Month: April 2018

National Days in May

Posted on by Shelby

Looking for an excuse to celebrate? Check out these celebration days in May! Follow the links to find materials that correlate with these special days.

May 1 is May Day & National Mother Goose Day

May 3 is National Paranormal Day & National Day of Prayer

May 4 is National Star Wars Day (May the Fourth — get it?) & National Space Day

May 5 is National Cartoonists Day & Cinco de Mayo

May 8 is National Teacher Appreciation Day

May 9 is National Lost Sock Memorial Day

May 12 is National Limerick Day

May 13 is Mother’s Day

May 18 is National Pizza Party Day & National Endangered Species Day

May 19 is National Armed Forces Day

May 24 is Red Nose Day

May 25 is National Brown-Bag It Day

May 28 is Memorial Day

May 30 is National Creativity Day & National Senior Health and Fitness Day

May 31 is National Speak in Sentences Day

So, how are you going to celebrate?

Happy Reading!

National Great Poetry Reading Day

Posted on by Shelby

Saturday, April 28 is National Great Poetry Reading Day!

How can you celebrate?

For starters, you can visit one of the branches of the Aurora Public Library District and check out volumes of poetry by great poets, like John Keats, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Rupi Kaur, William Wordsworth, Sylvia Plath, Alfred Tennyson, Langston Hughes, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Robert Frost, Shel Silverstein, and Maya Angelou, among many others. If you just want to browse the poetry section to see what you can find, start in section 808.1. You’ll be able to browse titles at your leisure and take ones that speak to you. Or, if you’d rather, you can visit the Indiana Digital Download Center and browse our digital poetry selections, too.

One major way that poetry differs from novels or nonfiction is that poetry begs to be read out loud. The only way to appreciate the cadence of the words on the page is to read them out loud and listen. On National Great Poetry Reading Day, gather some friends and family around and read your favorite poems aloud. Or record yourself reading your favorite poem and upload it to social media with #NationalGreatPoetryReadingDay. By following the hashtag, you’ll be able to see other poetry connoisseurs celebrating the day in their own way as well.

You could try your hand at writing your own poetry, too! If you want to follow the exact rules to write specific types of poetry, like haiku, sonnet, or limerick, we have titles with examples and instructions. But one of the best things about poetry is that, as you’re writing, you can decide how you want your idea to appear on the paper. Free verse is exactly that; free! You can choose to write your poem however you want.

Tell us how you’re going to celebrate National Great Poetry Reading Day! I’m going to see if I can find my old stuff from college from that poetry class I took.

Happy Reading!

Modern-Day Retellings of Classics

Posted on by Shelby

One popular writing trend that never seems to go out of style is the rehashing of familiar stories by making them relevant to today. It is always interesting to see how various authors interpret old classics, because each spin-off or retelling is different. Here is a short list of modern-day retellings of favorite stories that you can check out today:

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

The Spring Sisters by Anna Todd

Dorothy Must Die series by Danielle Page

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Graham-Smith

Splintered series by A.G. Howard

The Fall by Bethany Griffin

Wicked series by Gregory Maguire

Cinder series by Marissa Meyer

A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas

Bright Smoke, Cold Fire by Rosamund Hodge

Peter and the Starcatchers series by Dave Barry

Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler

Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood

New Boy by Tracy Chevalier

Macbeth by Jo Nesbo

After Alice by Gregory Maguire

The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Longbourn by Jo Baker

Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid

Emma by Alexander McCall Smith

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire

Circe by Madeline Miller

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

Beastly by Alex Finn

March by Geraldine Brooks

Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley

Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson

The Mists of Avalon series by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

Fools and Mortals by Bernard Cornwell

Can you tell what each title is a retelling of? What’s your favorite modern-day retelling of an old classic? Mine would probably have to be Wicked by Gregory Maguire! Let us know in the comments!

Happy Reading!

Shakespeare Day!

Posted on by Shelby

To celebrate, or not to celebrate? That is the question, but the answer is: Of course! April 23 is National Shakespeare Day!

