Category Archives: audio

What We’re Reading – April 2012

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stack of booksWelcome to another round up of what we, your cheerful neighborhood library bloggers, are reading.

Vanessa – I am listening to Death of a Dreamer by M.C. Beaton, a Hamish MacBeth mystery from the highlands of Scotland and I am reading A Dance with Dragons, the 5th book in George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire.

Laura S. – I put a hold on the most recent Kim Harrison book, A Perfect Blood, so I’m rereading the Hollows Series. I’ve blasted through Dead Witch Walking, The Good The Bad and The Undead, Every Which Way but Dead, and A Fistful of Charms in the last few weeks and now I’m reading For a Few Demons More.

Eric – High Fidelity by Nick Hornby.

Amy V. – I recently finished the George RR Martin series A Song of Ice and Fire…at least I thought I finished the series. There are two more books in the series coming, sometime….

I really enjoyed the first five books. I was able to borrow all five from the library for my Kindle which was great! It was a little hard to read all of them in 14 days or less, but I managed.

Phyllis – I just finished The Dry Grass of August by Anna Jean Mayhew. If you liked The Help this is a good read alike.  The story takes place in the 1950′s in South Carolina.  The history and condition of black maids is more poignant than The Help and the story emotional and well developed.

Amy M. – Killshot by Elmore Leonard – Innocent witnesses to a mob-related murder discover that the Witness Protection Program is not exactly a safe haven when they learn that the killers are on the loose and that the authorities are not protecting them from harm. Great for fans who appreciate Leonard’s writing style  (such as “Justified” TV show fans).

The Outsiders by SE Hinton – The struggle of three brothers to stay together after their parent’s death and their quest for identity among the conflicting values of their adolescent society. Reading for Classics Bookclub.

Emily – Just finished Trail of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz, the fifth “document” in the Spellman Files, a humorous series about a family of private investigators who spend a great deal of time investigating each other.

Currently reading Wild Thing by Josh Bazell, the follow up to 2009′s acclaimed Beat the Reaper.  Pietro Brnwa is a former mafia hitman who has entered the witness protection program and has started life over as a doctor.  Of course, his former life is never far behind.

Currently listening to In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson.  Bryson narrates the audio version of his book, taking listeners on a tour of Australia.

Ross – I’m listening to Zone One by Colson Whitehead on CD. It’s the thinking person’s zombie novel.

Meg – I am reading The Bride Wore Black Leather,  the 12th book in Simon Green’s Nightside series and A Million Suns by Beth Revis which is the sequel to Across the Universe.

Laura E. – I’m reading The Book of Lost Fragrances, which combines reincarnation, Chinese – Tibet politics, and the ancient art of creating perfume into a thriller. Fair Game: Alpha and Omega by Patricia Briggs, the latest in an urban fantasy series that focuses on werewolves.

Susan – I’m reading The Technologists by Matthew Pearl.  A story of the early days of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (late 1800′s) and the young men (and 1 woman) who were it’s first graduates.  The MIT students struggle to prove their importance to Boston and the country against prejudice and fear of science and technology by proving they can solve the mysteries of a series of strange and horrendous disasters in Boston.

I’m listening to Spycatcher by Matthew Dunn and read by Rich Orlow.  Fantastic spy and suspense thriller!  I’ve found myself sitting in parking lots and in the garage unable to stop the CD player!  And I’m only half way through the story!  The narrator uses several voices for the different characters and is superb at it.  Takes spy stories, terrorism, and suspense to a whole other level.  Can’t wait for the ending!

McKenzie – I just finished listening to the book on CD version of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, and he never disappoints. Even though this one was juvenile fiction, the theme was so poignant and the writing so clever that adults can easily be swept away, as I was, by its softened approach to life and death. It’s the first book since Harry Potter that’s made me cry!

Cracker and Cranberries

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Cracker and Cranberries are a nice combination. But Dolores O’Riordan without the Cranberries is just bland. But now they are back together and life is good. The years between 2001 and 2012 were void of any new music from the band that brought you such songs as “Linger” “Dreams” “Zombie” and “Free to Decide”. If you don’t know who I am talking about then you probably missed the nineties. The Cranberries were one of the most popular groups of that time period.

Their new CD is called Roses and is available at the our library for you to check out. But since there are a few holds on that particular album check out their greatest hits CD Stars : the best of 1992-2002 to refresh your memory or to discover a new old artist you might not have heard before. When you do get a hold of a copy, and I always say this, listen from beginning to end, it is the only way to appreciate a good album.

 

Home

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Read this BEFORE going back home after a long absence, especially if to care for an aging parent or sibling.  There are behaviors in every character and interactions between the characters that bring to mind a thought provoking memory to relate to, to gain insight from, and to find a new way to deal with the past.

Home, by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Marilynne Robinson, is a book to be read or listened to on many levels.

First, as a Christian fiction or inspirational story. An elder minister father is dying. His youngest single daughter and wayward alcoholic son return home to care for him in his last days, hoping to reconcile the past.

