7/9: New at the library this week

Movies:

Flawless is a 2007 British fictional crime film directed by Michael Radford, written by Edward Anderson, and starring Michael Caine and Demi Moore.

Eastern promises is a 2007 crime drama film directed by David Cronenberg, from a screenplay written by Steven Knight. The film tells of a British midwife’s interactions with the Russian Mafia in London and stars Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts and Vincent Cassel.

Milk is a 2008 American biographical film on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk, who was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Twilight is a 2008 American romantic-fantasy film directed by Catherine Hardwicke and based on the novel of the same name by Stephenie Meyer. The protagonists of the film are Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, who are played by Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, respectively. The premise focuses on a teenage girl and a vampire who fall in love.

Doubt is a 2008 film adaptation of the John Patrick Shanley stage play Doubt: A Parable. Written and directed by Shanley and produced by Scott Rudin, the film stars Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Viola Davis.

6/20: New at the library this week

Games

Ghost recon (X-Box)
Enter the matrix (X-Box)
Star Wars: Knights of the old republic (X-Box)
Halo (X-Box)
Halo 2 (X-Box)
NFL Street 2 (X-Box)

Movies:

Bella
The day the earth stood still
Sex and the city

(all movies are on dvd unless otherwise noted)

Books:

Dead and gone / Charlaine Harris
For Sookie Stackhouse, the day to day activities of the vampire and were communities in and around Bon Temps, Louisiana, are of vital interest, She’s blood-bound to the leader of the vamps, a friend to the local were pack, works for a man who is shifter, and has a brother who is a were-panther…

But for most of the humans in Bon Temps, the vamps are mysterious seductive creatures-and they don’t even know about the weres.

Until now. The weres and shifters have finally decided to follow the lead of the undead and reveal their existence to the ordinary world.

At first it seems to go well. Then the mutilated body of a were-panther is found in the parking lot of the bar where Sookie works. The victim is someone she knows, so she feels compelled to discover who-human or otherwise-did the deed.

But what she doesn’t realize is that there is a far greater danger than the killer threatening Bon Temps. A race of unhuman beings–older, more powerful and far more secretive than vampires or werewolves– is preparing for war. And Sookie will find herself an all-too human pawn in their battle… (Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Series, #9)

5/3: New at the library this week

Movies:

Demolition man
Clear and present danger
The puppet masters
Fly tying made clear and simple
Under seige
Daredevil
(all of above are on videotape)

Books:

Neither here nor there : travels in Europe / Bill Bryson
Like many of his generation, Bill Bryson backpacked across Europe in the early seventies—in search of enlightenment, beer, and women. Twenty years later he decided to retrace the journey he undertook in the halcyon days of his youth. The result is Neither Here Nor There, an affectionate and riotously funny pilgrimage from the frozen wastes of Scandinavia to the chaotic tumult of Istanbul, with stops along the way in Europe’s most diverting and historic locales.

The lost continent : travels in small-town America / Bill Bryson
An unsparing and hilarious account of one man’s rediscovery of America and his search for the perfect small town.

8/20: New at the library this week

Books:

The Owl & Moon Cafe / Jo-Ann Mapson
After losing her teaching position at the local university, Mariah Moon will do anything to keep her gifted twelve-year-old daughter, Lindsay, in a prestigious private school — which means moving in with her mother and grandmother in an apartment above The Owl & Moon Café.

When her mother, Allegra, is diagnosed with leukemia, Mariah rises to the challenge of running the café: mastering her mother’s famous fudge and chatting up customers — including a man who might just reawaken her heart. Meanwhile, Lindsay’s controversial entry in a major national science contest creates a minor maelstrom in the cosseted Monterey Bay community. And Allegra, with one last great love affair in her, will revisit a man she loved so many years ago, and disclose the biggest secret of the Moon family: the identity of Mariah’s father. (read a sample chapter)

The milepost — 2008 (hard copy and dvd issues)
Legendary Alaska trip planner and Alaska travel guide to the highways, roads, ferries, lodgings, recreation, sightseeing attractions and services along the Alaska Highway to and within Alaska, including Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories and the Yukon.

7th heaven / James Patterson; Maxine Paetro
Two cases have pushed San Francisco detective Lindsay Boxer beyond her limits. In the first, a terrible fire in a wealthy home has left a married couple dead and Lindsay and her partner, Rich Conklin, searching for clues. At the same time, Michael Campion, the son of California’s ex-governor with a reputation for partying, has been missing for a month. When there finally seems to be a lead in his case, it is a devastating one. And the combined pressure from the press and the brass is overwhelming. (read a sample chapter)

7/26: New at the library this week

Audiobooks:

Down the Pogonip Trail / Louis L’Amour
Jeff Kurland didn’t have a gun. Jeff Kurland didn’t have a chance. The rancher knew that even as he scanned the cabin for a weapon, any weapon. He was trapped with a killer who had a pistol in his hand and a bounty on his head. And outside, the pogonip swirled and fell, an icy blanket of fog that settled like a shroud over every living thing. Death would creep into the cabin with the bone-chilling cold or slice through him with the speed of a bullet. Either way, time was running out . . . for both of them. (unabridged; cassette)

Strange highways / Dean R. Koontz
You are about to travel along the strange highways of human experience: the adventures and terrors and failures and triumphs that we know as we make our way from birth to death, along the routes that we choose for ourselves and along others onto which we are detoured by fate. It is a journey down wrong roads that can lead to unexpectedly and stunningly right destinations … into subterranean depths where the darkness of the human soul breeds in every conceivable form … over unfamiliar terrain populated by the denizens of hell. It is a world of unlikely heroes, haunted thieves, fearsome predators, vengeful children, and suspiciously humanlike robots. (cassettes)