Baptized on April 26, 1564, William Shakespeare is widely considered to be the greatest writer of the English language, having works ranging from plays to poems, as well as being an actor himself. He was born in raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. Not much is known about his early life except at the age of eighteen, he married the much-older Anne Hathaway and had three children with her. He traveled to London sometime between 1585 and 1592 and became a successful writer, actor, and part-owner of a playing company, Lord Chamberlain’s Men, later the King’s Men. He retired to Stratford around 1613, around the age of 49, where he died three years later.

Little else is known about Shakespeare, except that he wrote and produced 37 plays during his time in London, ranging from comedies, including Twelfth Night, As You Like It, and A Midsummer’s Night Dream, to historical dramas, like Richard III, Henry IV, V, and VI, to tragedies, such as Hamlet, Macbeth, and Titus Andronicus. He also wrote 154 sonnets as well as narrative poetry. Shakespeare set the bar that many other writers would follow, influencing generations of writers still today. If you’re interested in learning more about William Shakespeare, follow this link to books in our collection about his life.

So, how can the Aurora Public Library District help you celebrate National Shakespeare Day? Well, you can check out DVDs based on his plays and life, as well as modern retellings of his classic plays. I think it is important to read Shakespeare, but I think it is even more important to watch Shakespeare to really understand him. There is nothing quite like watching words on the page come to life before your eyes, in period costumes with facial expressions and vocal intonations to help you to really grasp the play.

You can also check out copies of his plays and poems to read for yourself, if you’d like to let the words wash over you and give yourself time to process what takes place in each scene, or what each poem is really trying to say. There are physical copies as well as digital copies through the Indiana Digital Download Center. The Aurora Public Library District has a collection of No Fear Shakespeare titles, which puts the original text side-by-side with modern-day language in order to make it easier to understand. This will definitely come in handy if you want more depth to the play.

I am continually amazed at how relevant the themes of the plays are to today, even though Shakespeare’s time was almost 500 years ago. The language might seem archaic, but if you dig deeper until you find the meaning behind the prose, you’ll be surprised, too. Shakespeare was a genius at capturing humans, from their words to the words they weren’t speaking, but that their body language, facial expressions, and tones would show. If you ever get the chance to see one of Shakespeare’s plays in person, I highly recommend that you take it.

How will you celebrate National Shakespeare Day? I think I’ll reread my favorite play, Hamlet, and then watch The Lion King, which is what the Disney movie is based off of. Pretty cool, huh?

Happy Reading!

Standalone Central

Posted on by Shelby

I’ll be the first to acknowledge how much I love series. I love getting to really know the characters in multiple installments rather than trying to glean anything I can in the limited amount of pages offered by a standalone novel. Aside from some nonfiction books, like memoirs or essay collections, I don’t tend to read many standalones. That being said, I’m going through a standalone novel phase that I’m not really sure how I got into, but I’m a little reluctant to pull myself out of and delve into another series.

Here are some standalones that I’m a little bit obsessed with at the moment:

Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips

Only Child by Rhiannon Navin

The Hunger by Alma Katsu

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Marlena by Judy Buntin

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

Circe by Madeline Miller

The Spring Girls by Anna Todd

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

How to Stop Time by Matt Haig

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin

I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhorn

Oliver Loving by Stefan Merrill Block

Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao

As Bright as Heaven by Susan Meissner

White Houses by Amy Bloom

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (Which we’ll be reading for Stuck Between the Pages, the high school age book discussion for May!)

Here are some standalone novels that have been near and dear to my heart since I have read them in years past:

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

Cell by Stephen King

P.S. I Love You by Cecilia Ahern

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

Where the Heart Is by Billie Lets

The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

And by Jodi Picoult, one of my favorite authors:

The Storyteller

The Pact

Leaving Time

Nineteen Minutes

My Sister’s Keeper

Plain Truth

Salem Falls

Second Glance

It helps that I read/listen to multiple books at a time, so while I can lose myself in various series, I can learn to love something new in a standalone. I commend authors who can pack character development, a believable story arc, and grip/keep my attention in one novel.

What are some of your favorite standalone novels? I’d love any recommendations you could give!

Happy Reading!

