Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Mysteries for March

March is a great month for mysteries.  It is still cold enough to want to stay indoors and snuggle up with a good “cozy” mystery.  Mysteries intrigue the reader as they become more and more engrossed in the story and try to solve the “whodunit” which is what makes reading mysteries so enjoyable.   

My first experience with mysteries was the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew and at an early age I was hooked.  I love a good mystery and pride myself on being able to solve them way before the final chapter.    There are several different types of mysteries such as the caper, the hard boiled, police procedurals, legal/medical, private eye, historical and the sleuths.  If you want to read a mystery series checkout Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum mysteries, James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux mysteries or Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swenson mysteries which also contains recipes since she is a bakery-owning amateur.  Whether you like your mysteries on the light side or hard boiled you will find excitement awaits you as you try to solve the crimes!

-Jo


Tuesday, February 12, 2013

2013 Grammy Winners... Get the Music @ the Library!

Did you get to watch the 2013 Grammy Awards this past Sunday? From awesome music to funny moments to red carpet style, it's always an awesome event!

Did any of your favorite artists win? Were any of them nominated? Did you know you can download these songs for free using your library card? That's right! Just log into Freegal through the library's home page and download up to 3 free songs per week using your library card. See below for detailed instructions.

Here's a rundown of some winners and nominees...

2013 Grammy Award Winners:
  • ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Babel, Mumford & Sons
  • BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE: Set Fire to the Rain, Adele
  • BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM: Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You), Kelly Clarkson
  • BEST R&B PERFORMANCE: Climax, Usher
  • BEST TRADITIONAL R&B PERFORMANCE: Love on Top, Beyonce
  • BEST R&B SONG: Adorn, Miguel
  • BEST COUNTRY SOLO PERFORMANCE: Blown Away, Carrie Underwood
  • BEST COUNTRY SONG: Blown Away, Carrie Underwood
  • BEST REGIONAL MEXICAN MUSIC ALBUM (INCLUDING TEJANO): Pecados Y Milagros, Lila Downs
  • BEST AMERICANA ALBUM: Slipstream, Bonnie Raitt
  • BEST FOLK ALBUM: The Goat Rodeo Sessions, Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile
  • BEST ENGINEERED ALBUM, NON-CLASSICAL: The Goat Rodeo Sessions, Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile


2013 Grammy Nominees:
  • Blunderbuss, Jack White (Album of the Year, Best Rock Album, Best Rock Song)
  • Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You), Kelly Clarkson (Record of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance, Best Pop Vocal Album, Song of the Year)
  • The Truth About Love, P!nk (Best Pop Vocal Album)
  • Kaleidoscope Dream, Miguel (Best Urban Contemporary Album, Song of the Year, Best R&B Performance-Adorn)
  • Alabama Shakes (Best New Artist, Best Rock Performance)
  • Babel, Mumford & Sons (Best Americana Album, Best Rock Performance & Best Rock Song)
  • Let's Go, Calvin Harris featuring Ne-Yo (Best Dance Recording)
  • Wrecking Ball, Bruce Springsteen (Best Rock Album, Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song)
  • Impressions, Chris Botti (Best Pop Instrumental Album)
  • I'm Alive, Anthrax (Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance)
  • Ghost Walking, Lamb of God (Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance)
  • The Idler Wheel is Wiser than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More than Ropes Will Ever Do, Fiona Apple (Best Alternative Music Album)
  • Real Good Hands, Gregory Porter (Best Traditional R&B Performance)
  • If You Only Knew, SWV (Best Traditional R&B Performance)
  • Fortune, Chris Brown (Best Urban Contemporary Album)
  • Back to Love, Anthony Hamilton (Best R&B Album)
  • Write Me Back, R. Kelly (Best R&B Album)
  • Cost of Livin', Ronnie Dunn (Best Country Song & Best Country Solo Performance)
  • Four the Record, Miranda Lambert (Best Country Album)
  • From the Ground Up, John Fullbright (Best Americana Album)
  • Let It Burn, Ruthie Foster (Best Blues Album)
  • And I Still Rise, Heritage Blues Orchestra (Best Blues Album)
  • Live Ananda, Krishna Das (Best New Age Album)
  • Deep Alpha, Steven Halpern (Best New Age Album)
  • Seeds from the Underground, Kenny Garrett (Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Best Improvised Jazz Solo-J. Mac)
  • Multiverse, Bobby Sanabria Big Band (Best Latin Jazz Album)
  • Come to the Well, Casting Crowns (Best Contemporary Christian Music Album, Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance & Best Contemporary Christian Music Song)
  • Go Get It, Mary Mary (Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance)
  • I Win, Marvin Sapp (Best Gospel Album, Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance & Best Gospel Song-"My Testimony")
  • Jesus at the Center Live, Israel & New Breed (Best Gospel Album, Best Contemporary Christian Music Song)
  • When Mercy Found Me, Rhett Walker Band (Best Contemporary Christian Music Song)
  • Illusion, Fonseca (Best Latin Pop Album)
  • Kany Garcia, Kany Garcia (Best Latin Pop Album)
  • Electro-jarocha, Sistema Bomb (Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album)
  • La Bala, Ana Tijoux (Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album)
  • Sembrando Flores, Los Cojolites (Best Regional Mexican Music Album)
  • El Primer Ministro, Gerardo Ortiz (Best Regional Mexican Music Album)
  • Cubana Soy, Raul Lara Y Sus Soneros (Best Tropical Latin Album)
  • Desde Nueva York A Puerto Rico, Eddie Montalvo (Best Tropical Latin Album)
  • Retro, Marlow Rosado Y La Riquena (Best Tropical Latin Album)
  • Formula Vol. 1, Romeo Santos (Best Tropical Latin Album)
To Access Freegal:
  1. Visit www.plainfieldlibrary.net
  2. Scroll down a bit, and on the right side of the page click the blue Freegal logo.
  3. Enter your library card number in the box on the page that appears.
  4. Find your desired song and click the download button.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

