Cookies!

- Ann Leave a comment

Warm up your mixers people, it’s Cookie Season again! (Of course, in my book, it’s always Cookie Season, but December is the main event of the year)

Here are some of the latest and greatest cookie books from the Davenport Library.

Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your Mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich – Brand-new cookies and delicious new spins on the classics are here, with simple well-tested recipes and all the tips, techniques, and ideas that you need to please a crowd or satisfy the most sophisticated palate around.

 

Crazy About Cookies: 300 Scrumptious Recipes for Every Occasion and Craving by Krystina Castella – Delicious riffs on the classics and more adventurous offerings (like savory cornmeal olive cookies). There’s something for every occasion, from melt-in-your-mouth after-school snacks to fun Christmas cookie constructions.

 

Very Merry Cookie Party: How to Plan a Christmas Cookie Exchange by Barbara Grunes – Make a gorgeous variety of delicious Christmas cookies without spending days upon flour-smudged days mixing, rolling, and baking. This is your guide to the Christmas cookie exchange, where everyone shows up with a few batches of homemade cookies to swap.

 

Betty Crocker Cookies Cookies: 100 Recipes for the Way You Really Cook – Everyone has a favorite cookie, and chances are they’ll find it in this collection of tried-and-true as well as new cookies, brownies and bars from Betty Crocker.

Trick of the Light by Louise Penny

- Michelle 1 Comment

Mystery writer and four-time Agatha Award winner Louise Penny’s seventh book in the Inspector Armand Gamache series, A Trick of the Light, may just be her best yet.  The book follows the same quirky cast of characters who reside in the sleepy village of Three Pines near Montreal, Canada.  Artist and longtime resident Clara Morrow has just reached the pinnacle of her artistic career, a solo exhibition at the Modern Art Museum in Montreal.  The morning after the opening celebration, as Clara is relishing in her triumph, her closest childhood friend, Lillian Dyson, is found strangled in Clara’s serene garden and Clara quickly becomes the prime suspect.

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, of the Surete du Quebec, and his team are called in to investigate the murder, which has become even more complicated as the Inspector is surrounded by the residents of Three Pines, many who have become friendly with him and his team over the years.  Gamache soon discovers that Clara and Lillian had become estranged after a falling out decades earlier, which moves the investigation in a new direction.  In addition to the murder of Lillian, the story gives the reader a glimpse into the competitive art world and the story is peppered with artists, art critics and museum curators.  Gamache soon learns the true nature of the art world, a place where the competition between enemies and friends can lead to murder.

New to Louise Penny’s mysteries?  Start with the first book in the series, Still Life, which is also a must read and introduces all the residents of Three Pines!

Jig! Does it get any more fun than dancing, wigs and accents?!

- Ann Leave a comment

Sign me up for Irish Dancing lessons because after watching the documentary, Jig, I am pretty sure that kicking up one’s heels must be the funnest thing EVER.

Jig, a film by Sue Bourne, follows several dancers and dancing teams from all over the world as they prepare for and compete in the 2010 Irish Dancing World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. Every one of the featured competitors’ stories is fascinating, but I was especially charmed by the young girl from Ireland who lovingly displayed the dress that her grandmother bought her to compete in right before she passed away. I knew she was my favorite when the camera zoomed in on the calendar in her bedroom and you could see where she had written in the birthday of Disney channel star, Emily Osment, write next to her goal to win the world championships. She may be a highly focused performer, but she apparently still finds time to watch Hannah Montana!

What I liked most about this film was how HAPPY I felt while watching it. Yes, there are emotional moments such as when a young dancer clutches his stuffed animal and discusses being bullied or when members of the underdog Russian women’s team are refused visas into Scotland. But overall, Jig absolutely sparkles with passion and joy and left me feeling that skipping may just be the best way to travel.

At Home by Bill Bryson

- Ann Leave a comment

Hearty praise for Bill Bryson isn’t new to the Info Cafe blog (both Lynn and Ann have gushed about him in the past), but he is new to me! The audiobook of At Home: A Short History of Private Life, read by the author, was the first Bryson book I’ve read, and one of the most entertaining nonfiction books I’ve ever encountered on any subject. Part of the appeal comes from the irresistible subject matter: Bryson deals with the everyday, but elevates it beyond the mundane into something fascinating. The greater part of the book’s success is Bryson himself – dry wit that had me laughing and quoting passages to friends, great writing that’s both intelligent and accessible, and (crucially) excellent narration.

