It’s Not About Perfect by Shannon Miller

September 1, 2015August 26, 2015 - Ann Leave a comment

“When the odds were against me, I was always at my best.” When she retired at age 19, Shannon Miller did so as one of the most recognizable gymnasts in the country. The winner of seven Olympic medals and the most decorated gymnast, male or female, in U.S. history, Shannon tells a story of surviving and thriving in It’s Not About Perfect.

A shy, rambunctious girl raised in Oklahoma, Shannon fell in love with gymnastics at a young age and fought her way to the top. In 1992 she won five Olympic medals after breaking her elbow in a training accident just months prior to the Games. Then, in 1996, a doctor advised her to retire immediately or face dire consequences if she chose to compete on her injured wrist. Undeterred, Shannon endured the pain and led her team, the “Magnificent Seven,” to the first Olympic team gold medal for the United States in gymnastics. She followed up as the first American to win gold on the balance beam.

Equally intense, heroic and gratifying is the story of her brutal but successful battle with ovarian cancer, a disease from which fewer than fifty percent survive. Relying on her faith and hard-learned perseverance, Shannon battled through surgery and major chemotherapy to emerge on the other side with a miracle baby girl. Her story of trial, triumph and life after cancer reminds us all that its life’s bumps and bruises that reveal our character. From early on in her career, Shannon knew that life wasn’t about perfection.

In this incredible and inspirational tale, Shannon speaks out so as to be seen and heard by thousands as a beacon of hope. (description from publisher)

New Science Fiction & Fantasy in August

August 28, 2015August 24, 2015 - Allison Leave a comment

Featured new additions to DPL’s Science Fiction and Fantasy collections! Click on the title to place a hold. For more new books, visit our Upcoming Releases page

	*The Aeronaut’s Windlass* by Jim Butcher – Butcher’s new series “The Cinder Spires” beings when an airship’s crew become humanity’s lone defenders when an ancient enemy reawakens and threatens the world with monstrous creatures and perpetual darkness.
	The World of Poo by Terry Pratchett – Putatively written by Miss Felicity Beedle, Discworld’s premier children’s author, but of course by the recently deceased Pratchett, this is a book for all ages that Discworld hero Vimes is given for young son Sam. And that really is Poo, not Pooh: “But interspersed with the scatology was actually quite interesting stuff about septic tanks and dunnakin divers and gongfermors and how dog muck helped make the very best leather.”
	*Finches of Mars* by Brian Aldiss – It’s been 10 years since humans went to Mars, and in that time none of the children born on the Red Planet has survived. Desperate to figure out why, the colonists are forced to confront a disheartening reality: back on Earth, not many people seem to care what happens to the Mars colony. The survival of the colony could depend on the sacrifices the colonists are forced to make.
	*The Traitor Baru Cormorant* by Seth Dickenson – Baru Cormorant believes any price is worth paying to liberate her people–even her soul. When the Empire of Masks conquers her island home, overwrites her culture, criminalizes her customs, and murders one of her fathers, Baru vows to swallow her hate, join the Empire’s civil service, and claw her way high enough to set her people free. But the cost of winning the long game of saving her people may be far greater than Baru imagines.
	*Blood Call* by Lilith Saintcrow – Anna Caldwell has spent the last few days in a blur. She’s seen her brother’s dead body, witnessed the shooting of innocent civilians, and been shot at herself. The story Anna’s stumbled into is far bigger than even she suspects. Anna wants to survive, her ex Josiah wants Anna back, and the powerful people chasing her want the only thing worth killing for — immortality.
	The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu – The sequel to “The Three Body Problem” finds Earth reeling from the revelation of a coming alien invasion–in just four centuries’ time. The aliens’ human collaborators may have been defeated, but the presence of the sophons, the subatomic particles that allow Trisolaris instant access toall human information, means that Earth’s defense plans are totally exposed to the enemy. Only the human mind remains a secret. This is the motivation for the Wallfacer Project, a daring plan that grants four men enormous resources to design secret strategies, hidden through deceit and misdirection from Earth and Trisolaris alike.
	*The Fifth Season* by N.K. Jemisin – After the empire Sanze collapses and the vast continent Stillness becomes ravaged by a red rift which darkens the sky, Essun, whose daughter has been kidnapped by her murderous husband, crosses Stillness in a desperate attempt to save her daughter.

