Getting In On The Games – Fiction For and About Gamers

February 15, 2016February 10, 2016 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

Video games, whether on computers, consoles, tablets, or handheld players are fun diversions for many people of all ages. For serious players the worlds within games offer an escape, communities of like-minded individuals, and mild (or not so mild) obsessions for the players. It is no wonder that authors have used video games as subject matter, setting, plot device, or even characters in their work. Here are some great novels, divided into children’s fiction and young adult fiction, that might particularly appeal to gamers and those that lose them to the games.

Children
My Life as a Gamer by Janet Tashjian
Derek Fallon gets the chance of a lifetime when he is asked to test software for new video games, but he soon discovers that his dream job isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Game Over, Pete Watson by Joe Schreiber
When video game obsessed Pete Watson discovers his dad is not only a super-spy but has been kidnapped and is now trapped inside a video game, he has to use his super gaming skills and enter the game to rescue him.

Game On! by D.J. Steinberg
When Old Fogey escapes from prison and creates a video game that physically sucks the players into the game, it is up to Daniel, aka Loud Boy, and his friends to call upon their superpowers to rescue the captured players.

More children’s books that video game fans and players might really enjoy include:The Time Hackers by Gary Paulsen, Deadly Pink by Vivian Vande Velde,Close Encounters of the Nerd Kind by Jeff Miller, Only You Can Save Mankind by Terry Pratchett, Brainboy and the Deathmaster by Tor Seidler, Herbert’s Wormhole by Peter Nelson, and Game On! by Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm.

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Young Adults
Playing Tyler by TL Costa
Tyler MacCandless feels trapped caring for his older brother in rehab and working at McDonald’s, until he is introduced to a new video game that could earn him a place in flight school, but may also be very different than it appears.

In Real Life by Cory Doctorow
Immersing herself in an online role-playing game where she enjoys fantasy heroics, Anda confronts a difficult choice when she befriends a disadvantaged Chinese kid who works illegally to collect valuable objects and sell them to other players for real money.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Immersing himself in a mid-twenty-first-century technological virtual utopia to escape an ugly real world of famine, poverty, and disease, Wade Watts joins an increasingly violent effort to solve a series of puzzles by the virtual world’s creator.

More young adult books that video game fans and players might really enjoy include: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, Neuromancer by William Gibson, The Peripheral by William Gibson, For the Win by Cory Doctorow, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, In Real Life by Lawrence Tabak, The Eye of Minds by James Dashner, Erebos: It’s a Game: It Watches You by Ursula Poznanski, Epic by Conor Kostick, Insignia by S. J. Kincaid, The Improbable Theory of Ana & Zak by Brian Katcher, and Guy in Real Life by Steve Brezenoff.

Great Non-Fiction Reads of 2015

February 11, 2016January 7, 2016 / Linda / Leave a comment

books

2015 was a banner year for great non-fiction publications. But if you’re like most people, life probably got in the way of being able to read them all. Highlighted below are some of the non-fiction books of 2015 that garnered extra positive attention.

Hammer Head: the making of a carpenter – Nina MacLaughlin – Combining sage advice from Ovid and Mary Oliver with practical descriptions of tools and varieties of wood, the author, who quit her desk job to become a carpenter, shares her joys and frustrations of learning to make things by hand in an occupation that is 99% male.

Thunder & Lightning: weather past, present, future – Lauren Redniss – Focusing on the intricate nature of the world around us, as well as the personal relationship we all have to the weather, a National Book Award finalist and visionary writer—combining personal stories with history, interviews, scientific research and full-color photos—explores the transformative power of weather.

Notorious RBG: the life and times of Ruth Bader Ginsberg– Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik – In a lively illustrated biography of the feminist icon and legal pioneer, readers can get to know the Supreme Court Justice and fierce Jewish grandmother, who has changed the world despite the struggle with the unfinished business of gender equality and civil rights, standing as a testament to what a little chutzpah can do.

Witches of America – ALex Mar – Examines paganism and the occult, from its roots in 1950s England to its current American mecca in the Bay Area, and from a gathering of more than a thousand witches in the Illinois woods to the New Orleans branch of one of the world’s most influential magical societies.

