Christy's blog

Season 3 of Showtime's popular drama series The Tudors is now available at the library.  This season moves more quickly than the first 2.   Season 3 features Henry VIII's marriages to Jane Seymour and Anne of Clewes and discusses the drama  regarding England's conversion to Prostestanism.  Will Henry finally get a son?  Will he be excommunicated from the Catholic Church.  Find out who dies & who survives amid the drama of Henry VIII's court.  Seasons 1 & 2 are also available for check out.

The 2010 Edgar Awards for best Mysteries were announced in January.  Check out the list of nominees for best Mystery novel & click the link below to see all of the categories and nominees:

Best Novel

• The Missing by Tim Gautreaux
• The Odds by Kathleen George
• The Last Child by John Hart
• The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston
• Nemesis by Jo Nesbo (translated by Don Bartlett)
• A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn

Mystery Writers of America 2010 Edgar Nominees

Dick Francis, a British former jockey turned popular crime author died on February 14th, 2010.  In his early years, Francis had been a jockey for the royal family in Britain.  When he retired from racing he began writing professionally- first his autobiography The Sport of Queens and then as a racing correspondent for London's Sunday Express.  In 1962 he published the mystery novel Dead Cert  and has since published 40 more books.  His popular books include the Kit Fielding series and the Sid Halley series.  His books can be found in the Brookfield Public Library in the Mystery section.

Coupon Queen Jill Cataldo is back to present part 2 of her popular programs on using coupons to save money. In Super Couponing we learned how to use maximize use of coupons to save money on food.  Now with Super-Couponing 2 we'll learn how to apply those tricks to use coupons to save money on not just food, but clothes, housewares & even toys!  Please register to attend this program by calling the library at 485-6917 x 131, by email at Reference@brookfieldpubliclibrary.info (please provide name, phone number, and number of attendees) or through our online events calendar.

Please note that this program will be held at the Brookfield Village Hall (8820 Brookfield AVE)in the Recreation Hall in the basement. Please enter the building via the Police doors on the East side of the building.

Is becoming a more avid reader one of your New Year's resolutions?  If so, join our book discussion group in reading The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski, the tale of a young mute boy living on his family's farm in Wisconsin.  This book was not only an Oprah pick but also Amazon.com's "Best Book of the Month for June 2008".    Please join our book discussion group in reading this title and discussing it at our February 16 meeting at 7:00 p.m.  To request a copy of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle please call the library at 708-485-6917 x 127 or send us an email at Reference@brookfieldpubliclibrary.info

One the good things and the bad things about working in a library is that you are exposed to so many wonderful books, DVDs, music, etc.  It's great because you can almost always find something that fits your mood, but the downside is that you have a constant backlog of books to read & movies to watch.  That being said- my favorites of 2009 aren't necessarily things new in 2009 but rather things that were new to me.

Books

The Life of Pi was one of those books on my list that I was never able to get to- until we read it for book discussion.  It was one of those page turning stories that kept me going until the end.

Assasination Vacation by Sarah Vowell discusses her trips to various sites relating to assassinated presidents & their assassins.  

The Gates by John Connolly.  It's been a while since I've laughed while reading as much as I did while reading The Gates.  Connolly's novel features a Samuel, young boy in England who just happens to witness a brief opening of the Gates of Hell, Nurd, a banished demon who happens to get free when the gates are opened, some possessed neighbors, and some scientists at CERN who make you wonder what really goes on at research factilities.  I enjoyed Connolly's use of footnotes to add more info to the scenes he describes.  All in all it was a fun read. 

Percy Jackson & the Olympians by Rick Riordan.  This popular children's series features Percy Jackson- a kid who discovers that his dad is the Greek god Poseidon & gets sent to Camp Half Blood- a summer camp for demi-gods.  The first book in this series, The Lightning Thief, will be released as a movie in 2010.

DVDs

I finally caught up to 2 TV series on DVD - Arrested Development & Deadwood.

Arrested Development stars Jason Bateman & is "the story of a wealthy family who lost everything & the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together."  Basic plot synopsis- Dad (Jeffrrey Tambor) gets arrested for embezzling from the company & his son Michael (arguably the only sane member of the family) must put up with the crazy hijinks of his family members as they try to find a way to get their dad released from prison.

Deadwood - Put out by HBO, Deadwood tells the story of the Deadwood the boom town in the 1800s.  With characters as colorful as the language, this drama gives you a side of the old west you don't often see in movies- the politics of the times, the seedy nature of the men in boom towns and even dirt.  While older Hollywood westerns glamorize the old west, Deadwood shows it for what it really is.

These are just a few of the many great things I've read or seen in 2009 so stay tuned for more favorites... 

2009 saw the development of the Romance collection here at the Brookfield Public Library.  Our new Romance section is home to favorite authors like Nora Roberts, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Stephanie Laurens, and Sherrilyn Kenyon.  Many of the titles from Amazon.com's Editors' Top 10 in Romance can be found in our Romance collection...

• Angel's Blood by Nalini Singh
• Smooth Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas
• Kiss of a Demon King by Kresley Cole
• The Perfect Poison by Amanda Quick
• Bending the Rules by Susan Andersen
• What Happens in London by Julia Quinn
• Fireside (The Lakeshore Chronicles) by Susan Wiggs
• A Duke of Her Own by Eloisa James 
• Immortal Outlaw by Lisa Hendrix
• Angel Lane by Sheila Roberts 

2009 has been a busy year for Brookfield Public Library.  In addition to our regular book discussion group we started a Non-Fiction discussion group which met at the Salt Creek Wine Bar.  See our list below to keep up with what our book discussion groups have been reading.

Fiction

The November book for the Fiction Book Discussion Group is Chasing Cezanne, a humorous who dunit caper set in the world of art theft.  Over the centuries the art world hosts some of the most brutal crimes and thefts as dazzling as the masterpieces themselves.   Even the more "honestly" acquired masterpieces like the Parthenon Marbles acquired by Lord Elgin often inspire a great deal of debate.   If you find yourself intrigued by the mysteries of the worlds of art theft & forgery, check out these titles:

Fiction:

• And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander
• The Art Thief by Noah Charney
• Chazing Cezanne by Peter Mayle
• The Good Thief's Guide to Paris by Chris Ewan
• Murder at the National Gallery by Margaret Truman
• Valfierno: The Man Who Stole the Mona Lisa by Martin Caparros

Non Fiction:

• The Gardner Heist by Ulrich Boser
• The Lost Museum by Hector Feliciano
• The Medici Conspiracy by Peter Watson
• Museum of the Missing by Simon Houpt
• The Rescue Artist by Edward Dolnick

One of my favorite guilty pleasures is watching the Food Network.  I especially enjoy watching top cake decorators compete on Food Network Challenge & Ace of Cakes, a reality show centered around the doings of Charm City Cakes, a specialty cake shop in Baltimore, M.D. owned by Duff Goldberg.

So if you're a fan of Ace of Cakes or awed by cake in general, check out Duff's new book Ace of Cakes: Inside the World of Charm City Cakes.  The book explains how Charm City Cakes came to be what it is today: how the staff came together &  how the show came about.  It offers tips by various CCC staff members, answers frequently asked questions about the show, and highlights some pretty awesome cakes.