Reading material for 04/30/12.

Some reading material from around the internet:

Grant Snider’s The Book Of The Future.

Get ready for the future of Firefox.

Portland tries to ban Groupon.

The dark side of Facebook memes.

The picture above is by Beverly Ealdama, from here.

104 year old woman sets world record as the oldest person to go paragliding (for the second time in five years).

Wal-Mart would like you to pay with cash.

All about CISPA, the bill that wants to erode your online privacy.

How are women’s eyes different from men’s?

from here.

The Choose Your Own Adventure books are now out in digital form.

Ben Marcus, author of The Flame Alphabet, talks about his novel.

The 10 grumpiest living writers.

The New Yorker has figured out what went wrong with the Pulitzers this year.

“The Land Of Nod,” an illustrated poem by Robert Louis Stevenson.

John Irving’s advice to aspiring novelists.

The most cryptic titles in literature and what they mean.

Would you read a novel written by the internet?

Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book will become a Disney movie.

The director of Chronicle is going to reboot The Fantastic Four.

Fringe has been renewed for a fifth and final mini season.

Fake Tupac is selling a lot of real records.

The Avengers comes out this Friday in America, but has already made almost $200 million overseas.

Tony Danza and Vince Vaughn are going to make a sitcom together.

The SyFy channel is planning to adapt Stephen King’s The Eyes Of The Dragon.

Movie theater owners still do not want you texting during movies, please.

They’ve already hired writers for the sequel to the new Spider-Man movie.

from here.

The lost civilizations that pioneered skull surgery.

4 people with super memory.

The question of why Rome failed.

How much of the moon’s surface did the Apollo 11 astronauts actually explore?

A brief history of international signage.

The more you struggle with new information the more likely you are to learn it.

Ponder existential depths as you answer the call of nature in this vertigo-inducing floor-less bathroom.

* * *

Previous online reading material:

04/23/12.

04/16/12.

04/09/12.

04/02/12.

03/26/12.

03/12/12.

New and Featured Books for 03/29/2012:

Come and check out these and some of the other new books and materials (or at least new to us) added to our library collection…

FICTION:

State Of Wonder by Ann Patchett

The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings

This is the novel that was adapted into the Oscar nominated film (the screenplay adaption won an Oscar) directed by Alexander Payne and starring George Clooney. The movie is very good, and we’d definitely recommend the book to anyone who likes funny and poignant character-driven stories, and who likes to read the book before the movie. Check out a review of the book in The New York Times, and the author’s website.

Paradise by Toni Morrison

Red Inferno: 1945 by Robert Conroy

The Fallen Angels by Bernard Cornwell and Susannah Kells

The Valcourt Heiress by Catherine Coulter

100 Bullets: The Deluxe Edition, Book 1 by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Eduardo Risso

Like the cover blurb says, Azzarello and Risso’s long running comic book series from DC/Vertigo comics was “one of the greatest works of crime fiction in any medium,” telling some very hard-boiled pulp/noir stories in a very modern way. And this is where it began with it’s very simple initial premise: A mysterious man named Graves would visit people who had been the victim of a serious wrong and present them with evidence of who it was that was responsible for their plight. In the vein of revenge he’d then offer them a handgun and the eponymous 100 bullets, all untraceable by the police. And a lot of very interesting and very dark and very complex stories would spin out of that. Here are reviews of the series at Wired, The Comics Journal, and Pop Matters, and an interview with writer Brian Azzarello at The Onion AV Club.

The Glass Rainbow by James Lee Burke

NON-FICTION:

Women Pilots Of World War II by Jean Hascall Cole

Playing With Trains: A Passion Beyond Scale by Sam Posey

Forged: Writing In The Name Of God – Why The Bible’s Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are by Bart D. Ehrman

Harriet Tubman: Myth, Memory, And History by Milton C. Sernett

Marie Antoinette by Antonia Fraser

Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell

This is a very fun and informative look at history by journalism, essayist, social commentator, and This American Life contributor Vowell, who looks at America’s imperialist desires and manifest destiny ideals at the end of the 19th century, and which lead to America annexing Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, and invading Cuba and the Philippines. Vowell also talks about the culture clash as Christian missionaries swiftly moved in and tried to convert the far more laid back native Hawaiians to the American way of life. Here’s an interview with the author, and you can find interesting reviews of the book at The Los Angeles Times and in The New York Times.

And here’s an odd fun fact for you: Sarah Vowell, seen above, voiced the character Violet in Disney/Pixar’s The Incredibles.

This Is Your Brain On Music: The Science Of A Human Obsession by Daniel J. Levitin

Raw Basics: Incorporating Raw Living Foods Into Your Diet Using Easy And Delicious Recipes by Jenny Ross

The Intimate Lives Of The Founding Fathers by Thomas Fleming

The Reading Promise: My Father And The Books We Shared by Alice Ozma

* * *

Please note that books could be checked out between the time they end up on the blog and when you come to check them out. If you don’t see the items you’re looking for then please come up to the front desk and we’ll put your name on the reserve list for when the item returns.

* * *

Previous New/Featured books for Adults:

03/01/12.

02/02/11.

01/27/12.

12/27/11.

And for Young Adults:

03/20/12.

03/06/12.

02/21/12.

02/09/12.

And for Kids/Juvenile Readers:

03/27/12.

03/13/12.

02/28/12.

02/23/12.

Reading material for 03/05/12:

Some reading material from around the internet:

RIP Davy Jones of the Monkees.

RIP Ralph McQuarrie, visionary of the Star Wars films.

A lot of fast food places are spending more money on upgrading their dining rooms.

Confessions of a bad teacher.

The pictures above from here and here.

Is antivirus software a waste of money?

Offbeat holidays you can celebrate in March.

