The Martian

January 28, 2016January 16, 2016 - Rachel Leave a comment

The-Martian-2015-movie-poster The Martian

Just looking at the title, one would assume that this movie is just about space, presumably Mars. But you would be wrong. The Martian is a story of survival that just happens to take place on Mars.

Mark Watney, portrayed by Matt Damon, is accidentally left behind on Mars after his crew mates erroneously presumed that he was dead. Watney must figure out how he is going to survive with some meager supplies. Surviving in the wilderness on Earth can be quite challenging in itself. One must find food and clean water as well as have shelter from predators and the elements. Imagine having all of these problems plus needing to have a supply of oxygen and protect one self from the hostile environment on Mars.

“If the oxygenator breaks down, I’ll suffocate. If the water reclaimer breaks down, I’ll die of thirst. If the Hab beaches, I’ll just kind of implode. If none of those things happen. I’ll eventually run out of food and starve to death. So yeah.” – Mark Watney

And yet, Mark Watney manages to find a way to stay alive. And he does so with a sense of humor. Even in a tense situation, while you are sitting on the edge of your seat, Watney will figure out a way to make you laugh as he himself laughs at danger. He makes contact with NASA and finds out that it will take a very long time for them to rescue him. The question becomes, will Mark Watney be able to stay alive long enough so that he can be rescued?

Nominated for Best Picture and for Best Actor, Matt Damon. The Martian won the Golden Globe Award for Best Picture, Comedy or Musical and for Best Actor, Matt Damon, in a Comedy of Musical. Do not let the Golden Globe Awards fool you. Even though The Martian has funny moments, it is not a comedy.

martian book The Martian is based on the book of the same name by Andy Weir which is also available at the Davenport Public Library.

Introducing the Davenport Public Library’s Online Reading Challenge!

January 26, 2016January 29, 2016 - Ann Leave a comment

Great news! Starting next week, the Davenport Library will unveil our very own Online Reading Challenge!

Would you like some help finding a good book? Maybe a little structure to keep you on track reading and not spend so much time online? (that’s my problem!) Ready to break out of a reading rut? Book Clubs are great – you meet new people, eat some fancy desserts, get into some passionate discussions – but they can be difficult to squeeze into a busy schedule and, horror of horrors – what if you have to spend your precious, limited reading time on a book you hate? Enter the DPL Online Reading Challenge!

This will be a no-pressure, let’s-share-some-great-books kind of challenge – there are no finishing prizes but, on the other hand, the Library Police aren’t going to show up on December 31 and drag you off to Library Jail if you don’t finish all of your books! (Hint: there is no such thing as Library Police) The idea is to introduce you to some new books/genres/themes you might not have tried before, to have fun expanding your reading horizons and to read one book a month (more or less – totally up to you.)

So here’s how it’s going to work.

There will be a different theme each month. The themes will cover a wide range of subjects and areas of interest. You may already be a fan of some of the themes, but leery of others (Graphic Novels, I’m looking at you!) At the first of the month I’ll talk about that month’s theme and give you a list of 4-5 curated titles that I think are great starter books for that theme. I’ll also link to any online lists of recommendations if available and invite you to chime in with any titles you suggest.

I’m going to be right there with you, reading a book a month. Some of the themes are favorites of mine but several of them are completely new to me so I’ll be tapping the expertise of our resident librarians (in case you didn’t know this, we have a lot of passionate readers on staff!) I’ll check in with you sometime in the middle of the month to see how everyone is progressing and list more titles I might have come across. Then at the end of the month I’ll tell you how I did and, most importantly, ask you to update us on how you did. You’re encouraged to add comments and recommendations via the blog throughout the month.

The rules are pretty simple; basically, there are no rules. If the theme-of-the-month is abhorrent to you, skip it (although I would encourage you to give it a try at least). If you don’t finish, no problem. If you’re impossibly busy that month, try again the next month. You are not restricted to the titles I’ll be listing; they’re just a starting point. The book itself can come from any source – the library, a bookstore, your own bookshelves at home (in fact, this might be a great opportunity to read some of those books on your “to read” list that you never seem to get around to!) You can read paper or digital or listen to it (if available) but please, no Cliff notes or watching the movie instead! You don’t even have to belong to the Davenport Library – anyone is welcome to join us!

