Author: Rachel

Live Right and Find Happiness (Although Beer is Much Faster) by Dave Barry

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live right and find happinessLive Right and Find Happiness (Although Beer is Much Faster) is read by the author, Dave Barry.  I used to read Dave Barry’s column in the newspaper and I always imagined as being this goofy guy with a squeaky voice.  I was pleasantly surprised at how nice his voice is to listen to.  This audiobook is three and a half hours long, so it is great to listen to for a short road trip or on your daily commute.  The book is full of different stories and musings by Barry that are easy to listen to and enjoy.

My favorite story in this book would have to be repairing things in your house.  Barry talks about how going to a hardware store is the most depressing experience.  Unlike commercials for Home Depot, people are not smiling and excited about the projects that they are going to do.  They walk around the store terrified and unsure of what to do.  And, no one is able to go home and magically transform their house in thirty seconds, looking proud and satisfied.  Instead, normal people have to hire contractors.  And contractors bring their headaches, even to a writer who works from home.

Live Right and Find Happiness (Although Beer is Much Faster) is full of humorous stories from Dave Barry’s life.  He discusses travelling to Brazil for the World Cup of soccer with his wife and daughter.  It turns out that the tour guide books lied; not every person in Brazil will try to rob you.  Barry talks about his childhood, growing up in the “Mad Men” era, watching his parents have cocktail parties and then how his generation turned out to be hover parents.  Barry even has a pair of Google Glass and he talks about how ridiculous he looks wearing it.

These are just a few examples of the stories that are in Live Right and Find Happiness (Although Beer is Much Faster).  Barry will have you laughing out loud with his relatable yet ridiculous stories.

 

The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Petersen and the Churchill Club

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boys challenged hitlerOn April 9, 1940, German forces invaded Norway and Denmark.  Knud Pedersen and his family raced outside their house and looked at the sky.  Above them, German warplanes were flying low and pieces of green paper fluttered to the ground.  The German military alerted the citizens of Denmark that they arrived and were taking over the country in order to “protect them”.

King Christian X of Denmark, surrendered almost immediately, convinced that his country’s troops were unable to defeat the Nazi German forces.  Norway resisted with counterattacks with help from Allied Forces and with an underground resistance movement.

Knud Pedersen, his older brother Jens and their friends were ashamed of how their government had reacted.  Denmark had no army to stand up to the Nazis.  “One thing had become very clear: now any resistance in Denmark would have to come from ordinary citizens, not from trained soldiers” -Knud Pedersen.  After reading the newspapers and listening to radio reports from the BBC, Knud and his brother Jens decided that if the adults were not going to act, then they would.  So in the summer of 1940, the first resistance movement began in Denmark.

Knud Pedersen, Jens Pedersen and six of their friends made up the Churchill Club.  The club operated in Aalborg, Denmark for a little over a year.  But during that time, the boys managed to sabotage a lot of German operations.  The Churchill Club started small and with each success, their actions grew bolder.  They stole German weapons, destroyed train cars full of German artillery and machinery and left their mark wherever they went.  More people joined the Churchill Club.  Others assisted them as best as they could.  Of course the Nazis were angry about the attacks against them and sought to find the persons responsible.  The members of the Churchill Club were arrested in May, 1942.

The courage these young men had to defy the Nazi army amazes me.  Knud Pedersen recounts different acts of sabotage that he and his friends committed.  At times, the stories are tense and you fear for the boys safety.  And the book does not end at their arrest.  Pedersen and his friends were still defiant in jail.  Some of them were able to escape nightly and create havoc; sneaking into their jail cell early in the morning.  The Danish and German governments could not agree on what to do with the boys or how to punish them.  But the actions of the Churchill Club inspired more people to rise up and resist the Nazis.

This books is available in print and in audiobook.

Summer Movies

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There are plenty of movies that take place during the summer time.  But there are a few movies that stand out as classic summer movies.  Below are five movies that you can find at the Davenport Public Library.  Not included in this list are any movies that take place at a camp.  For help on finding these movies or any other ones, contact the Reference Department.