The Monopolists: obsession, fury, and the scandal behind the world’s favorite board game – Mary Pilon – Tracing back to Abraham Lincoln, the Quakers, and a forgotten feminist named Lizzie Magie, and presenting a remarkable social history of corporate greed, the inside story of the world’s most famous board game reveals how Monopoly came into existence.

The Great Beanie Baby Bubble – Zac Bissonnette – In the annals of consumer crazes, nothing compares to Beanie Babies. With no advertising or big-box distribution, creator Ty Warner – an eccentric college dropout – become a billionaire in just three years. And it was all thanks to collectors. The end of the craze was just as swift and extremely devastating, with “rare” Beanie Babies deemed worthless as quickly as they’d once been deemed priceless. Bissonnette draws on hundreds of interviews (including a visit to a man who lives with his 40,000 Ty products and an in-prison interview with a guy who killed a coworker over a Beanie Baby debt) for the first book on the most extraordinary craze of the 1990s.

The Folded Clock: a diary – Heidi Julavits – A critically acclaimed author discovers her old diaries in a storage container and reacquaints herself with a much younger version of the person she became, musing on time, self, youth, friendship, romance, faith, fate and betrayal.

Clementine: the life of Mrs. Winston Churchill – Sonia Purnell – A portrait of Winston Churchill’s extraordinary wife and her lesser-known role in World War II discusses her relationship with political mentor Eleanor Roosevelt, her role in safeguarding Churchill’s health throughout key historical events, and her controversial family priorities.

Two Hours: the quest to run the impossible marathon – Ed Caesar – Delving into the science, physiology and psychology involved in running so fast, for so long, a first-of-its-kind book on marathons invites readers into the world of elite runners, showing us why this most democratic of races retains its savage, enthralling appeal—and why we are drawn to testing ourselves to the limit.

Sinatra: The Chairman – James Kaplan – Presents a behind-the-scenes examination of the life and career of the legendary performer that offers insight into his prolific accomplishments, multidimensional character, and complex relationships.

We Were Brothers – Barry Moser – The author recalls his youth with his brother, considering in prose and illustrations how he and his brother came to be such very different people, and eventually became completely alienated from one another, before finally reconciling in spite of their differences.

Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl – Carrie Brownstein – The guitarist and vocalist of feminist punk trio Sleater-Kinney presents a candid and deeply personal assessment of life in the rock-and-roll industry that reveals her struggles with rock’s double standards and her co-development of the comedy “Portlandia.”

Sources: Huffington Post, Kirkus Reviews

Front Row Seating

February 9, 2016February 5, 2016 / Susan O. / Leave a comment

“The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.” – Hamlet, Act 2, scene 2

Back in the 80’s, when we still had a Shakespeare Theater down in Stratford, CT, there was a performance of Shakespeare’s Macbeth that was put on for all the high schools to come and see. Of all the plays, Macbeth seemed like it would be the most interesting, with witches and murder and blood, and big velvety Elizabethan costumes. I was excited – anything for a field trip and a day out of class. Until we got there. Some idiot had decided the best way for 1,500 rowdy high school kids to understand Shakespeare was to imagine it, with a play that had no scenery and no costumes – the entire set was draped in billowing soft blue nylon fabric, like the green-screens of modern movie-making, and the actors all wore tight-fitting outfits of the same blue, as if they’d just escaped from some monochromatic ballet. That was it. It was a total disaster. The audience was so bored and riled you couldn’t hear the dialogue for the catcalls. That is NOT the way to introduce children to Shakespeare.

The good thing is, you don’t have to be a Shakespeare scholar to enjoy a good play. Whether you’ve had to suffer through drudging high school productions of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town or been dazzled on Broadway by Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan performing Waiting for Godot, a play is not a bad thing. Perhaps your only exposure to waiting-for-godot-ian-mckellen-patrick-stewart theater has been dragging yourself through Oedipus or Antigone in school, not caring a flying duck about the role of the Chorus in Greek tragedy, just glad you scraped by and passed the test. The real tragedy of teaching plays as literature is that they are meant to be performed, not just read in a monotone like a stumbling seventh-grader who has no idea how to pronounce 15th century British comedies, let alone understand them. When performed, they come alive, like listening to a good movie on the television from the next room over. Even my five year old, with occasional explanations, could follow the movie version of Romeo and Juliet.