Here is the Theme Line-Up for 2016:

February – Journeys (travel)

March – Magical Realism

April – The Good War in Fiction (WWII)

May – Graphic Novels

June – Summer Reads

July – Time Travel

August – Games We Play

September – Books about Books

October – Young Adult

November – Other Lives (fictional biographies)

December – Happy Holidays

Like I said, there are no finishing prizes (except for a glowing sense of satisfaction), but I do plan to have a few little extras available for you. Bookmarks listing the monthly themes and with room to write in what you read will be available in a couple of weeks as well as a display at the Fairmount Library with pertinent titles. I’m also working on a downloadable Reading Log that you print out and use to keep track of all the books you’ve read (a fun and valuable exercise), which we hope to launch in a few months.

Any questions? Thoughts? Suggestions? Please leave a comment or shoot me an email at ahetzler@davenportlibrary.com! Hope to see you right back here on February 1st!

New Religion and Spirituality in January

January 25, 2016January 16, 2016 - Allison Leave a comment

Featured new additions to DPL’s Religion and Spirituality collections! Click on the title to place a hold. For more new books, visit our Upcoming Releases page. As always, if there’s a title you would like to read, please send us a purchase suggestion.

The Name of God is Mercy by Pope Francis – In his first book published as Pope, and in conjunction with the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, Pope Francis here invites all humanity to an intimate and personal dialogue on the subject closest to his heart—mercy—which has long been the cornerstone of his faith and is now the central teaching of his papacy.

Breaking Busy: How to Find Peace on Purpose in a World of Crazy by Alli Worthington – Marrying popular secular research with solid biblical principles, Allie Worthington instills confidence that you, too, can move from crazy busy to confident calm. With refreshing candor, uproarious true stories, and a Christian worldview, Alli delivers truths that dismantle common happiness myths. Then she empowers you to get unstuck, to let go of the good to make way for the great, to know yourself and your Creator, and ultimately to find peace and purpose in this world of crazy.

The Vow-Powered Life: A Simple Method for Living with Purpose by Jan Chozen Bays – Making a vow is a powerful mindfulness practice—and all you have to do to tap into that power is set your intention consciously. A vow can be as “small” as the aspiration to smile at someone at least once every day, or as “big” as marriage; as personal as deciding to be mindful when picking up the phone or as universal as vowing to save all sentient beings. It can be deeply spiritual, utterly ordinary, or both. Zen teacher Jan Chozen Bays looks to traditional Buddhist teachings to show the power of vows—and then applies that teaching broadly to the many vows we make. She shows that if we work with vows consciously, they set us in the direction of achieving our goals, both temporal and spiritual.

Battling the Gods: Atheism in the Ancient World by Tim Whitmarsh – How new is atheism? Although adherents and opponents alike today present it as an invention of the European Enlightenment, when the forces of science and secularism broadly challenged those of faith, disbelief in the gods, in fact, originated in a far more remote past. In Battling the Gods, Tim Whitmarsh journeys into the ancient Mediterranean, a world almost unimaginably different from our own, to recover the stories and voices of those who first refused the divinities.

Out of Sorts: Making Peace with an Evolving Faith by Sarah Bessey – Blogger Bessey shares with her readers the power of uncertainty in the face of the transformative reality of the Spirit. Instead of arguments, Bessey invites readers into a conversation of loosely topical vignettes. These biographical reflections are a feast of wit, passion, criticism, intelligence, and, above all, gentleness. Whether Bessey is addressing how to handle theology, the authority of Scripture, social justice, or the problem of evil, it is always as a story. Along the way, we walk with her in her early embrace of the Charismatic Movement, her disillusionment with it and Christianity in general, and finally her critical reconciliation.

For the Love: Fighting for Grace in a World of Impossible Standards by Jen Hatmaker – Best-selling author Jen Hatmaker is convinced life can be lovely and fun and courageous and kind. She reveals with humor and style how Jesus’ embarrassing grace is the key to dealing with life’s biggest challenge: people. The majority of our joys, struggles, thrills, and heartbreaks relate to people, beginning with ourselves and then the people we came from, married, birthed, live by, go to church with, don’t like, don’t understand, fear, compare ourselves to, and judge. Jen knows how the squeeze of this life can make us competitive and judgmental, how we can lose love for others and then for ourselves. She reveals how to: Break free of guilt and shame by dismantling the unattainable Pinterest life.

Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad by M.T. Anderson

January 22, 2016January 16, 2016 - Stephanie Leave a comment

Biographies or any sort of nonfiction relating to the siege of Leningrad that occurred amidst World War II can become depressing to read because of the many, many atrocities committed and the vast number of people who died. Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad by M.T. Anderson is the opposite of the traditional heavy nonfiction. Anderson breaks up his story of Shostakovich and the evolution of Leningrad by dropping in back-and-white historical photographs that allow readers to put a face to a name. This inclusion breaks up the chaos and destruction happening within his descriptions of Stalin’s purges and the eventual siege of Leningrad by bringing in pictures and maps to connect the history presented with an actual physical place and actual people. It may seem easy for people to ignore and write off atrocities committed, but I find that when authors choose to add pictures into their books, the subject matter becomes even more real and life-changing.

Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad really brought to life for me the importance of art and culture to a nation and its citizens, both in a negative and a positive light. Anderson tells readers the story of Stalin and his purges: how he rid the country of top military officials, science experts, and a wide variety of other people and effectively set his country up for more widespread disaster when Hitler invaded and he had no experts to ask for advice. This book focuses on art and culture, specifically music and Dmitri Shostakovich. This Russian composer escaped death at the hands of Stalin and instead found himself navigating the tricky tight-rope of composing the music that Stalin finds appropriate while still staying true to himself. Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony is the one that he writes for Leningrad, “The City of the Dead,” and this book effectively sets the stage for discovering Shostakovaich’s mindset around that time and also the necessary cultural and political framework that he was up against. Highly recommended!

Check out the following fiction and nonfiction books for more information about the siege of Leningrad and related topics!

Reading Challenges for 2016

January 19, 2016January 25, 2016 - Bianca 3 Comments

It is a new year and the perfect time to start a reading challenge. I struggle at times with what to choose, because there is so much out there to read, and my time is limited. A reading challenge consists of following a set of specific reading guidelines over a certain period of time. The reading criteria all depends on the kind of reading challenge it is. You can usually find a local summer or winter reading challenge at your public library where you can read for prizes. But there are other reading challenges that you do for fun or to broaden your reading repertoire. There may be a requirement on your reading challenge for a type of book you would have never picked up on your own, but for the sake of the challenge you give it a try. It could be the best or worst thing you ever read, but that is the fun of the challenge. You just never know what you will have to pick up. In this blog are a list of reading challenges that span the entire year. They are different so you can pick out one that appeals to your style or current interest.

Committing to a year long challenge is great for keeping you reading, and for guiding you on what to read next. I’m not quite sure which one I will pick, but I will be participating in one of these challenges. I hope your year in reading is a good one!

Bustle Reads Challenge 2016 Read books by women and writers of color. Includes 20 book categories to complete.

Modern Mrs Darcy 2016 Reading Challenge Read one book a month. Categories are broad and leave room for you stay in your comfort zone if you want to.

The 2016 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge Challenge consists of 24 books and includes a downloadable chart to keep track. A wide range of books are covered including read a play and read a food memoir. Definitely a challenge that will get you out of your comfort zone.

Popsugar Ultimate 2016 Reading Challenge If you read a lot, this may be the challenge for you! This list includes 40 different categories and you won’t find any books that you can read in a day. Unless you read very fast! But there are a slew of fun topics like read a book written by a celebrity.

Challies 2016 Reading Challenge This challenge is pretty cool because it has a challenge for every reader! The Light Reader challenge is the first of four different challenges and consists of 13 books for about 1 book every 4 weeks. The Obsessed Reader is the fourth and most difficult, with 104 books! That’s 2 books a week folks. There are two other challenges that fall somewhere in between light and obsessed.

Daring to Live Fully Reading Challenge I liked this challenge because it gives you book suggestions under each category to get you started. There are 12 books on list which makes it very doable.

Back to the Classics Reading Challenge As the name suggests, all the books in this challenge are considered “classics”. Site gives detailed explanation of each category and one book recommendation.