 

NLVacationNational Lampoon’s Vacation

The Griswold family decides to go on vacation at Walley World, “America’s Favorite Family Fun Park” which is located in Los Angeles, California.  Clark, the head of the household, thinks it will be a great idea to drive the family across the country so that they can bond.  Right away, things start to go poorly.  Clark orders a new car for the family trip, but the car is not ready.  So, the family has to take an ugly old station wagon instead.  And so begins the misadventures of the Griswold family as they travel cross country.  This comedy stars Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Anthony Michael Hall and Dana Barron.  This movie was directed by Harold Ramis and was released in 1983.

 

 

Stand By MeStand By Me

This coming of age film is based on a novella by Stephen King.  In 1959, four friends from the town Castle Rock embark on an adventure to discover the body of a missing local boy.  During their journey, their secrets and fears are exposed to one another.  Gordie thinks his parents hate him, Teddy’s father is crazy, Vern is bullied, and Chris is a kid from a “no good family”.  What started as a fun journey becomes a meaningful exploration of friendship and courage.  Filled with many memorable scenes, such as the pie eating contest, the leeches and the train bridge, this movie delights fans young and old.  Directed by Rob Reiner and starring Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Jerry O’Connell and Corey Feldman. This film was released in 1986.

 

 

adventurelandAdventureland

No, this film does not take place at the Adventureland Park in Altoona, Iowa.  And the main character, James Brennan (played by Jesse Eisenberg) is not having a “fun-filled day”.  In fact, his life seems bleak to him.  James had planned to go on the trip of a lifetime to Europe after graduating from college.  However, his parents are unable to give him the money that they had previously promised him and advise James to get a job.  James finds work at an amusement park called Adventureland.  He meets Emily, or Em, played by Kristen Stewart and they start a relationship. But this summer romance has misunderstandings and complications. This comedy-drama was directed by Greg Mottola and was released in 2009.

 

 

dirty dancingDirty Dancing

It’s 1963 and Frances “Baby” Houseman is on vacation with her parents at a resort in the Catskills.  One night, Baby discovers where the staff hangs out after hours and gets an eyeful of the staff dirty dancing.  The resort’s dance instructor, Johnny Castle, gives Baby an impromptu dance lesson.  Johnny’s dance partner, Penny, finds herself pregnant and can no longer perform a dance routine that is scheduled.  Baby volunteers to learn the dance routine and perform with Johnny.  Johnny has to teach Baby how to dance and teach her the routine.  The two cannot help falling for each other.  Directed by Emile Ardolino and starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, this film was released in 1987.

 

 

jawsJaws

The movie that terrified people so much that they stayed out of the ocean.  The movie begins with a young woman skinny-dipping in the ocean in New England.  Suddenly, she is pulled under the water.  The next day, her remains are washed up on shore and it is determined that she died from a shark attack.  More attacks follow and a bounty for the shark is posted.  Police Chief Brody, shark hunter Quint and oceanographer Hooper decide to hunt the great white shark terrorizing the town.  With one of the most memorable musical scores in cinema history, this film is full of suspense and thrills.  Directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss, this film was released in 1975.

 

 

 

July 20th is Moon Day

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full_apollo11On July 20, 1969, man landed on the Moon for the first time.  Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first two human beings to step onto the Moon and they spent two and a half hours on the surface of the Moon. During that time, Armstrong and Aldrin took pictures, did experiments and collected 46 pounds of Moon rocks.  They left behind an American Flag, a patch honoring the crew of Apollo 1 and a plaque.  The plaque reads, “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon. July 1969. We came in peace for all mankind”.

NASA had been challenged by President Kennedy to put a man on the Moon before the decade was out and NASA met that challenge. The Moon landing was a great technological achievement, perhaps the greatest achievement in human history.

 

New MoonIf you are interested in learning more about the Moon, check out The New Moon: Water, Exploration and Future Habitation by Arlin Crotts.  Crotts is a professor of astronomy at Columbia University. This book explores the history of exploration on the Moon and discusses discoveries that are being uncovered.  It is the complete story of mankind and the lunar experience.  Crotts presents little-known, but significant events in lunar science for the first time.  He also explains the environment on the Moon and the possibility of making the Moon habitable for humans.

