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February 12th, 2007
03:36 pm - So much new stuff I can't keep track of it all!
After a bit of a slowdown around the holidays, new materials are just pouring in! Come in and take a look at our bulging "New" shelves.
A couple of highlights:
We won a raffle prize at a recent library conference for five hot bestseller audiobook titles. An Innocent Man by John Grisham, For One More Day by Mitch Albom, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See, Cross by James Patterson, and Echo Park by Michael Connolly are now on the CD Audio shelf.
We've been doing a lot of series backfilling, and it's starting to pay off! When our February book orders arrive at the end of this week, we'll have all of the titles in Stephen Coonts and Jim DeFelice's Deep Black technothriller paperback series and James Doss' Charlie Moon Mysteries, as well as the brand-new sequels to Christopher Moore's Bloodsucking Fiends (You Suck: A Love Story) and Lalita Tademy's Cane River (Red River). We've got the last few titles in the Junie B. Jones chapter book series and the Naruto manga series coming, along with the next batch of Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo books. We should have all of the Katie Kazoo books by April, so let us know which chapter book series you want to see next!
Many, many thanks to all of the wonderful patrons who've brought in donations in recent weeks! We've been struggling to keep up with them in the cataloging office (and as I'm writing this, someone just came in with an armload of donations!) There are no words for how deeply we appreciate every single one.
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February 9th, 2007
12:05 pm - Link(s) of the week: A virtual (really!) world of museums
I arrived at work this morning to find, much to my delight, a box from Jefferson County Public library containing the weeded copies of two-volume The Masterpieces of the J. Paul Getty Museum which we'd requested. Thanks JeffCo folks!
These are beautiful, beautiful books. Really. Come take a look. In celebration of these and other art and design books we've added recently (ranging all over the map, from The New Yorker Book of Cat Cartoons to Seeing America: Women Photographers Between the Wars to The Complete Guide to Calligraphy) - and also in celebration of our very cool new logo - I've decided to focus next week's main floor display on art and design. And also to share some of my favorite museum links.
Of course, starting with the Getty. There's some fun stuff here. Play Flash-based logic and observation games using images of the museum's vast collection of both paintings and antiquities; download lesson plans; explore the indexed collection, including current exhibitions with audio commentary and full pan-and-zoom images of the artworks. But all in all, this site is really intended to be more an introduction to the Getty's physical holdings. Likewise, Colorado's own Denver Art Museum is really a teaser for the bricks-and-mortar museum, although the Explore Art section offers beautifully presented and intuitively organized examples of art styles from around the world.
The coolest thing about the Metropolitan Museum of Art is the Timeline of Art History. This scrolling, totally interactive timeline spans 20,000 years and nineteen special subject categories.
The Interactive Museum of News is just that. Read the front pages of any of 560 daily newspapers from 54 countries. Play the Flash current events trivia game NewsMania. View current and past online exhibitions. Read a critical analysis of today's news, and learn about this week in news history, on the news page. Find out about student journalism awards. Do more in-depth reading about free speech and journalism in America by visiting the museum's partner institutions: the Freedom Forum, the Diversity Institute at Vanderbilt, and the First Amendment Center.
The Exploratorium created the standard for interactive museums over a decade ago, and it's still one of the best. Explore the permanent online exhibits, including Stories from the Path of Totality (solar eclipses), The Accidental Scientist (science in the kitchen), From Jungle to Lab (biodiversity), and Space Weather. Take a look at at the lists of online activities, hands-on projects, and Exploratorium Snacks (quick, simple hands-on projects requiring very few materials). Watch a webcast. Find something I've missed - the Exploratorium site is huge!
Of course, don't miss the Smithsonian, with its many member institutions, including the National Air and Space Museum and the National Zoo. Want more? Check out MuseumStuff, one of the most comprehensive and user-friendly of the many museum directories online.
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October 11th, 2006
04:03 pm - What's coming up
First, the news that I know a lot of you have been waiting for...
Lemony Snicket is here! The End arrived this morning, is catalogued, and is ready to go out to the lucky first requester on Friday morning. We do only have one copy, so if you haven't placed your hold yet, call or drop in and get on the list. It looks like great fun. In an unfortunate sort of way, of course.