The DUFF

August 27, 2015August 21, 2015 - Stephanie Leave a comment

Kids in high school and even young adults in college think the problems they are going through are unique to just them and that the adults in their lives have no idea and can’t understand the problems that younger people are going through. As a result, kids seek solace in music, books, and movies where they find people going through the same problems that they face on a day-to-day basis. Funny story though: those books, movies, and music are written by adults, the very same people they thought were too different and didn’t understand them.

I found this same not-understanding,-but-understanding in The DUFF, a movie about Bianca and her two friends, Jess and Casey. One day when she’s talking to Wesley, a boy that she grew up with, who also just happens to be her hot neighbor AND the captain of the football team, Wes drops the knowledge bomb on her that of the three people in her friend group, she is considered the DUFF, aka the Designated Ugly Fat Friend. To say that Bianca freaks out would be a slight understatement. The distance between Bianca and her mother seems to grow strongest at this point, but ultimately Bianca realizes that her mom can actually help her navigate through life. Bianca soon finds herself going through an altered version of the five stages of grief, which lead her to make some drastic decisions in her life, some of which include ending her friendships with Jess and Casey and enlisting Wes’s help to not be the DUFF anymore while also tutoring him in chemistry because he is on the verge of losing his scholarship, has already been kicked off the football team, and a trade needs to exist for them to help each other out. Add in a jealous ex-girlfriend, Madison, and a dreamy, guitar-playing, potential boyfriend named Toby, and Bianca soon winds up trying to find out who she actually is and eventually comes to the realization that we are all somebody’s DUFF and that is completely and totally alright.

Sounds like the plot to almost every young adult novel/movie out there, doesn’t it? I thought so. (Psstt: this novel is also available as a book, if you’re curious how close the movie follows the book like I am.) I noticed a theme running between this book and the slew of other young adult books that I have been reading recently(see my blog about Girl Online); the theme of be careful what you put online and also be careful what you do because someone out there somewhere is watching you and what you do could end up online and could drastically impact your life. (The younger crowd may be rolling their eyes right now, but all of us older people know that this is true.) In case you can’t tell by that theme, some things that Bianca does in this movie end up getting splashed all over social media, but in the end, she ends up using the ability to go viral to her advantage.

The message in this movie isn’t to not have fun, but instead to be confident and comfortable with yourself in order to find your true self and your true potential. I found this movie to be a sort of Mean Girls and John Tucker Must Die mash-up, but with enough original content that it can stand alone. Watch this movie and let me know what you thought in the comments!

New Spirituality & Religion in August

August 26, 2015August 24, 2015 - Allison Leave a comment

Featured new additions to DPL’s Religion & Spirituality collections! Click on the title to place a hold. For more new books, visit our Upcoming Releases page. As always, if you have a book that you would like to recommend, call or email the Reference Department.