The Davenport Public Library owns many more books about the Moon!  To learn more, visit any one of our locations.  Most books about the Moon are located at 523.3 in the non-fiction section of the library.

Did you know that you can read newspaper articles about the moon landing from 1969?  Check out our Newspaper Archives, one of our databases. Go to our homepage at www.davenportlibrary.com and look for Online Resources.

 

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

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still aliceStill Alice by Lisa Genova has been on my list of books to read since it was published in 2009. Recently, the audiobook version of the book arrived at the Davenport Public Library and I eagerly checked it out.  I wanted to read it before I watched the movie version of Still Alice, which stars Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin, Kate Bosworth and Kristen Stewart.  The DVD of Still Alice is available at the library too.

Still Alice is the story of a Harvard psychology professor named Alice Howland.  Alice specializes in linguistics.  She was a student at Harvard and has taught there for over two decades.  Alice met her husband John at Harvard where he is a professor of biology.  They have three grown children: Anna, Tom and Lydia.  Anna is a lawyer and Tom is a doctor which makes Alice very proud.  Lydia refuses to go to college and is pursuing an acting career.  Alice worries about Lydia’s future which causes tension between mother and daughter.

At a conference, Alice begins to have trouble remembering words.  She notices other problems with her memory and consults with her doctor.  Still uneasy after her doctor visit, she sees a neurologist.  Alice is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s.

It is quickly apparent why this novel was a best seller.  This brilliant scholar slowly begins to lose her memory, her lifestyle and her sense of self.  I believe that listening to this book on audiobook was more powerful since I could hear the doctor diagnosis Alice with Alzheimer’s disease and I easily imagined what it would it would be like to be Alice.  The majority of the book is filled with conversations between Alice and those around her so this book made an excellent audiobook.  Alice and her family learn to make adjustments in their routine and adapt to Alice’s changing mind.  Even though this book is heartbreaking it is also a beautiful story of strength and the human spirit.

 

 

June is National Audiobook Month!

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juneaudioSo June is National Audiobook Month. What does that mean for you?

Audiobook month is an attempt to increase the amount of book listeners. It is also an attempt to create awareness of audiobooks.  While some people cannot live without their audiobooks, other people have never listened to one.

I admit that I was skeptical of audiobooks.  I enjoy reading so why would I want to listen to someone read a book to me?  But seven years ago, I was going on a long car trip.  The thought of all those hours in the car doing nothing but listening to the same music over and over again was not appealing.  So I picked up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone on audio.  I had heard that the narrator, Jim Dale, was phenomenal.  And he is.  Jim Dale was won a Grammy award, five Grammy nominations and he has won seven Audie awards.

The hours in the car flew by.  I loved listening to Jim Dale read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.  I was a little disappointed when I reached my destination because I did not want to stop the book!  I have been hooked by audiobooks ever since.  I listen to audiobooks in the car all the time.  I often sit in my car in the garage listening to my book until I reach a good stopping point.

I admit that not every audiobook is phenomenal.  Some are just okay and others are unbearable.  Don’t be discouraged by a bad narrator!  Just because one narrator was bad does not mean that you should give up on audiobooks.  I recommend that people check out an extra audiobook just in case they do not like their first pick.

Davenport Public Library owns several audiobooks.  Most of your favorite books have been made into audiobooks.  So next time you go on a road trip, stop by the library and pick up a few audiobooks!

New Audiobooks in May

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If you have not listened to an audiobook before, I strongly encourage you to try it. It is amazing how many books you can listen to during your daily commute.  The Davenport Public Library owns a variety of audiobooks! Whether you like myseries or fantasy or thrillers or any other genre, the library will have something for you.  If you are new to listening to audiobooks, I recommend listening to biographies and memoirs. Most celebrities will read their own memoirs for the audiobook and they are highly entertaining.