We've recently recieved two future-release announcements that I'm very excited about. Michael Crichton releases his next, Next (yes, that's the title) on November 28th. Is that on a bit of a short notice? Yes, it is - less than two and a half months from the initial press release to the street date. There's going to be a lot of hype about this one.
Also on very short notice, Thomas Harris' long-awaited prequel to Red Dragon, Hannibal Rising will be out December 5. This exploration of the child, Hannibal Lecter, was simultaneously written as a novel and a screenplay - and it's in post-production in both media now. The film's release date is set for February 9th. It will be interesting to see whether this experiment leads to more near-simultaneous book/film releases.
Get holds placed for these titles early! We're also really excited about new Stephen King (October 24), new Nicholas Sparks (October 31), and new Tony Hillerman (November 1).
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August 17th, 2006
05:06 pm - Fall reads, and placing holds on books that haven't been released yet
The Denver Post had a fantastic article about upcoming fall books recently - in fact, it was so intriguing that I immediately bought many of the mentioned titles. It's going to be a good season, from James Patterson and Michael Connolly to Margaret Atwood and Isabelle Allende to Cormac McCarthy and Alice McDermott.
Veteran thriller writers Delson DeMille (Wild Fire, Nov. 6); Frederick Forsyth (yes, Frederick Forsyth! The Afghan, Aug. 22) and John LeCarre (The Mission Song, Sep. 19) have new releases coming. So do critically acclaimed Isabelle Allende (Ines of My Soul, Nov. 1); Alice McDermott (After This, Sep. 5); Susannah Clarke (The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories, Oct. 17); and Margaret Atwood (Moral Disorder: and Other Stories, Sep. 19). Charles Frazier's much-anticipated Thirteen Moons (Oct. 3) is his first release since the National Book Award-winning Cold Mountain almost ten years ago. And lots, lots more.
And, we JUST (I mean fifteen minutes ago!) set up pre-publication holds functionality. For the next few months, it's going to be just the most intensely anticipated titles, but we'll expand it as we go. (Right now, the only the first titles available for reserve are the latest in Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson's ambitious Dune series, Hunters of Dune (Aug 22); Stephen King's Lisey's Story (Oct. 24); Janet Evanovich's Motor Mouth (Oct. 1); and Lemony Snickett's The Beatrice Letters (Sep. 1) and The End (Oct. 1).)
(I've just added all of the books mentioned in this e-mail, as well as Tony Hillerman's Shape Shifter (Oct. 1); Nicholas Sparks' Dear John (Oct. 31); Dean Koontz' Brother Odd (Nov. 28); and Jed Reubenfeld's much talked about debut novel, The Interpretation of a Murder (Sep. 5).
To search for pre-publication titles, either from the electronic catalog in the library or from the catalog search here on the website, type "PRE" into the search box and click on "Call Number." That will bring up a list of all of the books that are ready for pre-publication holds. (It's not everything we have on order... but, eventually, it will be.) If you see the book you want, just ask the circ staff to place a hold for you. If not, submit a request to purchase and we'll get it in the system as quickly as we can. - updated 8/19/06)
I'm really excited about prepub holds. It's something that patrons expect from cutting-edge libraries, and it's just one more way to make it as easy as possible for you to get the books you want, when you want them.
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July 12th, 2006
12:15 pm - New CD games!
If you're bored with the selection of JumpStart and Magic School Bus CDs for the kids' computers, or if they're just a little too young for you, check this out: a donation from John Mall High School has expanded our games and educational software selection!
New titles include:
Math Blaster Algebra (middle school level)
Writing Blaster (grade 1-3)
Word Blaster (grade 4-7)
Ultimate Speed Reader (middle school to adult)
Student Writing and Research Center (middle school/high school)
Writing Tutor (middle school/high school)
GeoSafari History (middle school)
GeoSafari Geography(middle school)
JumpStart Adventures 5th Grade
Amazon Trail II (middle school)
Sim City (all ages)
Wings Saigon to Persian Gulf: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft and Aviation From 1975 to 1996 (middle school to adult)
Invention Studio (upper elementary to middle school)
You can find software on the turn-shelf with CD audiobooks, and it's for in-building use only.