Second, as a psychological study of family interactions and how aging children deal with a dying parent and each other after years apart. How family dynamics and events of when they were children resurface and are never forgotten, but rather have formed who they are and what they’ve become.

Third, as an historical fiction story portraying a way of life in a small rural town in Iowa and how early events formed and reinforced the culture, beliefs and lives of it’s inhabitants.

The reader comes to know the characters intimately through the relaxed pace and familiarity of the writing.  And one can’t help but reflect on one’s own family relationships and past events and how one deals with them through the years.

Marilynne Robinson is the author of the novels Gilead (2004) – winner of the Pulitzer Prize – and Housekeeping (1980).

One for the Money

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Fans of author Janet Evanovich are in for a treat with the January 27th, 2012 release of the movie version of the first book in the Stephanie Plum Mystery Series, One for the Money.

Do you remember the story of the first book, published in 1994?  Seventeen titles have been released in the series since then, with the latest, Explosive Eighteen, just out in November 2011.  It’s time to refresh your memory of the story that started it all before the movie hits the theaters.

Pick up a copy of the book in regular or large print or on CD at the library.  Plan to attend the Bethel Branch Book Discussion Group at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, January 9th to share your likes and dislikes about the book and the series, and to see a trailer of the upcoming movie.

What better way to warm up the early January cold nights than to re-visit the character, Stephanie Plum, from the beginning, or if you haven’t read books by this author, to start a new series, then talk about it with friendly, fellow bibliophiles?  Call the Bethel Branch Library at 513-734-2619 for a copy today.

New Year Resolution: The Walk

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It’s that time again when promises are made to make a life change. 

Consider a different perspective when exercise is in the equation.

Set the alarm 15 minutes early.  Don’t think.  Get up, and throw on your “hamper” clothes.  Put on a comfortable pair of walking shoes. Don’t think.  Check the temperature.  Grab a coat, hat, gloves, rain gear, or whatever is necessary for the weather.  Don’t worry about your hair or face. Depending on where you are bring a flashlight, a cell phone (for an emergency), and possibly mace.  Don’t think.  Don’t listen to music.  Open the door and GO!  Start with a 10 minute walk.  Don’t think!  For the first 5 minutes let yourself complain about anything and everything – muscle aches, sore joints, the cold, the heat, the rain, the spouse, the children, the boss….. now, STOP and breathe the fresh air.  Look at the sky.  Smell the earth, a local bakery, or flowers.  Feel the frost, the rain, the wind, the snow, the sun on your face.  Listen to the birds.  Look at the houses you pass by, the gardens, the decorations, the rhythm of the traffic and people at a particular point in time.  Let your senses experience the morning as it is, not with what you have to do that day. Connect with reality in a fresh, stimulating way.  Before you know it you’re back home, ready for that hot cup of coffee and ready to think!

The key is to just do it and to do it for YOU.  Don’t think.  Just move.

Before you know it you’ll watch for certain flowers to bloom again, for the feral cats to stake new territory, for the lonely dog in a back yard to welcome you, for the pinks, blues and oranges of the sunrise, and of the gentle, soft breeze on your face.  You’ll soon want to explore a little further, investigate a new area, or solve a problem.  That’s when a new novel, a how-to book, a just released movie, or a favorite musician’s latest CD will inspire.  That’s when you check out the library!

Don’t think, just do it for you.

Ashes & Fire

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I didn’t think it would happen, after three long years of silence, Ryan Adams has released an album of new material. Check out Mr. Adams’ new release Ashes & Fire, of which we have at the library. Three years may not seem like a long time, but if you look at his track record for CD releases, it is forever. Between 2000 and 2008, Mr. Adams released ten full length albums of mostly original music (not including EPs, abandoned songs or internet only), even recording three records in the year 2005. As recently as 2010, some of that abandoned and/or lost music came out on the CD entitled III/IV.

If you have never heard of him, you should, because he brings an amazing talent and voice to music that you may have not experienced  before.  Tim McGraw, on his Greatest Hits: Vol. 2, covered one of Mr. Adams’ song entitled, “When the Stars Go Blue,” which came from Adams’ 2001 release Gold.  Moreover, The Corrs featuring Bono of U2 fame, also covered the same song on the album entitles VH1 Presents: The Corrs, Live In Dublin. So if you have never heard of Ryan Adams as a singer at least you may have heard of him as a songwriter.

Post 2008, it seems, he decided not to continue with his music. He married Mandy Moore, yes that Mandy Moore. Wrote a couple of books of poetry and short stories entitled Infinity Blues and HelloSunshine. So I reckon, he was content to ride of into the sunset, never to be heard from again. Until now.

Also,  if you want to get acquainted with his previous stellar music check out these CDs which are also at the library: Gold, Demolition, and Easy Tiger. Then when you get hooked you can thank me.

The Night Circus

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The circus arrives without warning. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.