The following audiobooks are biographies and memoirs that will be new to the Davenport Public Library in May:

i must sayI Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend by Martin Short-Comedian Martin Short, best known for his roles on Saturday Night Live, Three Amigos and Father of the Bride recounts his often funny and sometimes tragic life.  Short reveals the stories behind some of his most famous SNL characters as well as shares the spotlight with his friends and costars, such as Steve Martin and Tom Hanks. But not all of Martin Short’s life has been funny. He talks about losing his brother and parents before the age of twenty and as well as losing his wife of thirty years to cancer all with his upbeat personality.

hooeyA Load of Hooey by Bob Odenkirk – You probably know Bob Odenkirk from the television show, Breaking Bad and its spin-off, Better Call Saul.  But before Odenkirk starred in these shows, he was an Emmy award winning comedy writer on Saturday Night Live and Late Night with Conan O’Brien. Odenkirk’s debut is a collection of funny short stories, resembling a hilarious sketch show.  If you enjoy laughing and like comedy sketch show, then this audiobook is sure to please.

 

eleanorAutobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt by Eleanor Roosevelt – An insightful look at one of our country’s best known women, Eleanor Roosevelt.  Niece to President Theodore Roosevelt, and wife to Franklin Roosevelt, she witnessed life during the Gilded Age through the Great Depression up to the Cold War.  Eleanor was a champion for those less fortunate and used her influence as First Lady to help those in need. Often called inspiring and controversial, she continued to work for the downtrodden throughout her lifetime. Written in her own words, Eleanor Roosevelt comes alive telling her story of her life, living with her husband, her life as First Lady and years of work abroad.

Special DeluxeSpecial Deluxe: a Memoir of Life and Cars by Neil Young – In this memoir, Neil Young recounts his childhood in Canada and his family. He also discusses his living like a rockstar and his passion for cars. Young talks about his life with his collection of vintage cars. He has also been devoted to clean energy and converting his collection so that it does not have a negative impact on the environment. Witty and candid, this memoir will please fans.

brooke shieldsThere Was a Little Girl: The Real Story of My Mother and Me by Brooke Shields – Brooke Shields began modeling at the tender age of eleven months. Her mother Teri manager her career but in private, Teri was troubled and drank heavily.  Brooke describes her changing relationship with her mother over the years, including how Brooke was a mother to her own children. Teri passed away in 2012 with Brooke by her side.

 

It Was Me Allit was me all along Along: a Memoir by Andie Mitchell – Many people comfort themselves by eating and Andie Mitchell was no exception. But when she weighed herself at the age of twenty, she was shocked to see that she weighed 258 pounds. Knowing that she needed to make some changes, Andie leaves Boston and heads to Rome. She trades pre-packaged pastries for handmade pasta and loses half of her weight. Andie discovers that balance and learns to find beauty and acceptance in herself.

 

closeResilience: Two Sisters and a Story of Mental Illness by Jessie Close – Sister of actress Glenn Close, Jessie Close recounts her struggles with living with bipolar disorder. After five failed marriages and living on the brink of suicide, she struggled with symptoms for decades until Jessie was finally diagnosed in her fifties.  Included are vignettes from Glenn Close that offer an alternative perspective. Just in time for Mental Health Month, Resilience describes what it is like to live with a mental illness.

A Touch of Stardust by Kate Alcott

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A Touch of StardustA Touch of Stardust  by Kate Alcott is a novel about the filming of the movie, Gone With the Wind.

Fictional character Julie Crawford is new to Hollywood and is pursuing a career as a screenwriter. A female screenwriter is a rare thing in 1938 Hollywood so she gets a job working at Selznick International studios to earn some money. Julie’s first day on the job is the first day of filming Gone With the Wind. The first scene of GWTW that was filmed was the burning of Atlanta. Producer David O. Selznick decided to burn down old movie sets in order to make room for the new GWTW sets. At this point in time, Selznick had not cast the role of Scarlett O’Hara. The front runner for the role, Paulette Goddard, has not been able to convince Selznick that she is right for the part. Julie has been given a message to give to Mr. Selznick but she cannot get near him due to the crowds and the fire department keeping her away. When she finally finds David Selznick, he promptly fires Julie for giving him the message too late. The note told him that actress Vivien Leigh would be visiting the set and that she was interested in playing the lead, Scarlett O’Hara. Selznick had been talking to Vivien Leigh for the past hour.