So if you’re a theater lover, or just a student struggling to understand Ibsen, Cheshire Library is ready to help! Our newest precious addition is a 25-volume audiobook collection of 250 plays and dramatic adaptions by L.A. Theaterworks. You won’t just hear the play, you’ll feel it, as you were meant to. The plays aren’t just read to you, but fully performed by an all-star cast of more than 1,000 actors you are probably familiar with – George Clooney, Calista Flockhart, Dan Castellaneta, Mark Ruffalo, Richard Dreyfus, Jean Stapleton, John de Lancie (who also wrote one of the Doyle adaptions), and so many, many more. Leonard Nimoy performing War of the Worlds with fellow Star Trek actors? Yeah, that’s in there too. Neil Simon, Chekhov, O’Neill, Miller, Shakespeare, Sophocles – they’re all here, ready to keep you entertained for a solid year of performances. Listen to one or listen to them all – you’ll be glad you did.

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Here Comes The Bride

February 1, 2016December 23, 2015 / Linda / Leave a comment

roses

When you think of February, you think Valentine’s Day. So it’s no surprise that February is National Weddings Month. More couples get engaged this month than any other and while it’s not a popular month for actual weddings, it is the month when all the planning starts.

Some fun facts:

Average engagement lasts 16 months.
Average engagement ring costs $4,411.
Average age of couple – Bride, 27 Groom, 29
Most popular months to marry are (in order) June, August, September, October, May.
Average number of guests at a wedding – 175.
Average cost of wedding – $26,000.

If you’re planning a wedding – (or are hoping to get engaged this month!) – the Cheshire Library has a wonderful section of books to help you plan.

A sampling:

Stylish Weddings: 50 simple ideas to make from top designers

Style me pretty wedding: inspiration & ideas for an unforgettable celebration

Do it for less! Weddings: how to create your dream wedding without breaking the bank

The Knot guide to destination weddings

The Knot complete guide to weddings in the real world

The Knot book of wedding flowers

Simple stunning weddings

Handcrafted weddings: over 100 projects & ideas for personalizing your wedding

Simple Stunning Wedding Flowers

The Best Wedding Reception Ever!

For additional books, click here.

And if you just want to snuggle on the couch with your favorite beverage and just read about weddings, here are a few fiction titles for you to enjoy.

Four Weddings and a Fireman – Jennifer Bernard – Firefighter Derek “Vader” Brown is determined to get to the bottom of Cherie Harper’s ambivalence toward him, while Cherie fights to keep a nightmare from the past from interfering with her passion for Derek.

Beautiful Day – Elin Hilderbrand – Gathering on Nantucket for a wedding planned to the letter by the bride’s late mother, the Carmichaels and the Grahams hide their scandal-ridden, crumbling lives from the blissfully unaware happy couple.

The Christmas Wedding – James Patterson – Relates the story of Gaby Summerhill, a widow planning a holiday wedding to a groom whose identity remains a surprise to her four children.

Vision in White – Nora Roberts – Wedding photographer Mackensie “Mac” Elliot falls into the arms of safe, stable English teacher Carter Maguire as relief from the onslaught of bridezillas, but soon begins to wonder if what began as a casual fling could blossom into her own happy ending.

A Wedding in December – Anita Shreve – Gathering to attend a wedding in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts, seven former classmates find the reunion marked by the death of a spouse, a traumatic past event, a shocking secret, and health issues.

A Common Life: the wedding story – Jan Karon – The creator of the Mitford stories goes back through time to relate the wedding of Father Tim Kavanagh to Cynthia Coppersmith.

Late for the Wedding – Amanda Quick – Regency sleuths Lavinia Lake and Tobias March stumble into the middle of a deadly mystery as they become caught up in the search for a killer who targets wealthy older men on the brink of marrying beautiful, much younger women.

The Wedding Quilt – Jennifer Chiaverini – Meditating on the weddings she has attended in Elm Creek Manor throughout the years on the morning of her daughter’s wedding day, Sarah McClure evaluates the symbolic features on a wedding quilt designed to display the signatures of beloved guests.