2016 Diversity Reading Challenge These are books either written by or about a person of diversity. Two categories include a book in which a character suffers from a mental illness and a book with a LGBT main character. There are 12 categories.

Intrigued? The Davenport Public Library is about to launch their own online reading challenge! It will be a low-stress, no obligation way to expand your reading horizons and maybe help you find your next great read! Watch this space for details coming next week!

The Force Awakens novelization is here!

January 15, 2016January 15, 2016 - Allison Leave a comment

While the movie is still in theaters, the novelization of Star Wars: The Force Awakens written by SF veteran Alan Dean Foster, has arrived at DPL!

Set years after Return of the Jedi, this new action-packed adventure rockets us back into the world of Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2, and Luke Skywalker, while introducing a host of exciting new characters. Darth Vader may have been redeemed and the Emperor vanquished, but peace can be fleeting, and evil does not easily relent. Yet the simple belief in good can still empower ordinary individuals to rise and meet the greatest challenges.

So return to that galaxy far, far away, and prepare yourself for what happens when the Force awakens…

Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man by Brian Michael Bendis

January 15, 2016January 8, 2016 - Stephanie Leave a comment

Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man is a graphic novel that introduces the world to a brand new Spider-Man. In this world, Peter Parker has been killed in a major superhero-villain brawl and everyone is left in the lurch, mourning the loss of Spider-Man, dealing with the fall-out of learning his identity, and coming to terms with the fact that they don’t have a hero anymore. Along this same storyline, runs the story of junior high student, Miles Morales, and the various happenings of him and his family.

Miles lives with his parents and has his name entered in the lottery to go to a charter school, instead of a public school. After learning his school fate, Miles heads to his Uncle Aaron’s apartment, his dad’s brother, the one person that he is constantly told to stay away from. Once there, Miles is bitten by a spider with a number written on its back, a spider that escaped from Norman Osborn’s laboratory in Uncle Aaron’s bag while he was robbing the place. Everything seems normal until Miles runs out of the apartment and discovers that he can turn invisible. With that one discovery, his life is turned completely upside-down.

With his roommate, Ganke, being the only person who knows he has spider-like powers, Miles wrestles with what to do. Was he given these powers for a reason? Should he become a new Spider-man since the old one is deceased? What will his dad, a vocal non-supporter of any kind of mutant activity, think of him? How will he balance fighting crime and being a normal every-day junior high student? These questions and more are answered in this collection as Miles begins to fight crime, is introduced to Nick Fury and various members of the Avengers, and as he struggles to deal with balancing family, school, and his brand new superhero life. The author has added in some twists that are guaranteed to make you question everything that you think you’ve learned about the old Spider-Man and the new Spider-Man.

ApocalyptiGirl: An Aria for the End Times by Andrew MacLean

January 14, 2016January 8, 2016 - Stephanie Leave a comment

A theme that seems to be present in most of the materials I have been reading recently is the apocalypse and the end of the world. ApocalyptiGirl: An Aria for the End Times is no exception. Aria is stuck alone on the planet at the end of the world with only a cat named Jelly Beans as her companion. She discovered tunnels under this overgrown city and has transformed them into her living chambers. Although Aria is by herself, she has a mission to complete and one important part of this is to find working parts to transform Gus, a giant robot machine, back into working order.

Aria’s main mission? To find an ancient relic with immeasurable power called the Grand Photon. This gift from above is perfect energy because of its ability and power to transform an entire planet into a veritable Garden of Eden. History says, though, that the inhabitants of this planet had used the Grand Photon for evil, harnessing its power and weaponizing it, which eventually led to the scorching of the planet and the killing of almost every living thing. Aria was sent to this planet for what she thought would be three months, armed with a tracking device on her arm, to find the Grand Photon. Those three months turned into six years.