Actress Carole Lombard takes pity on Julie and hires her as her personal assistant. Julie now has a front seat to the developing romantic relationship between Carole Lombard and actor Clark Gable, who stars in Gone With the Wind as Rhett Butler. Julie is constantly in Carole’s movie set trailer signing autographs for the actress or at Carole’s house helping her with a project. Carole Lombard becomes a true friend to Julie. She advises Julie on life and the way that Hollywood works. Carole and Clark even invite Julie to dinner at their home. Julie also spends a lot of time with David O. Selznick’s fictional assistant, Andy. Andy invites Julie to come on set and watch scenes being filmed. She witnesses Vivien Leigh’s first day on set, the siege of Atlanta and  the desolation of Tara among other scenes.

Another aspect of the story is the growing tension in Europe. The film industry was trying to ignore the growing war overseas. Some people in Hollywood believed that the war should be addressed while others thought that a war movie would bomb at the box office. Julie’s boyfriend Andy is Jewish. He has family in Germany that he worries about. Julie’s parents would not want her dating Andy because he is Jewish which is a source of tension between the pair. Along with that tension, the African American community has reservations about the making of the movie GWTW.

70th Anniversary Edition of Gone With the Wind
70th Anniversary Edition of Gone With the Wind DVD

A Touch of Stardust is a coming of age novel about friendship and relationships centered around the filming of Gone With the Wind. Author Kate Alcott’s late husband, Frank Mankiewicz, grew up in a film family (his father was a screenwriter and his uncle was a director) and shared many stories about Old Hollywood with Alcott. Included in the novel are stories about what it was like on the movie set and working for David O. Selznick.

A Touch of Stardust is available in print and in audiobook.

 

New Mad Men Landmark

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mad-men-statue
Actor Jon Hamm sits on the Don Draper Bench in front of the Time-Life Building in New York City. The silhouette of Hamm is used in the opening credits of the show Mad Men.

Are you a fan of the TV show Mad Men?  Are you travelling to New York City this summer?  Then you will want to head to 1271 Avenue of the Americas in Rockefeller Center, home of the Time-Life Building which houses the fictional Sterling Cooper & Partners office.  Outside of the building is a new Mad Men fixture called, The Draper Bench and a street sign that says Mad Men Ave and Don Draper Way.  The second half of season 7 premieres on Sunday, April 5th on AMC.  If you have not watched Mad Men, the library owns seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and part one of the last season of the show.

If you need other ideas on things to do and see while you are in New York City, the library has different travel guides available for checkout.  Frommer’s Easy Guide to New York City, Explore New York and Lonely Planet’s New York City are a few examples of travel guides you may be interested in.

 

 

 

Beware the Ides of March

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deathofceasarBeware the Ides of March.  Do you know what this famous phrase means?

If you are a fan of William Shakespeare you will know that this phrase is from the play, Julius Caesar.  The soothsayer warns Julius Caesar that he will die on March 15.  While the phrase sounds ominous to us, it would not have sounded strange to Julius Caesar.  The Romans had different names for different days of the month.  If Caesar had received this warning, he would have just thought, “March 15h might be a bad day.”

The assassination of Julius Caesar is arguably the most famous assassination in world history.  On March 15, 44 B.C., Julius Caesar was murdered at the Theatre of Pompey.  The members of the Senate plotted to murder Caesar.  They surrounded him and stabbed Caesar to death.

But there is more to the story.  Author Barry Strauss just released his new book, The Death of Caesar: the Story of History’s Most Famous Assassination.  This new audiobook promises to shed new light on one of the most famous days in history.  Strauss details the key players and events that led to the assassination of Julius Caesar and he reveals a person that few people know about.  Decimus, one of Caesar’s generals and a lifelong friend, was a mole.  His betrayal was worse than the betrayal of Brutus.

The Davenport Public Library has a lot of information on Julius Caesar as well as William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar.  If you would like to learn more, talk to one of our reference librarians today.