The towering tents are striped in white and black, no golds and crimsons to be seen. A black sign painted in white letters hangs upon the gates.

“Opens at Nightfall. Closes at Dawn.”

Wander through endless tents full of fantastic spectacles and performers. Luscious gardens made of ice, enchanted living carousel animals, mazes of clouds that defy gravity, acrobats that never fall. Each tent is created as an enchanted love letter shared between two magicians bound to each other for life but forced apart by their respective sides, pitted against each other in a magical battle that spans their entire lives. The circus is their playing field and their game has no rules.

Reading Morgenstern’s first novel, The Night Circus, is like floating through time and space, following the specter of a magical circus. Simultaneously dreamlike and more vivid than regular life, the real main character of the book is neither Celia the Illusionist nor Marco the Secret Magician but Le Cirque des Reves, The Circus of Dreams. The details of life in and around the circus consume the reader.

The hype surrounding The Night Circus has been extensive but well deserved. For an extra treat, try listening to it on audio; the sublime narration of Jim Dale (who also narrated all seven Harry Potter audio books and the sadly cancelled show Pushing Daisies) breathes an extra dose of magic into an already extrordinary book. 

Check out this preview to get into a more magical mood:

Adele’s 21

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Dear Guy Who Broke Adele’s Heart,

 Thanks.

 Sincerely,

Everyone with Ears.

 

Adele’s breathtaking sophomore album 21 was released here in the States in February of this year and has been on a constant tour of Clermont County since then, filling holds at all ten branches for the last nine months. I just got a copy last week and the wait was well worth it.

Like her previous album, 19, all of the songs on 21 are centered on a single relationship and its painful end.  With her retro-soulful style, astounding vocals and deeply moving lyrics each song by the British songstress is a powerful statement of love and loss.  The singles Rolling in the Deep and Someone Like You have been getting serious airtime on the local radio but it is the as of yet undiscovered gems like Rumor Has It and Set Fire to the Rain that really round out what can only be described as a timeless and amazing album.

There are still a number of people waiting for their turn with a copy of 21, but if you add your name to the list you won’t regret the time you spend waiting.

If you don’t want to wait and are looking for something to check out now some of Adele’s more popular songs on these albums:

Listen to Chasing Pavements on Grammy Nominees: 2009

Listen to Hometown Glory on Grammy Nominees: 2010

Listen to Rolling in the Deep on Now That’s What I Call Music! 38

Listen to the Grammy Nominated (Album of the Year) 19

Death Cab for Cutie’s Latest

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Death Cab for CutieThe lights went down on PNC pavilion last Friday and the distinct melodic beat of the five minute instrumental slowly drew the crowd into each key hit on the piano. The lights began to flicker to the beat as the band increased its tempo. Finally the singer belted out the first words of the song…”How I wish you could see the potential…” the crowd erupted in a syncopated cheer and then they all began to sing along.

The band Death Cab for Cutie played PNC Pavilion Friday, September 30th and I was there. It was an amazing concert put on by the band from Seattle. If you were there or even if you weren’t and are interested, the Clermont County Public Library has a few of their CDs so you can give them a listen.

From 2005 Plans which includes the songs  Soul Meets Body, Crooked Teeth, and I Will Follow You into the Dark.  All of which were performed at the concert.

Narrow Stairs is from 2008 and has the song that opened the concert – I Will Posses Your Heart.

Their latest Codes and Keys just released this year and has the song You are a Tourist.

In case you were curious, the band’s name comes from the title of a song by the band Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah which they performed in 1967 film, Magical Mystery Tour, which many of you know is a film by the Beatles.

SYNC YA Literature into Your Earphones

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2 Free Audiobook Downloads Each Week until August 17, 2011

Teens and other readers of Young Adult (YA) Literature will have the opportunity to listen to bestselling titles and required reading classics this summer.   Each week  from June 23 – August 17, 2011, SYNC will offer two free audiobook downloads.  Your downloads are yours to keep and will not expire.

The audiobook pairings will include a popular YA title and a classic that connects with the YA title’s theme and is likely to show up on a student’s summer reading list.  For example, Joseph Delaney’s The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch, the first book in a popular series featuring a teen whose job is to protect ordinary folk from “ghouls, boggarts, and all manner of wicked beasties,” will be paired with the monster-slaying epic poem, Beowulf.

To find out when you can download titles to listen to on the run this summer, visit www.AudiobookSync.com or text syncya to 25827

SYNC Titles, Summer 2011

7/14/11-7/20/11
The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney
Beowulf by Francis B. Gummere [Trans.]

7/21/11-7/27/11
Chanda’s Secrets by Allan Stratton
Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

7/28/11-8/3/11
Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari
Rescue: Stories of Survival From Land and Sea by Dorcas S. Miller [Ed.]

8/4/11-8/10/11
Immortal by Gillian Shields
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

8/11/11-8/17/11
Storm Runners by Roland Smith
The Cay by Theodore Taylor