More than the Tie Guy

Jack was a simple guy. Played by the rules...heck he worked at a public library for gosh sake! When Jack was at work, he did his normal functions; made coffee for the staff, sat down in the break room to get a doughnut (supplied by the director of the library every morning) and read the comic section of the local paper. He started his day at 8:30 am.  He was lazy. He only kept his job at the circulation department because of his famous neck tie collection.

Working in a library has its advantages. Libraries give you access to thousands of books from which you get thousands of ideas. For someone like me, who likes to write in my free time, this access to ideas is marvelous.
Photo from Creative Commons

My writing for fun started back in the seventh grade. One boring summer, I started on a story that I envisioned would be a transcript for a screenplay. Titled, “Hot Sun, Dry Sand,” this story ended up with pages and pages of short scenes that really went nowhere. Eventually, other activities took over in my life, and I found I was not writing as much.

When I began my writing routine again in 2007, I would scribble down thoughts on pieces of paper each day.

 Jack looks up from his notebook to think about what he was doing. A dating website? Had he really come to this? Yes, he had. He typed in a search for dating websites and quickly found out how many links there were. "Wow," is all Jack could think. All of these people are trying to find someone? He was definitely not alone in the search. Jack clicked on one site with the name 'Chat First, Talk Later.' He filled out the questions and submitted it. Be da beep! Jack had his first match.

What will happen to Jack as he begins dating through 'Chat First, Talk Later?' Well, I have not written that part yet, but I think Jack will have to date quite a bit before finding the right girl for him. Stay tuned!

-Dave (the Tie Guy)

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Watch for these New Books this Season

If you have “cabin fever” you will enjoy the new books coming out. Books by Lisa Kleypas and J.D. Robb should please their readers. Kleypas’s book Crystal Cove continues the Friday Harbor series and Robb’s book Calculated In Death continues the In Death series. So both romance readers and mystery readers should enjoy these. Other new books are The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult once again Picoult writes about a dilemma when an old man asks Sage Singer to kill him and tells her of the heinous crime he has committed. Sage is faced with the decision of whether someone can ever redeem themselves or do they deserve to die. This will be a fascinating can’t-put-down read.

Other new books include The First Prophet by Kay Hooper, The Black Box by Michael Connelly, and Touch and Go by Lisa Gardner. So make some hot chocolate and light the fire and settle down with a good book. Enjoy the “wintery” evenings.



Check our catalog for these new and soon-to-be published books to ensure you're the first to get a copy!

Monday, February 4, 2013

A Real Life Game of Thrones

A fascinating story out of Britain today: the remains of the last Plantagenet king, Richard III, have been identified after being discovered under a municipal parking lot. Richard was killed in battle against Henry Tudor (subsequently known at King Henry VII) and the whereabouts of his body remained a mystery for several hundred years. The death of Richard, and the marriage of Henry to Elizabeth of York (who, trivia buffs, was a daughter, sister, niece, wife and mother to various kings of England) ended the War of the Roses.

There's a reason why George R.R. Martin cites the War of the Roses as inspiration for his epic fantasy A Song of Ice and Fire - the political intrigue and positively dysfunctional dynamics of the Plantagenet family are legendary. They are also marvelous source material for contemporary authors of historical fiction.



And no one is doing historical fiction better right now than Hilary Mantel, the two time Booker Prize winning author. She struck gold first with Wolf Hall, a novel about Henry VIII, his marriage to Anne Boleyn and his failing out with Sir Thomas More, all told from the perspective of one of Henry's principle advisers, Thomas Cromwell. Mantel presents Henry as an almost sympathetic character, no small feat considering his popular image as a lustful, obese consumer of roasted turkey legs.

Last year, a  sequel called Bring Up the Bodies was released to widespread acclaim. It tells the story of Anne's downfall and execution and Henry's match with Jane Seymour.  A third novel, chronicling Cromwell's own fall from grace and subsequent execution is planned for the future.








Following close behind Martel is Ken Folltet who has authored two novels featuring medieval English politics. The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End are set in a fictional town called Kingsbridge and closely follow various English royalty including the Empress Maud, Henry II and his "troublesome priest" Thomas Beckett. Pillars of the Earth has also been made into a TV miniseries.



Finally, Sharon Kay Penman has a stand alone novel - The Sunne in Splendour - about Richard III, whom she casts in a good light. She also has a great series featuring Henry II and his queen Eleanor of Aquitaine starting with the novel When Christ and His Saints Slept.