6/26: New at the library this week

Movies:

August rush (dvd)
The bucket list (dvd)
Don’t come knocking (dvd)

Books:

Forest health conditions in Alaska — 2007 : A forest health protection report / Cynthia Snyder

How computers work / Ron White
The full-color, detailed illustrations will take you deep inside your PC and show you just how intricate it is. This latest edition has been updated with information on all of the latest technologies, including: PCI Express Bus Serial ATA Connections Digital Photography Software TiVos, Gas Plasma Screens, iPods, and Other Home Entertainment Equipment Google and eBay 3D Game Development, Two-Slot Video Cards, and Overclocking (table of contents)

How the Internet works / Preston Gralla
The Internet has changed the world… and, with everything from blogs to podcasts, Internet phones to video, it’s still changing the world. Now, it’s easy to understand how it all works! This book’s big, brilliant, full-color illustrations and clear explanations make it all incredibly simple! (tab le of contents)

The broken window / Jeffery Deaver
A psychotic killer with access to the country’s biggest data miner—Strategic Systems Datacorp—is using detailed information to work his way into the lives of victims, rape, rob and kill them and then blame unsuspecting innocents for the crimes. The killer’s voluminous knowledge of the victims and his ability to plant damning evidence mean that even the most vocal protests of innocence go ignored by the police and juries. (Lincoln Rhyme Series, #8; read a samp le chapter)

4/26: New at the library this week

Movies:

Miracle Dogs (videotape)

Books:

A watery grave / Joan Druett
The year is 1838, and after more than ten years in the planning, the famous United States Exploring Expedition is set to launch into uncharted waters from the coast of Virginia. A convoy of seven ships filled with astronomers, mapmakers, naturalists, and the sailors charged with getting them around the world, the “Ex. Ex.” is finally underway, with much fanfare. Aboard the convoy as ship’s linguist is Wiki Coffin. Half New Zealand Maori and half American, Wiki speaks numerous languages and is expected to help the crew navigate the Pacific islands that are his native heritage. But just before departure Wiki, subject to the unfortunate bigotry of the time, is arrested for a vicious murder he didn’t commit.

1/5: New at the library this week

DVDs:

• 16 blocks
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Books:

• Deadly shoals / Joan Druett — Wiki Coffin plays many parts on the U.S. Exploring Expedition—sailor, linguist, navigator, and, as half-Maori, cultural go-between. But then the brig Swallow reaches the coast of Patagonia, an area infamous for its rough gauchos and revolutionary spirit, and he must take on his other role, that of agent of U.S. law and order. (Wiki Coffin series #4)
• Opening Atlantis / Harry Turtledove — Atlantis lies between Europe and the East Coast of Terranova. For many years, this land of opportunity lured dreamers from around the globe with its natural resources, offering a new beginning for those willing to brave the wonders of the unexplored land. (vol. 1 or proposed trilogy)
• Case histories / Kate Atkinson — a breathtaking story of families divided, love lost and found, and the mysteries of fate. As Private Detective Jackson Brodie investigates all three cases, startling connections and discoveries emerge. Inextricably caught up in his clients grief, joy, and desire, Jackson finds their unshakable need for resolution very much like his own.
• Crossing boundaries in a changing environment: Alaska park science: vol 6, issue 2

11/15: new at the library this week

Audiobooks:

• Blow fly / Patricia Daniels Cornwell — Dr. Kay Scarpetta is visiting Florida, hoping to get away from the pressures of her job. No such luck: down in the Sunshine State, she becomes involved in a terrifying international intrigue with ramifications that reach deep into Kay’s own life. (Kay Scarpetta Series, #12; cassette; read an exerpt)
• Bleachers / John Grisham — High school all-American Neely Crenshaw was probably the best quarterback ever to play for the legendary Messina Spartans. Fifteen years have gone by since those glory days, and Neely has come home to Messina to bury Coach Eddie Rake, the man who molded the Spartans into an unbeatable football dynasty. (cassette; read a sample chapter)
• Trace / Patricia Daniels Cornwell — Now freelancing from south Florida, Dr. Kay Scarpetta returns to Richmond, Virginia, the city that turned its back on her five years ago. Investigating the death of a young girl, she must follow the twisting leads and track the strange details in order to make the dead speak-and to reveal the sad truth that may be more than even she can bear. (Kay Scarpetta Series, #13; CD; read an exerpt)
• Post-mortem / Patricia Daniels Cornwell — Four women with nothing in common, united only in death. Four brutalized victims of a brilliant monster – a “Mr. Nobody”, moving undetected through a paralyzed city, leaving behind a gruesome trail of carnage . . . but few clues. With skilled hands, an unerring eye, and the latest advances in forensic research, an unrelenting female medical examiner – Kay Scarpetta – is determined to unmask a maniac. But someone is trying to sabotage Kay’s investigation from the inside. And worse yet, someone wants her dead . . . (Kay Scarpetta Series, #1; cassette; read an exerpt)
• The time traveler’s wife / Audrey Niffenegger — This is the remarkable story of Henry DeTamble, a dashing, adventuresome librarian who travels involuntarily through time, and Clare Abshire, an artist whose life takes a natural sequential course. Henry and Clare’s passionate love affair endures across a sea of time and captures the two lovers in an impossibly romantic trap (cassette; read a sample chapter)