	*How’s Your Faith?: An Unlikely Spiritual Journey* by David Gregory – While covering the White House as NBC newsman and Meet the Press moderator Gregory had the unusual experience of being asked by President George W. Bush “How’s your faith?” Gregory’s answer was just emerging. Gregory approaches his faith with the curiosity and dedication you would expect from a journalist accustomed to holding politicians and Presidents accountable. But he also comes as a seeker, one just discovering why spiritual journeys are always worthwhile.
	*Uncovered: How I Left Hasidic Life and Finally Came Home* by Leah Lax – In Uncovered, Leah Lax tells her story–beginning as a young teen who left her liberal, secular home for life as a Hasidic Jew and ending as a forty-something woman who has to abandon the only world she’s known for thirty years in order to achieve personal freedom. In understated, crystalline prose, Lax details her experiences with arranged marriage, fundamentalist faith, and motherhood during her years with the Hasidim, and explores how her creative, sexual, and spiritual longings simmer beneath the surface throughout her time there.
	*Pope Francis and the New Vatican* by Robert Draper and David Yoder – National Geographic goes behind-the-scenes of the new papacy with unprecedented, exclusive access to Pope Francis. Embedded with the Pope inside the Vatican for 6 months, award-winning photographer David Yoder captures intimate moments in never-before-seen photographs presented here for the first time. Complementary essays by acclaimed journalist and author Robert Draper–drawn from interviews around the world with many who had never spoken publicly before–insightfully cover Pope Francis’s personal story, his journey to the papacy, and the heart of his ministry.
	*The Battle Plan for Prayer* by Stephen Kendrick & Alex Kendrick – Inspired by the Kendrick Brothers’ new movie, War Room, is designed to help anyone learn how to become a powerful person of prayer. The Battle Plan for Prayer begins with prayer’s core purpose, its biblical design, and its impact throughout history. Readers will be guided scripturally through the fundamentals of how effective prayer works, inspired towards a closer, more intimate relationship with God, and shown how to develop specific prayer strategies for each area of life.
	*How to Eat* by Thich Nhat Hanh – Eating is a chance to return to the present moment. How to Eat clearly and succinctly explains how you can incorporate eating as a form of meditation. The book provides practical advice on how to become truly nourished through the mindful preparation, serving, eating, and cleaning up of food. How to Eat encourages moderation and taking time to truly savor what we eat. By doing so, you too can become healthier, more fully enjoy what you eat, and help reduce waste.
	*The Gratitude Diaries: How a Year Looking on the Bright Side Can Transform Your Life* by Janice Kaplan – On New Year’s Eve, journalist and former Parade editor in chief Janice Kaplan makes a promise to be grateful and look on the bright side of whatever happens. She realizes that how she feels over the next months will have less to do with the events that occur than her own attitude and perspective. Getting advice at every turn from psychologists, academics, doctors, and philosophers she brings readers on a smart and witty journey to discover the value of appreciating what you have.

Sprouted Kitchen: Bowl and Spoon by Sara Forte

August 24, 2015August 17, 2015 - Ann Leave a comment

When gathered together in a single bowl, ingredients nestle against each other in a unique marriage of flavor and texture. This is how beloved food blogger Sara Forte cooks everyday-creating sumptuous dishes colorful enough to serve guests, simple enough to eat with a spoon while sitting on the couch, and in amounts plentiful enough to have easy leftovers for lunch the next day.

The Sprouted Kitchen: Bowl and Spoon is a visually stunning collection of recipes that reflects a new and more healthy approach to quick and easy cooking. Forte features delicious ideas for every meal of the day, such as Roasted Butternut Squash, Lentils, Leeks, and Poached Eggs; Yellow Beets with Spicy Greens and Poppyseed Dressing; Turkey Meatballs in Tomato Broth; and Lemon Curd, Berries, and Graham Cracker Crumble. (description from publisher)

The New Shade Garden by Ken Druse

August 21, 2015August 17, 2015 - Ann Leave a comment

There is a new generation of gardeners who are planting gardens not only for their visual beauty but also for their ability to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In The New Shade Garden , Ken Druse provides this generation with a comprehensive guide to creating a shade garden with an emphasis on the adjustments necessary for our changing climate.

Druse offers advice for common problems facing today’s gardeners, from addressing the deer situation to watering plants without stressing limited resources. Detailing all aspects of the gardening process, the book covers basic topics such as designing your own garden, pruning trees, preparing soil for planting, and the vast array of flowers and greenery that grow best in the shade.