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May 17th, 2006
02:53 pm - All the new books...
According to the computer, we have added 96 new items to the collection in the past week. 96!
Some of those aren't "new" - like the Polk Directories (the wonderful phone books with the reverse-lookup tables by phone number and street addresses. Do you know who owned your house in 1964?) They have been on the shelf for a long time, but not in the catalogue. You can find them at CC 910.25 Pol.
And some of them aren't "new", but they're new to us - thank you to all of the wonderful people who have brought in donations recently! Besides local donations, we have also recieved a bunch of items for the Colorado Collection through the aLibris Donate-A-Book program, which they have been promoting really heavily in the last few weeks. Some of them include:
Coal Resources of the Trinidad Coal Field in Huerfano and Las Animas Counties, Colorado by Ross B Johnson
Biographical sketches : Colonel John M. Francisco, Hiram Vasquez, Henry Daigre by Raymond Wilson
Christmas in the Old West: A Historical Scrapbook by Sam Travers
Cycling Colorado's Mountain Passes by Kurt Magsamen
People of the Red Earth : American Indians of Colorado by Sally Crum
At the End of the Santa Fe Trail, the 19th-century pioneer memoir of Sister Blandina Segale.
But a lot of these books are new releases. Hot new bestsellers from Mary Higgins Clark, Harlan Coben, Anne Tyler, Julia Alvarez, Steve Berry, Amanda Quick, and others are here, with more new releases coming in the next few weeks as the summer reading season heats up. The best new nonfiction is also here, including:
The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast by Douglas Brinkley
The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East by Sandy Tolan
In Cold Blood : a True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences by Truman Capote (of course this is not new, but it's getting a lot of new attention since the movie)
Clemente : the Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero by David Maraniss
Mayflower : a Story of Courage, Community and War by Nathaniel Philbrick
American theocracy : The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century by Kevin Phillips
And the book that everyone is talking about, A Strange Piece of Paradise by Terri Jentz. George Rede of the Oregonian, who wrote the original news piece for that paper, writes a touching and deeply personal review.
Terri Jentz's story of survival defies the imagination. Even more incredible than her recovery is the turn of events that saw the victim hunt down her alleged attacker. And what's downright inspiring is the upbeat approach she has taken to her mended life. When we met before her reading at Powell's, she shook my hand and, smiling, thanked me for the flowers she'd received nearly three decades earlier.
"I sent you flowers?"
"Oh, yes. You don't remember? I still have the card that came with them."
Lots and lots and lots of new stuff. Come check it out!
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May 3rd, 2006
02:31 pm - New from Cañon City
Last week, Monica, Will, Consuelo, and Geraldine headed up to Cañon City for the Southeast Area Librarians training conference. They brought back some great stuff, in a wide variety of reading levels and subject areas. Some (but not all) of the new books include:
Horses of myth by Hausman, Gerald: stories from the Sahara, the American West, Central Asia, Tahiti, and Armenia.
Casey at the bat: a gorgeous contemporary graphic-novel style rendering of E.L. Thayer's classic poem.
Beyond the great mountains : a visual poem about China : Written and illustrated by Ed Young, with lovely images and elegantly simple text.
Fritz's fish: a very sweet story of a little boy who really wants a pet, by German author Geraldine Elschner.
The Old African: a lushly illustrated version of the Julius Lester classic.
Armed gunmen, true facts, and other ridiculous nonsense: a compiled compendium of repetitive redundancies by Richard Kallan: exactly what it says.
Pumpkin : a super food for all 12 months of the year by DeeDee Stovel: just luscious.
Tab Hunter confidential : the making of a movie star by Tab Hunter: juicy and meticulously detailed memoir from the golden era of Hollywood.
My Jim : a novel by Nancy Rawles: a powerful and vivid retelling of Huckleberry Finn, from the perspective of Jim's wife Sadie.
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01:15 pm - You won't find the new Michael Connelly on the fiction shelf...
... because Crime Beat is a nonfiction collection of stories about his pre-superstar-novelist life as a crime reporter for the South Florida Sun-Sentinal and L.A. Times. Released a week early (originally slated for May 8) and already working its way rapidly up the nonfiction bestseller list, this is likely to be the hottest true-crime read of the year.