No matter what you’re interested in, there is something for you in At Home: architecture, cooking, engineering, etymology, inventing, transportation, medicine, sanitation and hygiene, social history, entertainment, a dash of politics, and mostly, British and American history. If history isn’t your thing, don’t be intimidated – though much of the book deals with historical matters, it never feels stuffy or boring (with the possible, arguable exception of a lengthy chapter on British architecture that suffers from a lack of the visual aids present in the printed book). The comforts we’re accustomed to – bright lights, running water, soap, sturdy clothing, efficient laundry, regular bathing, doctors who wash their hands, and a reasonable expectation that rats will NOT nest inside your mattress even as you sleep above them – these things are all shockingly new.

I particularly recommend this to anyone who’s a fan of historical novels, from Jane Austen through Diana Gabaldon; once you learn about the privy fixtures and habits of cleanliness in the pre-modern era, your reading of Emma will never be the same!

Super-duper seal of approval: after hearing a snippet while riding in my car, my book-phobic husband insisted on taking it off my hands to listen himself!

Seizure by Kathy Reichs

- Ann Leave a comment

guest review by Georgann

Seizure is the second in Kathy Reichs new YA series, Virals. The background from book one, Virals: a group of four teens and their wolf-dog are contaminated with a man-made virus. It gives them special wolf-like powers. They don’t turn into werewolves; rather, they get super-enhanced senses.

I liked Virals, but Seizure is even better! Our heroes are a group of ordinary teens, verging on “nerdy” but OK with their lowly status on the high school totem pole. These are great characters. In this novel, the group tracks down a long-lost pirate treasure in an effort to save the island on which they live. You just gotta love these kids! Although they are forever off doing things their parents continually ground them for, they just keep after their goal.

I enjoyed letting my imagination soar with the kids as they get into and out of one scrape after another. They are an entertaining group to spend time with! I chuckled out loud more than once. But I also enjoyed the suspense. they get into some dangerous situations, ala Indiana Jones, and I had to keep reading. Will they get through this? Will they get caught? How will this situation turn out? Will they find the treasure and save their home?

I had a day off and read this book in one sitting! It was that fun! Now, if I can only remember what all happened by the time book 3 comes out. Look for Code in 2012.

Prohibition on DVD

- Bill Leave a comment

Do you get psyched about the prospect of panning over black and white photos while a narrator describes what is going on in those photos? If you said, “Yeah, buddy!” then Ken Burn’s brand new Prohibition is for you.

With a total running time of 6 hours, it is relatively digestible as the equivalent of watching three movies. And in all seriousness, these black and white photos featuring denizens of the Jazz Age are truly intriguing. Even more so is the occasional bit of footage of flappers dancing, heaven knows the source.

It is not the documentary for you if your heart bleeds at the sight of innocent glass jugs being blasted apart by Volstead enforcers or the occasional bullet-riddled pinstriped gangster.

Fun Prohibition facts:
“Bad guy” Al Capone financed the soup kitchen that fed thousands on Chicago’s south side as the Great Depression took hold. The best charge the feds could level against Mr. Capone (other than keen business acumen in a market they created) is income tax evasion. Shockingly he didn’t declare all his profits on his 1040-EZ form.

Small cities of Bahamanian freighters would drop anchor three miles off the Atlantic coast to make deliveries to local boats. No one cared.

Many “Dry” congresspeople drank, some even accepting deliveries at the Capitol.

Alcohol consumption increased in some cities.

Some milkmen would deliver hooch to your doorstep in innocuous bottles to streamline the purchasing process.

Numbers exponentially surged for medical whiskey prescriptions and synagogue memberships.

I’ve never watched a documentary from the renowned master, Ken Burns. This was time well spent.

Buck

- Ann Leave a comment

By turns humorous and heart wrenching, the documentary Buck is far more than it  first appears. Sure, it’s about horses and how to treat them, but it’s also about people and facing adversity and being the best person you can, no matter what you’ve faced in the past.