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Posted on by Bobbie

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Binge-Worthy Shows to Watch After the Book

Posted on by Shelby

In the age of Netflix, Hulu, and DVR, do people still watch TV shows the times that they’re on and wait a week for the next episode? I would much rather jump into a show late in the game so I can binge-watch as many episodes as I can, one after the other, without waiting for the next one. It’s because I have no patience; it’s the same reason I read the last page of every book I get first to see what the outcome will be and if the book will be worth my time.

I’m not even sorry.

Did you know that many of the most binge-worthy shows on television and television platforms were actually based on books first? If you’re anything like me and need to know what happens before it happens to the characters, check out these books before watching its television counterpart! The Aurora Public Library District also owns several of these shows (look for the *) as well for you to check out on DVD.

On Netflix:

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

The Shannara Chronicles series by Terry Brooks

House of Cards by Michael Dobbs*

Gossip Girl series by Cecily von Ziegesar

A Series of Unfortunate Events series by Lemony Snicket

Pretty Little Liars series by Sara Shepard

The Vampire Diaries series by L.J. Smith*

Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman*

The Walking Dead comic book series by Robert Kirkman*

Dexter series by Jeffry Lindsay

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

Longmire series by Craig Johnson*

The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell

Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan (ILL)

Anne with an E (Based on the Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery)

Sherlock (Based on the Sherlock Holmes novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)*

Mindhunter by John Douglas

Hemlock Grove by Brian McGreevy (ILL)

Hulu:

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Rizzoli & Isles series by Tess Gerritsen

Bones (Based on the Temperance Brennan series by Kathy Reichs)*

Castle Rock (Based on stories by Stephen King)

HBO:

True Blood (Based on the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris)

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Game of Thrones series by George R.R. Martin*

Starz:

Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon*

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

The White Queen series by Philippa Gregory

Amazon Prime:

Poldark series by Winston Graham*

Call the Midwife (Based on the memoirs of Jennifer Worth)

Justified (Based on the Raylan Givens series by Elmore Leonard)*

Epix:

Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard

Regular Television:

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

The Alienist by Caleb Carr

Instinct (Based on Murder Games by James Patterson)

The Terror by Dan Simmons

Lucifer (Based on the Sandman series by Neil Gaiman)

Famous in Love by Rebecca Serle (ILL)

Midnight, Texas series by Charlaine Harris

Elementary (Based on the Sherlock Holmes novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)*

The 100 series by Kass Morgan

More:

Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger*

Under the Dome by Stephen King*

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (Miniseries)

Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell

Castle series by Richard Castle (Tie-in novels)*

New Shows Airing in 2018:

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn (HBO)

C.B. Strike (Based on the Cormoran Strike series by J.K. Rowling HBO)

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton (PBS)

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (HBO)

Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler (Starz)

What is your favorite television adaptation from a book? Mine is a toss-up between Outlander and Gossip Girl. Allegedly Hulu bought the rights to Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass series to be made into a television show; if you know anything about me, you know that I’m still jumping up and down with excitement.

Interested in more? Check out this blog on Goodreads for more movies and television shows based on books coming out this spring.

Happy Reading (and Watching)!

National Library Week, April 8-14

Posted on by Bobbie

National Library Week (April 8- 14, 2018) is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation’s libraries and library workers and to promote library use and support. Free access to books and online resources for families.  Libraries offer opportunity to all. The theme for 2018 National Library Week is “Libraries Lead,” and American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer Misty Copeland will serve as 2018 National Library Week Honorary Chair.

National Library Week 2018 will mark the 60th anniversary of the first event, sponsored in 1958. This national celebration is sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and observed in libraries across the country each April. All types of libraries – school, public, academic and special – participate every year in National Library Week.

History
In the mid-1950s, research showed that Americans were spending less on books and more on radios, televisions and musical instruments. Concerned that Americans were reading less, the ALA and the American Book Publishers formed a nonprofit citizens organization called the National Book Committee in 1954. The committee’s goals were ambitious. They ranged from “encouraging people to read in their increasing leisure time” to “improving incomes and health” and “developing strong and happy family life.”

In 1957, the committee developed a plan for National Library Week based on the idea that once people were motivated to read, they would support and use libraries. With the cooperation of ALA and with help from the Advertising Council, the first National Library Week was observed in 1958 with the theme “Wake Up and Read!”

