In the Bookroom

November 19, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (1)

Although not a library-friendly size or shape, Richard Suart and A.S.H. Smyth's They'd None of 'em Be Missed  (distributed in the U.S. by Trafalgar Square) would make a perfect Christmas gift for all your musical theater–nerd friends.

Suart has played the role of Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner, and performed his "little list" song (often titled with its opening lyric, "As someday it may happen") since 1988...Read More

November 3, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Cheeta, a 75-year-old chimpanzee who appeared first in 1934's Tarzan and His Mate and other Tarzan movies and, finally, in 1967's Doctor Dolittle, has written a memoir during his retirement in Palm Springs. The British edition, released last month, was positively reviewed by Lynne Truss in the Times and was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award. Me, Cheeta: My Life in Hollywood comes out here in February 2009 from Ecco: HarperCollins.

Including a filmography and an index and called by the publisher's promotional material &quo...Read More

October 29, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (2)

As a beginning knitter, I suppose I have a unique, if rudimentary, perspective on knitting resources. Vickie Howell's Knit Aid was given to me by Sterling's Director of Library Marketing, and, based on that alone, I decided to take up the hobby. With that and YouTube—I personally found the vidoes affiliated with Expert Village helpful, which you can find with a search for "how to knit for beginners"—I've got the stitches down and a miniscarf under my belt and around my roommate's neck.

My current problem now is reading patterns, which Howell's small, knitting-bag-ready reference...Read More

October 22, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (2)

While I was watching Jon & Kate Plus Eight (fellow fans: their book, Multiple Blessings: Surviving to Thriving with Twins and Sextuplets, is just out from Zondervan. I'm personally not attracted by the religious slant, but some of your patrons may be), I saw an intriguing ad for the new TLC show Real Simple, Real Life: "The must read is now a must watch." Of Real Simple magazine's pa...Read More

July 15, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

I had a recent epiphany that the fiction I like has a trend (shocking to librarians, I know). I loved Paul Auster's forthcoming Man in the Dark and Don DeLillo's Falling Man, both of which deal with modern families facing trauma related to war. Other favorites that fall into this trend include Nicole Krauss's The History of Love and Jonathan Safran Foer's books. 

In a quest for my pick for the Sept. 1 Editors' Fall Pick...Read More