Buck Brannaman (who was the inspiration for and consultant to the movie The Horse Whisperer and even worked as Robert Redford’s stunt double) travels across the country giving workshops on “Natural Horsemanship”, a method of training horses that rejects cruelty and “breaking”, and instead teaches understanding and finding mutual benefits for both horse and rider. People often bring “problem” horses to Buck, horses that refuse to be saddled or follow commands; invariably Buck has the horse calm and obedient within minutes, all done with gentle, persistent direction. Buck points out that most of the time the problem lies with the rider; he doesn’t treat people with horse problems, he treats horses with people problems.

What’s most riveting about Buck though is Buck Brannaman himself. Raised by a tyrannical father that regularly beat and abused him and his brother, Buck has actively chosen to leave that legacy in the past. He has an empathy for horses – and people – that only someone that has known what it’s like to be afraid and helpless can have. He’s found that the way that he’s learned to treat horses – by giving them a chance – bleeds into your life and how you treat your fellow humans. Buck is exactly the kind of person you’d like to invite over for barbeque and a beer – funny and smart and thoughtful, a true modern cowboy. This documentary is beautifully photographed and edited. Buck’s story informs the film, but doesn’t overwhelm it. And despite the past suffering, what you’ll remember and feel is hope for the future.

RiverShare Catalog – Map it!

- Lynn Leave a comment

Another cool feature of our new catalog is ….wait for it…

Map It!

It’s Friday night and you see that a dvd you want for the weekend is in at the East Moline Public Library.

You click on the title of the dvd, then choose Map It and you’ll get a Google Map of the greater Quad-City area. Hover over the yellow balloon (yellow balloons mean that the item is on the shelf). You’ll see the library’s hours, phone number and directions to the library.

How cool is that?

Reading History in the New RiverShare Catalog

- Lynn Leave a comment

Have you ever read a book that was so good, you were sure you’d  have no trouble remembering the title or author? Weeks later you want another book by that author; it turns out that the jumble of words you’re able to recollect don’t add up to anything that’ll retrieve the book.

Our brand new catalog has many exciting new features including “Reading History”. If you choose to “opt in” – from that point on, a list of what you’ve checked out will be saved.

If you decide that you don’t want the information saved any longer, all the data will be deleted.

So say goodbye to keeping lists – in notebooks, on pieces of scrap paper or in any of dozens of websites. We’ll do the work for you!

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

- Ann Leave a comment

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline is set in the year 2044 when technology has reached a peak and people don’t interact much in the real world anymore.  Instead, they interact in the OASIS, a virtual reality utopia where you can be whoever and whatever you want.  Created by wealthy programmer James Halliday, the OASIS has become the real world to many people, since the actual real world is in shambles following the great energy crisis.  After Halliday’s death, a video will is released with a challenge:  whoever can find the hidden “Easter egg” that Halliday left in the OASIS will inherit his company and his entire fortune.  The hunt quickly becomes an obsession for the whole world, including teenager Wade Watts.  Wade has lived in a trailer with his drugged-out aunt ever since the death of his parents and has studied Halliday’s life relentlessly in hopes of figuring out the clues Halliday left behind in order to find the Easter egg and create a better life for himself.

If you like advenuture and quest stories, Ready Player One is a really fun and unique one, since it basically all takes place inside a video game.  It’s especially fun if you have fond memories of the pop culture of the 1980s.  Halliday was obsessed with ’80s pop culture and included a lot of it in his clues, so all the best movies and video games of the decade are very well represented.  It’s also really fun as a fan of “geeky stuff” to hear pretty much all of your favorite things referenced (I couldn’t help but get excited that Wade’s OASIS character was riding around in a Firefly-class spaceship).

The book also has a lot of suspenseful moments as Wade tries to become the one to find the Easter egg.  One of the biggest corporations in the world, called IOI, has entered the quest for the egg in an effort to gain ownership of the OASIS and start charging for use of it.  Wade and his friends (including love interest Art3mis and his mysterious best friend Aech, neither of whom Wade has ever met in person) are racing to beat IOI to the Easter egg in order to preserve the OASIS that they have known and loved for so long.  Overall, Ready Player One is an inspiring story about the little guy trying to overtake Goliath and make a better life for himself and the people around him. It’s very affirming for fans of “geek culture”, and it teaches that being yourself and having a little perseverence can get you pretty far.  And of course, it’s a really fun story that I would highly recommend.

Bad Behavior has blocked 1684 access attempts in the last 7 days.