National Library Week was observed again in 1959, and the ALA Council voted to continue the annual celebration. When the National Book Committee disbanded in 1974, ALA assumed full sponsorship.

April is National Humor Month!

Posted on by Bobbie

National Humor Month was conceived as a means to heighten public awareness of the therapeutic value of humor. Laughter and joy – the benchmarks of humor – lead to improved well-being, boosted morale, increased communication skills, and an enriched quality of life.

It’s no coincidence that the month begins with April Fool’s Day, a day which has sanctioned frivolity and amusement for hundreds of years.

Humor as a tool to lift ailing spirits is an established notion supported by scientific research. The curative power of laughter and its ability to relieve debilitating stress and burnout may indeed be one of the great medical discoveries of our times.

The library is ready to keep you laughing all month with joke books, funny fiction, and great comedy films. Stop in and tell us a joke (a clean one) and maybe we will have one for you. For more information on National Humor Month visit http://www.humormonth.com/

 

The Iron Druid Series

Posted on by Bobbie

Fans of Kevin Hearne are excited and heartbroken (if it is possible to be both) at the announcement of the final installment in the Iron Druid series. Fans of  mythology, talking Irish wolfhounds and great storytelling will love this series. It is set in our world (the first couple of books are set in Tempe, Arizona) where supernatural creatures exist, such as witches, vampires, werewolves, as well as gods and goddesses from various mythologies. The series is told in the first-person point-of-view of Atticus O’Sullivan (aka. Siodhachan O Suileabhain), a Druid who owns and runs an occult bookshop, Third Eye Books and Herbs, as he gets embroiled in the day-to-day struggle of gods and goddesses and other supernatural creatures. I have truly enjoyed this series. I will certainly mourn the loss of Atticus and his dog Oberon. Visit Kevin’s webpage at https://kevinhearne.com/ for more entertaining antics and info written by the dog.

The following open letter is from Kevin to his fans announcing SCOURGED:

Hey there, Spiffy Humans!

It’s a bit bewildering to be writing this letter to you. When I began writing Hounded in 2008, I had no idea that I was beginning a ten-year odyssey that would see the publication of nine Iron Druid novels, five novellas, and myriad short stories. I wrote Hounded to scratch several itches: the desire to present Irish paganism in more depth than a couple of its more popular goddesses, while simultaneously presenting all faiths as equally valid; to geek out about pop culture one moment and Shakespeare the next; speculate about what a long life would do to the psyche of humans and gods; and to indulge my boundless affection for doggies and their infinite appreciation of simple things.

I figure we could all stand to be reminded that simple pleasures are the best, and that’s part of the reason why Oberon the Irish wolfhound has become so popular. What’s not to like about sausage and gravy? Or poodles, for that matter. Belly rubs and naps. And maybe just a dash of conspiracy theory for drama, like the absolute fact that squirrels are most definitely planning to kill us all, and somewhere on the outskirts of Seattle, a scientist in a secret lab has created the Triple Nonfat Double Bacon Five-Cheese Mocha. Living in the present for such pleasures is the key to achieving a hound’s best life, and Oberon reminds Atticus that despite the trials of his past, much remains to be loved today-right now!-and we, too, could use a friend like him to point out that even in the midst of a rather rough world, there is still plenty in this moment to savor and cherish.

I certainly hope you’ll savor the last book of the Iron Druid Chronicles, Scourged, which wraps up many of the series’ long-running conflicts and leaves us with the possibility of revisiting the world later on. I’m currently working on two other series (The Seven Kennings and the Tales of Pell with Delilah S. Dawson), but there is room for further adventures should my schedule (and the Muses) allow. But this particular story arc with Atticus has been building to a head for a long while. Seeds of the final conflict and its resolution can be seen not only in the previous books, but in short stories like “The Chapel Perilous” that I originally wrote for an anthology, novellas like Grimoire of the Lamb, and most especially “Cuddle Dungeon,” a story I wrote for the Besieged collection.

It’s been a tremendous privilege to write these books and I thank you all for reading. May harmony (and sausage) find you.

Peace & whiskey,

Kevin Hearne