Perfect for new and seasoned gardeners alike, this wide-ranging encyclopedic manual provides all the information you need to start or improve upon your own shade garden. (description from publisher)

Truly Madly Pizza by Suzanne Lenzer

August 20, 2015August 17, 2015 - Ann Leave a comment

No matter what the first day of a new week throws at you, no matter how looming the rest of the days before the weekend seem, a truly, madly delicious pizza promises something familiar, something reliable, something known. It’s confirmation that all the heaviness of the world will be held at bay – if only for a little while – by a combination of bubbling mozzarella, sweet fennel sausage, and balsamic-glazed radicchio. Suzanne Lenzer’s Truly Madly Pizza shows you how.

Beginning with the “Mother Crust” recipe, Lenzer argues that pizza dough is a tabula rasa for whatever healthy fresh ingredients you have on hand. To make pizza a nightly affair, she suggests preparing the dough on Sunday – in less than 30 minutes – freezing it, and simply transferring it to the fridge to thaw on the morning you plan to cook. Lenzer gives the timestrapped home cook countless combinations for a healthy, delicious (and quick!) weeknight meal. Balancing lighter healthy alternatives like Summer Squash with Lemon Zest and Ricotta with indulgent options such as Spicy Shredded Pork with Sweet Onion Jam and Burrata, in addition to bonus recipes including “Salad thoughts,” “Small bites,” and even a few ideas about wine, this book covers all the bases. Lenzer’s comforting voice adds a homey touch to her artisanal recipes and immaculately styled photos. (description from publisher)

Internet Safety

August 3, 2015July 28, 2015 - Stephanie Leave a comment

In the last year, there have been a number of internet hacking scandals that have the whole country wondering just how secure the information is that they are putting onto the internet. The most recent attack being on Avid Life Media, the parent company of Ashley Madison, Established Men, and Cougar Life. The group responsible, the Impact Team, brought to light the fact that the company was charging Ashley Madison users a $19 fee to have all of their data completely scrubbed from their servers. The Impact Team said that this was not the case, that the users’ information was still accessible. The hackers are demanding that those sites be shut down or the personal and financial information of their clients will be released onto the web (As of now, they have begun releasing the information of some). Many other websites, companies, and organizations have been hacked, from celebrities’ accounts to other retail companies. Each article published releases information to consumers about how to beef up their online security and to protect their identity, as the information that they post online can be used to track down to them in real life, as illustrated by the previous hacks.

Here I’ve gathered my some tips about how to make your online identity even more secure. (There have also been a number of security breaches of financial information of people who do not shop online, like Target, Neiman Marcus, and Michaels to name a few, but this blog is going to focus primarily on internet safety.)

In order to keep your identity safe and to use the internet safely, you need to utilize as many layers of protection as possible. Just being aware of what could possibly happen and taking the necessary steps to help prevent that will not necessarily guarantee that nothing bad will ever happen to you online, but will certainly make it harder for someone to gain access to your information.

Here are some handy tips to help you use the internet safely:

1. Be careful what you post online. Everything you post online will be there forever. Even if you delete your account, certain websites, like the Wayback Machine, save websites over time and allow users to pull up a web address and pick any date in history to see what that page looked like on that specific date. Most social media sites allow you to make your page private, so look for the safety or security settings within that account. Share only what you are comfortable with everyone seeing and don’t accept friend requests from strangers.

2. Create a secure password. Change your passwords often and make them at least 8 characters long with a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols. Avoid easy to guess words and personal information.

3. Think before you download an app. Most apps request access to your personal information, ranging from your pictures, contact lists, phone book, and friends list. On certain mobile devices, you can deny the app access to your personal or financial information and still be able to download the app.

4. Make sure you have a secure location and you leave the internet secure. This involves making sure that you have an https:// connection at the top of the browser and locking for a padlock up at the top, meaning that the site you are on is encrypted. If you are accessing a website that requires you to log-in, make sure that you are logging out before you close out of the browser or someone else can easily access your account. Never give out your credit card information without checking to make sure that the site is secure. You can buy a disposable credit card through your credit card company or through a retailer that you can load with a preset amount of money, so that if you are hacked, your personal information is safe and the only thing that is compromised is what is on that card. Use all the security options present on your device. Many computers, tablets, and phones offer lock screens, passwords, and sometimes even fingerprint lock options.