If you’re going to dine and dash, don’t do it in a restaurant full of cops.

When you’re in trouble, call Nathan Fillion.

25 alleged Anonymous hackers were busted in an international crackdown.

The 18 types of people everyone is afraid of on Facebook.

Speaking of Facebook… this.

Windows 8 could make or break Microsoft.

The mounting minuses at Google+.

PayPal declares war on erotica.

Apple announces Product Launch on March 7, most likely for the iPad 3, right?

Google offers $1 million in “hacker bounties” for exploits against Chrome.

IBM busts record for superconducting quantum computer.

from here.

10 very weird sounding Science Fiction novels that you’ve probably never read.

Leo Tolstoy’s obsession with mortality.

Facial hair in Shakespeare.

7 children’s books written in response to other books.

An uncensored look at The Lorax and other dangerous books.

Interesting bookshelves.

William H. Gass lives in a library.

Michael Chabon has wanted to write a John Carter (of Mars) adaptation for a long time. Does the John Carter movie look good to you?

Long lost Charlotte Brontë short story to be published.

Fantastic books with disappointing endings.

from here.

Please remember to especially check back here on our blog on Wednesday, when we’ll be posting our Survey/Trivia contest.

And for info on other future contests we’ll be doing, you can always check out our CONTESTS page.

There are so many Dracula projects in the works!

Could Sherlock‘s Benedict Cumberbatch be the new Master in Doctor Who‘s 50th anniversary?

Speaking of which, Lucy Liu has been cast as Watson in CBS’ unfortunate sounding American remake of the BBC series.

And speaking of the unfortunate (and unauthorized), it sounds like the CW is basically making their version of a Hunger Games show.

The Star Wars guide to yoga.

They’re doing a prequel to Sex And The City.

Terry Gilliam’s on again, off again quixotic quest to bring make his Don Quixote film is… on again.

Analyzing and over-analyzing the new poster for Mad Men‘s upcoming season.

Andre 3000 suggests that you don’t expect the next Outkast album any time soon.

Stan Lee is a playable character in the new Amazing Spider Man video game.

Most of the cast of Downton Abbey signs on through season 5.

Operation Cornflakes: How the Allies scammed the Nazi postal service.

Taking a crack at predicting nominations for the Oscars for 2013.

Fun and interesting venn diagrams.

Bill Murray won’t do Ghostbusters 3.

The history of “Comfortably Numb,” from Pink Floyd’s The Wall.

Some of the greatest movies never made.

The new trailer for Game Of Thrones‘ upcoming season is epic.

from here.

Mars could be harvesting water from its own atmosphere.

Why don’t we read about architecture?

Warp drives may come with a killer downside.

An animated film about books that charmed the Oscars judges.

Bizarre driver’s license photo.

Watch Sherlock Holmes and the Doctor sing, “I Can Do Anything Better Than You.”

A big bust at Victoria’s Secret.

A primer on calendar reform.

This is a picture of a dog enjoying taking a bath.

* * *

Previous online reading material:

02/27/12.

02/20/12.

02/13/12.

02/06/12.

01/30/12.

12/27/11.

New and Featured Books for 12/27/11:

Come and check out these and some of the other new books and materials (or at least new to us) added to our library collection…

FICTION:

Lightning Rods by Helen DeWitt

I don’t know too much about this book other than what the cover tells me, that it’s the new book by the author whose debut novel was The Last Samurai, which eventually went on to be adapted into a film starring Tom Cruise. That, and the book’s gotten quite a bit of buzz this year. Is the buzz warranted? You’ll have to let us know. You can find the new novel reviewed at The New York Observer and at The Millions. You can also check out Helen DeWitt’s blog, as well as read an interview with her here, and purchase her second novel, Your Name Here, as a .pdf file on her website.

Before I Got To Sleep by S. J. Watson

American Sea Writing: A Literary Anthology, edited by Peter Neill

Wonderstruck: A Novel In Words And Pictures by Brian Selznick

The new novel by Selznick, author of The Invention Of Hugo Cabret, which is currently in theaters in a film adaptation directed by Martin Scorsese. This new book, an illustrated novel, is apparently a possible contender for both the Newbery and Caldecott awards, and has been highly requested by a few of our patrons of late. We’re glad to finally have it available, as you can clearly see in the look of excitement of my co-worker Judy’s face up above.

Novels And Stories, 1920 – 1922 by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Best American Comics 2011, edited by Alison Bechdel

Down And Out In The Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow

NON-FICTION:

Retromania: Pop Culture’s Addiction To Its Own Past by Simon Reynolds

Worst Cases: Terror And Catastrophe In The Popular Imagination by Lee Clarke

Revolution: The Year I Fell In Love And Went To Join The War by Deb Olin Unferth

The first memoir by one of literature’s rising stars. The book is described as “brave and soulful” and well worth a look.

The Engines Of Innovation: The Entrepreneurial University In The Twenty-First Century by Holden Thorp & Buck Goldstein.

Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen

Warren Buffett Invests Like A Girl – And Why You Should, Too by Louann Lofton

Shock Of Gray: The Aging Of The World’s Population And How It Pits Young Against Old, Child Against Parent, Worker Against Boss, Company Against Rival, And Nation Against Nation by Ted C. Fishman

The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into In College by Harlan Cohen

Love And Capital: Karl And Jenny Marx And The Birth Of A Revolution by Mary Gabriel

* * *

Please note that books could be checked out between the time they end up on the blog and when you come to check them out. If you don’t see the items you’re looking for then please come up to the front desk and we’ll put your name on the reserve list for when the item returns.

* * *

Previous New/Featured books:

12/23/11.

12/19/11.

12/17/11.

12/16/11.

12/15/11.