A Terrifying Yet Wonderful Read

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

Thriller and Horror are certainly not genres which I tend to read, but was intrigued by the reviews and awards which this book has received. I was not disappointed!
In the year of 1888, 12-year-old Will Henry witnesses an intrusion of terrifying, carnivorous monsters and captures every gruesome detail in his journal. Over one hundred years later, that journal reaches the hands of Rick Yancey who then turns the journal into this book...or so the story goes. The story of this young boy, who is a dutiful assistant to a monstrumologist in New England, is absolutely horrifying and has the potential of causing many a reader's nightmares. Yet, with a captivating story-line and exquisite writing, a literary gem lies beyond the bloodcurdling prose. Look for a sequel in September!

Visit Rick Yancey's website for more information on The Monstrumologist, including a captivating book trailer and a discussion guide.

Marcelo in the Real World

Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork
When his father insists that seventeen-year-old Marcelo work at his law firm for the summer, Marcelo feels nervous and reluctant. Having a condition similar to autism, he has trouble interacting with people and would be much more comfortable working on the horse farm as he has every other summer. However, once Marcelo is in the "real world", he surprises himself and others with his capacity for love and compassion and his strong sense of morality. Readers will appreciate the honest and innocent voice of Marcelo as well as the sincere characters who help inspire him.

Into the Beautiful North is a Beautiful Read!

Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea

An epiphany comes to Nayeli and her two girlfriends when they see The Magnificent Seven at their local theater in their small Mexican town. Following the plot of this American movie, they decide to head north to the United States to find seven worthy men to protect their village and to replenish their weakened male population. With their whole town rooting for them, and accompanied by Nayeli's gay employer, Tacho, they lead a mission filled with adventure, despair and plenty of laughter. Highly recommended!

"Catching Fire" Catches Interest

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Readers who were riveted by The Hunger Games and left yearning for more will not be disappointed in this exciting sequel by Suzanne Collins. Six months after Katniss and Peeta return from the Hunger Games as victors, they find themselves trapped by the menacing President Snow in a story of deceit. As the Capitol prepares for a grand wedding between Katniss and Peeta, Katniss finds herself struggling with hard decisions. Should her devotion be towards Peeta or her life-time, dear friend, Gale? Should she lead a rebellion against the Capitol, or would that be putting her mother, sister and the residents of District 12 in terrible danger? Catching Fire has plenty of twists and excitement to keep readers turning the pages and longing for the next sequel.

Google Books adds Features to Library

In Google Books, you can now create bookshelves similar to personal online libraries such as Shelfari, GoodReads and LibraryThing.

"You can create a personalized library on Google Books which allows you to organize, review, rate, and search a customized selection of books. These collections live online, and are accessible anywhere you can log in to your Google account. Bookshelves that are set to 'public' (with the icon showing two people) are publicly visible to friends who know the URL of your collection, so once you've built a collection, you can share it with them by sending them a link to your library in Google Books."

What's the next step for GoogleBooks? How about creating code to embed these bookshelves on our blogs and websites?

Sad Day for Pennsylvania Libraries

It was announced this week that EBSCO host will no longer be available through POWER Library. Because of drastic cuts in the budget by PA Department of Education, this comprehensive database consisting of articles and multimedia sources will no longer be available as of February 1, 2010. At this point, it remains to be seen what databases will replace the offerings of EBSCO, but certainly it will not be nearly the extent of what POWER Library has offered in the past.
Thankfully, our students and staff have access to a number of databases to which our library subscribes. Please visit our Database website for links to each one, as well as a Google Custom Search for several online newspaper and periodical sites.

Tips for Google Reader

I just saw these tips for keyboard shortcuts in Google Reader and thought they were worth sharing:

Use j/k to navigate through a feed's items, t to tag an item, / (slash) to search, or press ? to get the list of all the keyboard shortcuts Reader supports.Press Escape to make the shortcut list disappear.