5. Be on the alert for scammers. Don’t give out your personal information online to somebody that you do not know! Scammers will try to steal your information, so don’t give it out over text messages, phone, mail, or the Internet, unless you are 100% sure you know who you are dealing with. If you are even the slightest bit unsure, close out of your email, open a new browser, and type in the company’s web address to contact them through their customer service.

6. Install security software. Run the virus checks and make sure that everything stays updated. Most businesses recommend virus, malware, and firewall protection. Some examples of these are AVG, McAfee security scan, Microsoft security options, and ZoneAlarm free firewall. There are other options available online. Do your research to figure out which one is the best for your needs. Some new computers come with free antivirus software as well.

7. Dispose of your personal information. If you are planning on recycling your old computer, make sure to wipe the hard drive; just erasing it will not do the job. Your hard drive stores all of your personal information and a not wiped one is a scammer’s dream to find! Make sure to recycle your electronics and shred any personal documents as well.

Check out some resources the library has available to help inform you on internet safety, online security, identity theft, and identity protection, as well as some real-life stories. Click on the covers for more information and to put these materials on hold!

New CDs for August

July 30, 2015July 23, 2015 - Bill Leave a comment

AUGUST 2015

Mac Demarco — Another One

Like the days of Steely Dan or Harry Nilsson releasing a classic album every year comes an eight-track release that expands the arsenal of Mac DeMarco’s already impressive catalog, showing the maturity of his progression as songwriter.
Disturbed — Immortalized

After a four-year hiatus, hard rock titans Disturbed announce their return with their sixth studio album, which features the lead single The Vengeful One. Their last album, Asylum, was the band’s fourth consecutive number one release.
Now That’s What I Call Music 55

From Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud to Taylor Swift’s Style, the biggest chart hits come together in a new collection that also includes hits from Maroon 5, Nick Jonas, Tove Lo, Jason Derulo, and more.
Buckcherry — Rock N’ Roll

Notorious LA hard rockers Buckcherry come roaring back onto the scene with their seventh full-length. They keep the party going with tracks like Bring It on Back, which is also the first single.

TobyMac — This Is Not a Test

The sixth studio album from the Christian hip hop artist.

The Burning Room

July 28, 2015July 23, 2015 - Lynn Leave a comment

The audiobook of Michael Connelly’s latest (hopefully, not the last) Harry Bosch novel is brilliantly narrated by Titus Welliver. The Burning Room is enjoyable on multiple levels. First, there’s the evolving relationship between Harry and an assigned protegee, Detective Lucia Soto, as well as Harry’s internal monologues about the careerists in charge of the LAPD and the incredible talents of Welliver and, probably least of all, the actual plot.

Bosch grows into an ever more fascinating character; professional in that he cares first and foremost about solving cases, rather than the political implications of each and every action. He skewers the bureaucratic bluster in the guise of the bumptious Lieutenant Samuels, Bosch’s nemesis. As they investigate two entwined cold cases, Harry imparts his survival skills and hard-won knowledge to Lucy Soto, a smart and hard-working disciple. Will she carry the torch in future Connelly books?

There’s a fine balance in audiobooks when it comes to altering the reader’s voice between characters; they should be distinct enough that the listener can follow a conversation, but not so in-your-face that you’re brought out of the story. Welliver’s gift is his ability to create, with consistent and subtle intonation, a conversation’s back and forth action. So much more efficient than “he said” and “Harry replied,” and “she shouted.”

His narrating work can be heard in several Robert B. Parker novels, while his acting can be seen in The Town, Gone Baby Gone, Twisted and Transformers. Age of Distinction. I’m sure acting is not easy, but reading aloud in such an intelligent and enjoyable manner must be even harder.

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