Or how about enjoying a wedding movie? Check out these titles:

My Big Fat Greek Wedding – A young Greek-American woman, changes her life for the better and falls in love with a non-Greek man; now that she has found happiness, she must learn to come terms with her heritage while attempting to get her family to accept her new love.

Rachel Getting Married – A young woman who has been in and out of rehab for years returns home for her sister’s wedding.

Made of Honor – Tom and Hannah have been best friends since college, but when Hannah returns from a trip engaged to another man, Tom realizes he is in love with her and will do everything he can to win her heart.

The Hangover – Doug and his groomsmen head to Vegas for his bachelor party, but when they wake up the next morning with the worst hangovers they have ever had, they realize Doug is missing and no one can recall the events of the past twelve hours.

The Wedding Planner – When a wedding planner falls in love with one of her biggest clients, she must decide whether to plan his wedding, or steal his heart.

Rumor Has It – Upon returning home for her sister’s wedding, Sarah Huttinger discovers that her family may have been the inspiration for the novel behind the classic movie “The Graduate”.

Monsoon Wedding – Love, lust and hope envelop an upper middle-class Indian family and their world-wide guests as they celebrate for four days the arranged marriage of their daughter to an East Indian man from Texas.

The Wedding Date – Unable to deal with having been dumped by the best man at her sister’s future wedding, a young woman hires an escort to act as her boyfriend at the event.

About Schmidt – Warren Schmidt copes with the boredom of retirement, the devastating loss of his wife, and his daughter’s new fiancee.

Happy planning! Happy reading! Happy watching!

Hidden Treasures on the Lower Level

January 26, 2016December 11, 2015 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

When you venture to the lower level of the library it is most likely in search of research, a computer, copier, or fax machine. Maybe you are looking for the current newspapers or magazines, information on a particular topic, or some large print reading materials. However, like every section of the library there are hidden treasures just waiting to be discovered. Here are some great resources you might want to explore.

Biographies
Biographies and memoirs are among the most read nonfiction materials, but they can be hard to find. Thankfully our new signage makes it much easier, but I would like to make it even easier. If you have come down the stairs simply walk around to the opposite side of the stairwell enclosure and you will be facing the beginning of the biographies. They continue on in shelving to the right, both on the wall and in the short wooden bookshelves. Biographies are shelved by the last name of the person the book is about.

Travel Books
Whether you are planning a trip, or just dreaming about getting away for awhile, the travel books are a wonderful resource. This popular collection is another that often gets asked for or missed by browsers. The travel material call numbers are in the 900’s and can be found on the short wooden bookcases near the stairwell.

English as a Second Language (ESL) Materials
These materials are a fabulous resource to anyone looking to learn English, or improve their language skills. These are books about business and every day language use, as well as information about citizenship exams. There are audiobooks as well. The call numbers for these materials all begin with ESL and can be found in the left hand corner of the street facing wall of the building.

Magazines and Newspapers
The current magazines and newspapers have been moved from the upper level to the lower level. Both collections are highly visible after you exit the stairwell, or step off the elevator and walk towards the Reference Desk. However, did you know that we keep older magazines and newspapers for a limited time? The length of time depends on the publication, but if you need a magazine issue from a few months ago, or want to photocopy a newspaper article from last month, it is handy to have these available. The magazines begin right after the adult holiday materials, past the elevator, and continue around to the shelving on the back wall (parking lot side of the building). The older newspapers are shelved right after the magazine back issues.

Gardening and Lawn Care
Adult gardening materials are highly popular in the spring and summer, and are frequently requested. While you might not be thinking about these books yet, there are many valuable resources when it comes to everything related to vegetables, flowers, lawns, shrubs, compost, and so on. These materials are shelved before the rest of the non fiction collection because of the sheer volume and popularity or the information. However, if you did not know where they are, you might walk right past them.

If you cannot find the materials you are looking for, or need help narrowing down your search for the perfect source, please stop by the reference desk. Our Reference librarians know that collection, and its nooks and crannies, and have a number of fantastic resources at their fingertips.