On order: A Death in Belmont by Sebastian Junger. The New York Times book review is intriguing.
Also recently reviewed (this in the Denver Post) and now on the shelf: Digging to America by Anne Tyler.
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April 14th, 2006
12:55 pm - Magic Tree House
Hey kids - we now have ALL of the Magic Tree House books! Yep, all of the missing ones have been replaced, and all of the new ones have been bought. We even have the newest book in the series, Blizzard of the New Moon, on pre-order. It will be released on September 26, which is a Tuesday, so look for it on our shelves by that weekend.
Now that we've got the entire series, we're buying the "Magic Treehouse Research Guides", which are non-fiction companion books to the stories. So far we have:
- Dinosaurs
- Pirates
- Knights and Castles
- Mummies and Pyramids
We'll be buying more each month.
We've also got a great new series, the "Akimbo" books by Alexander McCall Smith. Akimbo is an 8-year-old boy whose father is a ranger at a wildlife reserve in Kenya. There's no magic in these books, but Akimbo is just like Annie and Jack - a smart, curious kid who solves problems, makes discoveries, and has a lot of fun doing it.
[edit]
In the big shipment of books that I posted about yesterday, we also got several more Research Guides:
-Ancient Greece and the Olympics
-Dolphins and Sharks
-Rain Forests
-Space
-Titanic
-Twisters and Other Terrible Storms
By the middle of June, we should have all of the Research Guides. We've also gotten the newest Akimbo book, Akimbo and the Crocodile Man.
-May 18, 2006
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March 31st, 2006
05:39 pm - Just in time for the Health Fair...
... a huge batch of medical books. We recieved an institutional donation from Jefferson County Public Library - thanks, JeffCo folks!
Replacing older editions of core Reference items:
- The Physician Desk Reference 2005
- Consumer Reports Consumer Drug Reference 2005
- Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment 2005
- The Essential Guide to Perscription Drugs 2005
New additions to the Reference section:
- Drug Facts and Comparisons 2005
- The Physician's Desk Reference for Non-Perscription Drugs and Dietary Supplements 2004
- Stedman's Medical Dictionary
And new additions available for checkout:
- Taking Care of Your Child: A Parent's Illustrated Guide to Complete Medical Care
- Caring for Aging Loved Ones
- Your Pregnancy Week-By-Week (replacing an older edition)
- Your Baby's First Year Week-By-Week
- Laughing Allegra: The Inspiring Story of a Mother's Struggle and Triumph Raising a Daughter with Learning Disabilities
- Conception, Pregnancy, and Birth
- Healthy Child, Whole Child: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Alternative Medicine to Keep Your Kids Healthy
- The Children's Hospital Guide to Your Child's Health and Development (adding a circulating copy to the copy we already have in Reference)
- The Complete Book of Yoga Meditation for Pregnancy
- The Encyclopedia of Deafness and Hearing Disorders
- The Complete Guide to Alzheimer's-Proofing Your Home
- Love, Laughter, and Parenting in the Precious Years From Birth to Age Six
Monica will have a bunch of these books with her at the Health Fair tomorrow - come take a look!
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March 20th, 2006
05:52 pm - Thanks and true-crime
We have some wonderful patrons who come in on a regular basis and donate large numbers of books. You know who you are, and I hope you know how much we appreciate your gifts.
Donations that came in over the weekend, and should be on the shelf by the end of the week, include some great titles in true crime and historical drama with a criminal element. Some of the new books are:
The Most Evil Dictators in History by Shelley Klein
The vendetta : FBI hero Melvin Purvis's war on crime and Edgar J. Hoover's war on him by the subject's son, Alston Purvis.
The Third Reich in power, 1933-1939
Meet you in hell : Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and the bitter partnership that transformed America by Les Standiford
Be careful who you love : inside the Michael Jackson case by Diane Dimond
San Francisco is burning : the untold story of the 1906 earthquake and fires by Dennis Smith
The Empress of South America by Nigel Cawthorne
and
Crimes and criminals , which is an extensive compendium of short pieces about many different aspects of criminal behavior.
We also have the current New York Times bestseller Manhunt: the twelve-day chase for Lincoln's killer on order.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/smile.gif) excited
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