Andrew MacLean has put together a beautifully illustrated story about a young woman’s struggle in an action-packed adventure comic about the extremes of humanity and how even in a world that has been completely ravaged by war, we still long for a place to call our home. The artwork is bright and reminiscent of manga with woodblock art and a very-detailed, almost old American comic feel to it. Through the first few pages, it definitely becomes apparent that this story takes place not in this time period, but the art has you wanting to pay close attention to the vividness of each color and the different story lines. This graphic novel is not overly filled with back story; MacLean chooses instead to give us glimpses of history through Aria’s streaming consciousness, in essence she is talking to herself and through this talking, readers are privy to a much-needed-to-know history. With no one to talk to on this planet, Aria would naturally keep a running commentary in her head and also with her cat, Jelly Beans. This graphic novel was both serious and humorous; two things that if done right, work perfectly together.

iZombie: Dead to the World by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred

January 12, 2016January 8, 2016 - Stephanie Leave a comment

What would you do if you couldn’t remember who you are? If when you tried to remember your past experiences, you froze and realized you couldn’t remember anything? This problem happens to Gwen on a daily basis, but luckily she’s found a way to sort of fix this problem: she eats the brains of the recently deceased. Did I forget to mention Gwen is a zombie? She is…

In iZombie: Dead to the World, readers are introduced to the undead life of Gwen Dylan, a zombie who works as a gravedigger at an eco-friendly cemetery and who also lives in one of the vaults at said cemetery. Gwen keeps company with a were-terrier that she’s nicknamed Spot and a ghost best friend who has been dead since the 1960s. If her life sounds weird already, Gwen has to eat a human brain about once a month, so she doesn’t turn full zombie and also so she can keep her memories intact. Interesting little tidbit about that brain eating: Gwen is flooded by the dead person’s memories and thoughts right after she eats their brains and as a result, she feels the urge to help them fill their last requests: be it through finding their killer or delivering a message to their mourning families. Gwen has a lot on her plate, but she soon discovers that there are visitors to her town who are there to kill any paranormal creature who is existing when they should really be dead. Throw in Halloween, a full moon, a pack of blood-thirsty female vampires, and a mysterious mummy man who wants Gwen to join him in his killing of not-so-innocent people, and Gwen soon realizes her peaceful life is about to go crazy.

If this first volume sounds interesting to you, keep your eyes on our shelves for the release of the next three volumes. You can also check out the television show, iZombie, whose first season is available for check out at all three Davenport Public Library locations.

Grayson: Volume 1, Agents of Spyral by Tim Seeley

January 11, 2016January 8, 2016 - Stephanie Leave a comment

I’ve been reading tons of graphic novels lately. The main reason? I can usually get through a whole graphic novel in one sitting, usually even multiple ones in a day! It’s fabulous. Throw in a flashy cover and a high-paced story and I’m hooked. Grayson: Volume 1, Agents of Spyral fits all of my necessary graphic novel markers and BONUS: It’s about Robin/Nightwing, a thoroughly over-looked DC character if you ask me.

You need to understand some basic Robin/Nightwing backstory in order to not get confused, though Seeley and King do a very good job explaining his past life. Grayson: Volume 1, Agents of Spyral covers the story of Dick Grayson, a former circus acrobat, who after his parents were tragically killed in a trapeze accident(YES, I know this sounds ridiculous, but come on, as a superhero/spy, being an acrobat comes in SUPER handy), eventually comes to live with Bruce Wayne, aka Batman. Once Grayson figures out that Wayne is actually Batman, Grayson becomes his partner, Robin. They exist in peace, fighting crime in Gotham City, but once Grayson gets older, he decides to become Nightwing and continues to fight crime. Nightwing eventually is captured and killed by the Criminal Syndicate. Or is he?

Not a spoiler: He isn’t killed or this graphic novel would be over before it even began. Instead he goes on his merry way dispensing out justice across the globe and is eventually recruited into Spyral, a top-secret spy ring that is hunting for pieces of the Paragon, a God who was killed and who had his body parts distributed all over the world. Oh yeah, those body parts all just happen to be individual weapons of mass destruction. No biggie. So to recap, Grayson is now a spy for Spyral and is hunting down weapons disguised as body parts. Oh also, he’s actually a secret agent spying on Spyral and reporting to Batman because Spyral is actually looking to discover the secret identity of every superhero on the globe. (Turns out each superhero bestowed something special on each body part, hence how they became weapons of mass destruction). This plotline is fantastic! So many twists and turns that left me eagerly flipping the pages to find out what happened next. I also really enjoyed the bright pops of color and the way the artist decided to give such a lifelike feel to each character. Be on the lookout for the next Grayson volume!

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