October 2011 Archives

Join us to carve a pumpkin this Saturday, October 29 at 1:00 PM, just in time for Halloween!  Contact our Teen Librarian Margaret Walsh to register. We think of Halloween as an American holiday, but did you know that it was Irish and Scottish immigrants who brought this fun holiday to our shores?  And that the term Jack o' Lantern was once used to describe a night watchman?  Learn more about Halloween Traditions at Infoplease.com  and don't forget to let Margaret know you're coming - (203) 622-7915.

NINE THOUSAND (!!!!) of you voted for your favorite books that were nominated this year.  And the winners are....

 

Can't watch the video where you are? Well, here's the list of winners:

(1)   Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (Simon & Schuster)

(2)   Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)

(3)   Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick (Simon & Schuster)

(4)   I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore (HarperCollins)

(5)   The Iron King by Julie Kagawa (Harlequin)

(6)   Matched by Ally Condie (Penguin)

(7)   Angel: A Maximum Ride Novel by James Patterson (Little, Brown & Company)

(8)   Paranormalcy by Kiersten White (HarperCollins)

(9)   Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (HarperCollins)

(10)  Nightshade by Andrea Cremer (Penguin)

 

And here's the acceptence speech from the winning author herself:

 

Congratulations to Ms. Clare and her fellow authors! And be sure to look for the winning books here at the library!

In honor of Halloween, we're kicking off a new series this month, "Masters of Literary Horror", where we review various short stories and novels of the horror/mystery/thriller genre.  We'll be covering works by writers past and present, so if we miss any, let us know!

First up is Edgar Allan Poe's classic "The Fall of the House of Usher",  and boy, is this a scary one!  First published in slightly different form in 1839, "Usher" follows an unnamed narrator who's visting his childhood pal Roderick Usher.  Roderick, who's really hypersensitive to light and sounds, lives in a crumbling mansion that seems to get worse and worse.  Roderick's sister Madeline also has her own troubles, as she goes into death-like comas due to her catalepsy.  Then one day, some weeks later, Roderick tells the narrator (who's decided to stay and help out Roderick while the latter gets over some kind of illness) that Madeline has passed away.  Roderick and the narrator entomb Madeline's body in the family crypt (back then, everybody had one), despite the narrator's noticing that Madeline looks very rosy...  Meanwhile, the house seems to be making more and more noise...

"The Fall of the House of Usher" is a great moody, downbeat masterpiece.  From the opening sequence, when the narrator rides toward the Usher castle/mansion while noticing all the decayed trees and vegetation, to the frightening climax in which Roderick reveals his horrible secret as the house seems to grind and crumble, "Usher" grabs you and holds you for the whole terrifying ride.

But don't go by me.  Check out the story yourself by reading one of the many collections it's in (that we carry) by clicking here.  And if the story doesn't frighten you, well, then, you know the sounds you hear at night afterwards are just the shutters banging on the house.

Oh?  You don't have shutters...?   

(Thanks to this book for the shutters gag.)   

Throughout the U.S. there are agreements between two and four year colleges, called articulation agreements. These agreements describe in detail the conditions under which the four-year college will agree to transfer the credits earned at a two-year school and the conditions under which the student will be allowed to matriculate at the four year school. Mr. Craig Lanzoni, President of Linear Learning Co., presents this seminar which will help to identify, enumerate, and describe these agreements and how they can benefit the college-bound student. He will also discuss some of the many benefits of two-year programs, as well as some of the drawbacks. Monday October 17 @ 7:00 pm in the 2nd floor meeting room.

Imagine you're the last man on Earth.  Imagine you're the only human in a world populated by actual vampires who come out at night with only one purpose...  TO DRINK YOUR BLOOD!!!!

That's the cool set up to Richard Matheson's classic horror/science fiction thriller I Am Legend.  First published in 1954, I Am Legend focuses on Robert Neville, the last survivor of a bizarre worldwide plague that killed everybody and then revived them as mindless vampires.  Stuck in his house, Neville must, night after night, barracade himself against the zombie-like legions of the undead, hoping that he'll eventually encounter other human survivors like himself. 

Then one day, Neville discovers that he's not alone.  That there may be other humans out there. But they may not be friendly ones...

Terrifying from start to finish, with a powerful ending, I Am Legend is a fantastic novel to check out! Click here to reserve a copy from us!