CCRLD News Blog

I had a hard time getting through this book. Sacks is obviously a very intelligent psychologist and thorough researcher, however, when I picked up this book, I had thought it was a book about the fascinating, "good" powers of music on the brain... Instead, it seemed to be a study in "music gone wrong": people with hearing loss having their lives disrupted by inexplicable and hellish noise, people with perpetual 'ear worms' that threaten to drive them insane, people driven to near physical destruction by the sudden onset of epileptic seizures in response to their most loved music...

I didn't finish this one. As a musician and avid music lover, I found the majority of the stories disheartening (or even frightening!) to read.

by Heather

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If you wish to reserve "Musicophilia" by Oliver Sacks, please contact the library:

library@daytonwa.net

382-4131

Fiction:

• As the Pig Turns (Beaton)
• Murder Unleashed (Brown)
• Book of Dreams (Bunn)
• The Chocolate Castle Clue (Carl)
• Skeleton Letters (Childs)
• Murder She Wrote: The Fine Art of Murder (Fletcher)
• Still Alice (Genova)
• Love Finds You in Sunset Beach, Hawaii (Gunn)
• Changeling Moon (Harper)
• Changeling Dream (Harper)
• Down These Strange Streets (ed. Martin)
• Robert Ludlum's The Ares Decision (Mills)
• The Women of Magnolia (Mitchell)
• City of Whispers (Muller)
• Snuff (Pratchett)
• Neverwinter II (Salvatore)
• Shock Wave (Sandford)
• The Story of Beautiful Girl (Simon)
• The Best of Me (Sparks)
• Tisha (Specht)
• Informed Consent (Turnbull)

Non-Fiction:

• 3rd Alternative
• American Cutting Garden
• Book of Man
• Eden's Outcasts
• Food of Morocco
• Greenhouses and Garden Sheds
• Guantanamo
• Hoophouse Handbook
• How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age
• Idiot's Guide to Hinduism
• The Iliad
• Knitter's Book of Socks
• Magic Reality
• Mary Boleyn
• Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, and Guadalajara
• Resilient Life
• Shatner Rules
• Socrates
• Soprano State
• South Beach Wake-Up Call
• Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways

Large Print:

• Killing the Blues (Brandman)
• 1225 Christmas Tree Lane (Macomber)
• New York to Dallas (Robb)
• Sons of Stone (Wood)

2 and 1/2 out of 4 stars

I thought [Alyson Noel's "Dark Flame"] was good, but not the best, because Ever is finding ways to be with her immortal boyfriend, Damien, who has a spell on him that keeps Ever and him from being together.

by Anonymous

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If you wish to reserve "Dark Flame" by Alyson Noel, please contact the library:

library@daytonwa.net

382-4131

Have you ever had a question that you needed an answer to, but you can't find it with Google and the library is closed?

Have you ever needed help on a paper or doing research, but you don't know where to go?

Try AskWA! :)

The CCRLD has been an enthusiastic participant in the 24-hour-a-day, 7-days-a-week online reference co-op for a couple years now and we'd like to remind you that even though our business hours come to an end each evening, you can still get whatever facts and help you need from real librarians -- via your home computer!

AskWA is part of a larger library cooperative spanning the globe, so even if you've got a burning question at 2 a.m., there's someone available to help. :)

All you have to do is visit our Ask a Librarian page, and type your question into the new chat box on the right hand side of the page and click "send." A librarian will pick up your question and help you find an answer in minutes! 

Tips for a Successful Reference Session:

• Leaving your email is recommended -- that way, if the librarian on staff can't find you an answer quickly, we can still follow-up with you.
• Try to give the librarian as much information about your topic or question as you can -- it helps us help you better. :)

Further questions? Contact Heather at 382-4131.

Fiction:

• The Dovekeepers (Hoffman)
• Hometown Girl (Stewart)

Non-Fiction:

• 2009 Pen/O. Henry Prize Stories
• Cut
• Every Day a Friday
• You Are the Brand

"Stage Performance" was a FABULOUS book.

Taylor has a wonderfully candid way of explaining every aspect of a "performance" so that even the most rank beginner can feel comfortable getting up on stage. He goes through everything from overcoming your fears to managing the business side of a budding career, and the best part is he speaks from practical experience (unlike so many books I've found on this topic).

But where this book really shines is in his discussion of the 'magic' that happens on stage -- the communication between performer and audience. The reason is because 90% of the books on the market that tout being able to make a performer out of the reader do NOT even touch on the actual act of performing -- they only discuss the aspects leading up to the stage. There's usually very little discussion of the things that come during and after. Taylor, however, goes into great detail outlining what marks a good performance -- especially a good performer -- from a bad one, and his tips for success are very straightforward. I highly recommend this book for musicians, as well as anybody who has to get up in front of people for any reason. There is an immense amount of good to be found in this book for all form of public speaking, entertaining, or musical performance.

by Heather

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If you wish to reserve "Stage Performance" by Livingston Taylor, please contact the library:

library@daytonwa.net

382-4131

I would like to extend an open invitation for reader-submitted book reviews and recommendations to appear on the library website!

The guidelines are simple:

• Tell us about a specific book you've enjoyed recently -- this can be as short as just a couple sentences that explain what you liked and/or disliked about it
• Be sure to tell us what book it was
• Let us know whether you want it posted anonymously or if you want it credited to you.
• Email it to heather@daytonwa.net

We just ask that you please keep your reviews clean. Reviews that contain objectionable language will be returned to you.

Thanks, and happy submitting! :)

Fiction:

• Flip (Bedford)
• The Visconti House (Edgar)
• Memento Nora (Smibert)
• Life on Mars (Strahan)

Non-Fiction:

• Honey Bees: Letters from the Hive
• Music Was It

Letters About Literature, a writing contest for readers in grades 4 through 12, gives students the opportunity to write a letter to an author describing his or her personal reaction to a book, story, or poem.

Letters must be postmarked by January 6, 2012. 

You can learn more about the contest at: http://lettersaboutliterature.org/how_to_enter

Picture books:

• Annie was Warned (Krosoczka)
• Song of the Stars (Lloyd-Jones)

Chapter books:

• The Flight of the Dragons (French)
• Kit Carson and the Wild Frontier (Moody)

Non-fiction:

• America is Under Attack
• Buddhism in Thailand
• Cars on Mars
• Christianity in Mexico
• Hi-Tech World: Cool Stuff
• Human Body: Mysteries Revealed
• Islam in Turkey
• Jungle Survival Guide
• Ocean Drawing Book
• Trail of Tears
• Usborne Encyclopedia of World History
• What is Atomic Theory?
• What is the Theory of Plate Tectonics