the books that I am currently reading. Yes, that is right, "books". I usually have two or three books that I read at one time.

The first book is "Arc of Justice" by Kevin Boyle. The book takes place during the 1920's when the jazz age was popular in Detroit. Negroes were not welcomed in some areas and the KKK often caused tension and violence. Ossian Sweet was a Negroe doctor who made his way from the ghetto to an all-white neighborhood. One day a mob gathered outside his house and shots rang out. Sweet, or one of his defenders had killed one of the whites that was threatening their lives and home. This event began a murder trial for Sweet which documents the the violence in America in the 1920's. I won't give away the ending of the book as this book has been chosen as the 2011-2012 Great Michigan Read by the Michigan Humanities Council.

Look for a book discussion at Hillsdale Community Library the week of November 14th. We will have multiple copies available for checkout the week of October 10th.

The second book that I am reading is "Jeannie Out of the Bottle" by Barbara Eden. Ms. Eden starred in the sitcom "I Dream Of Jeannie" and she shares the story of her career as well as her personal life in this book. I would definitely recommend the book to those who watched the show, shall we say...a few years ago!

What is the value of your library card?

Recently, I was in a conversation with another librarian and the topic was the value of a library card. Do you realize what a "bargain" a library card is?

A library card is available to you at no cost if you live within our service area. If you do not live within our service area, a library card from Hillsdale Community Library is $35 per year. Yes, that does seem like a huge expense but if you do the math, this averages to 0.095 cents per day!
Quite a bargain if you ask me!

What "value" does your library card give you? The "value" that the library card gives you is the ability to check out books, magazines, audio books, videos, and other materials that may not be readily available to you. If we do not have the item that you are looking for, we may be able to interloan it from another library through MeL (Michigan eLibrary Catalog). You can also use the computers at the library or, if you prefer, bring in your laptop to use.

I have always loved libraries. I used to get "kicked out" of the library on Saturdays when I was a teen. I was not being disruptive, it was time for the library to close and I had lost track of time by taking a book off the shelf and reading it right there at the library.

I invite you to discover the value of your library card. If you do not have a card with us, please stop in the library and sign up to receive a card.

Book/Movie News

JULY 25TH, 2011

DAVIS ENTERTAINMENT AND LOLA VFX TEAM TO PRODUCE SCOTT WESTERFELD’S NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING FUTURISTIC TRILOGY. “UGLIES” BEING PREPARED AS FIRST OF THE PLANNED LIVE ACTION FEATURES.


Project Signals Premier Visual Effects Company Move Into Film Production
 
LOS ANGELES (JULY 24, 2011) – Producer John Davis and the founders of Lola Visual Effects (Lola VFX) will team to finance, develop and produce a theatrical, live action feature based on Scott Westerfeld’s New York Times best-selling “Uglies,” the first of his futuristic trilogy first published in 2005.
 
The filmmakers have also acquired Westerfeld’s PRETTIES and SPECIALS, the remaining trilogy installments published by Simon Pulse, a Simon & Schuster company, with total sales of over 3 million copies. Jacob Forman (“All The Boys Love Mandy Lane”) will write the screenplay.
 
UGLIES will be produced by John Davis (“Mr. Popper’s Penguins,” “I, Robot”) and Jordan Davis (“Jump In”), along with Colin and Greg Strause via their Hydraulx Entertainment banner. Lola’s Edson Williams and Thomas Nittmann will executive produce along with Adam Schroeder
 
Lola is the groundbreaking visual effects company paving the way for an entirely new level of story-telling, most recently transforming Chris Evans into the 90-pound weakling Steve Rogers for CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER. The company was founded by Colin and Greg Strause, Edson Williams, and Thomas Nittmann.

Set in an Orwellian future in which teens undergo surgery on their sixteenth birthdays to become supermodel “pretty,” UGLIES is the story of Tally Youngblood, one such “ugly” teen who is forced by authorities to forgo her transformation until she infiltrates The Smoke, a community of rebels who choose to retain their appearance and live outside of normal society. Tally soon discovers appearance isn’t everything and her world is not all that it seems.
 
“’UGLIES’ is a smart, youthful, and edgy trilogy peopled by sophisticated characters who have to navigate through a dangerous but fascinating world,” stated John Davis. “We are at this time in the development of cinema magic where we have the proper technology to fully realize Scott’s vision for the screen.”
 
In addition to CAPTAIN AMERICA, Lola is the company behind Brad Pitt’s youthification in THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON and flawless twining of Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss in THE SOCIAL NETWORK.  With this technology and expertise, Lola will handle the dramatic transformation of characters into the “pretty” versions of themselves while Hydraulx will create the futuristic world of UGLIES, an exquisite yet eerie dystopian future.
 
Stated Greg Strause: “With UGLIES, Scott created a visually stunning world that capitalizes on the strengths of both Lola and Hydraulx.  Our partnership demonstrates the expanding possibilities of enhancing creative storytelling with innovative visual effects.”
 
In other book/movie news, The movie based on Suzanne Collins' "The Hunger Games" is set to be released in 2012 and the movie based on Catherine Fisher's "Incarceron" will be released in 2013 and we can not forget The Help, based on Katheryn Stockett's book, comes out August 10th 2011.  

Better than your 9th Grade World History Class

Fall of Giants is an engaging look at World War I through the lives of  five interrelated families.  Seeing WWI through the eyes of Americans, Germans, Russians, the English, and Welsh makes it much more real than the history books.  

Unfortunately, the horrors of our past often turn into stories that have no affect on our current lives.  As George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”   — Life of Reason, Reason in Common Sense, Scribner's, 1905, p. 284.  This historically accurate novel helps ensure that we do not do just that. 

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Torn between loyalty and love this WWII story about two 12-year-olds is a must read!  Available at the library or via Woodland’s Downloadable Library.   Inspired by true events.

Who Isn't Afraid of Sharks??!?

I have a friend, Kristen Tracy, who writes books for teens. I've enjoyed all of her titles so far, but this summer, she's coming out with the best one yet! Sharks and Boys is the story of . . . well . . . sharks and boys. When Enid decides to follow her recently-ex boyfriend to see if he's going on a date with another girl, she certainly doesn't expect to wind up stranded at sea on a rubber raft with her twin brother, her ex and his twin, and two other sets of twin brothers. And she certainly didn't think that they would be fighting injury, thirst, sunburn, and bloodthirsty sharks! Sharks and Boys has everything you would want in a good summer read . . . scary predators, handsome boys, and a cinematic style that allows you to see all the action in your head. I, literally, could not put this book down, and stayed up way past my bedtime so that I could see what happened to the stranded teens. Keep an eye out for this one!