Most Likely To:

I was destined to pick up the book Most Talkative: Stories from the Front lines of Pop Culture by Andy Cohen.  When I began working in libraries over 2 decades ago, one of my friends said, “ but YOU can’t work in a library!  You talk too much.” 

Our author Cohen definitely talks.  From an early age, he struggled to fit into his family. His mom’s advice was “just humor your dad and go toss the damn ball!”  But it was television that he loved, especially soap operas and Charlie’s Angels.  His passion for all things television led him to a career working as a producer and creating shows.   

I’m not going to pretend to be a big fan of television, but I did get a kick out of the author’s insider—if irreverent-- views of popular shows.  He got his first big break when he clinched an interview with his all-time favorite TV  personality, the much-married Erica Kane.  In relating his lunch experience with his idol Susan Lucci  he said,  “I imagined little cartoon birds fluttering down to pick up the hem of her mink coat so it didn’t drag on the ground.”

The book rambles around discussing “shirtless Tuesdays” on the set of 48 hours and slogans of “I love Botox” from the stars of The  Real Housewives Of Orange County. By the closing chapters, the reader happily buys into Cohen’s statement when speaking of his  internship at Morning News—“unlike five o’clock Julie, I couldn’t  get enough of the place.  I would have happily lived out of a sleeping bag in the mailroom.”   

He would have, and added another chapter to the book.

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

I was so prepared to hate this book.

Hate, hate, HATE,  because I was ready for it to say all the things that are wrong with women and society—fixations on our body, looks, etc. selling our soul to the devil to be a size zero. “ I HATE THIS BOOK! I HATE IT!” I screamed inwardly as I carried it to the checkout desk. Ahem, and I was checking it out, why????

And so began my fickle relationship with the book Six weeks to OMG—get skinnier than all your friends by Venice A. Fulton

I opened the book and within 30 minutes I was being sucked into it like a sweet vanilla milkshake through a red straw.

I was surprised. Mesmerized. The text was easily, effortless whipped-cream readable and entertaining.

It was also chock full of  easy to remember cues on how to conquer your weight issues, for example: POM=Period of Movement with entire sections devoted to “how to use your pom poms.”  Delicious!

And, because I AM human, since his philosophy AGREES with things I already hold to be true, perhaps he is NOT the devil!  “Quick fixes don’t work, but the right quick improvements can lead to permanent weight loss.  No one is born fat, or destined to have cellulite,” so promises the author. Quick fixes—well 6 weeks is pretty quick if you ask me.

Whether it’s discussing  the difference in eating a banana with green spots and one with Leopard spots or how to START acting like a hottie, the topic is mouth-smacking tasty.  

Who is this guy anyway?  He’s an expert in nutrititon and exercise physiology who has dedicated himself to helping his high profile clientele keep their bodies fit and healthy.  OK, so he’s not God so I’m sure he doesn’t know everything, But this is a  pretty good  read.

And because he was so blunt , I actually LIKED HIM:

Drugs? No.

Complicated diets? No.

Anorexia? No.

Throwing up? No.

Exercising 20 hours a day? No.

By the time I read the mouth-watering  section “The Truth About Cellulite Cures,” I was hooked.  By the way, here’s the spoiler, according to Mr. Fulton :  cellulite cures don’t work.

Lull me to sleep, and no one gets hurt!

It will likely never win a Nobel Prize for great literature.

But when I picked up Fern Michael’s Southern Comfort I was not looking for great literature—I was looking for diversion, entertainment, escape!

And that’s what I found.

Detective Tick Kelly has gone AWOL and wound up in a bottle after a tragedy involving his family.  He sobers up, becomes a best-selling author, and finds himself attracted to a beach visitor, Kate, who just happens to be a special agent.  Kate’s biological clock is ticking, her former boss is a bungling idiot, and an abandoned child are all thrown into the mix to keep the reader turning those pages.  Does the talking parrot hold the answers to the area’s human trafficking problem?  Does Tick’s twin brother fall for Kate’s best friend?  Can you stay awake until the last page?

I will admit that the dialog was sometimes, um, too predictable.  As was the plot. But predictable,  is not always a bad thing.  Sometimes I need a story where all the strings are neatly tied and everyone is smiling in the finale.  Sometimes I just need exactly what the title promises:  comfort.

What Happens in Vegas..........

You’d have to be living on the dark side of the moon to not have heard of the hoopla created by E.L. James’ 50 Shades of Grey.

Many of my friends have expressed surprise that the Public Library has multiple copies of this title.

The summary of the book posted on Amazon  goes like this:  “ literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.”

The book has been called “erotic fiction” which the web defines as fictional stories of human sexual relationships.  Currently, we have 61 holds on our 14 copies.  The book has been banned in some areas, and it remains in high demand.

And what is my point?

The Public Library tries to carry a wide array of reading genres.  Some of the selections on our shelves may not agree with my personal beliefs—or your beliefs.  However,  they continue to reside on our shelves due to demand and in the interest of having a balanced collection representing varying viewpoints.  And it is hardly a surprise that many well known classics and bestsellers, including Tom Sawyer, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, The Holy Bible, Diary of Anne Frank, and Ulysses, have been banned in some areas.

And who is reading 50 Shades of Grey?  That is no one’s business except for the cardholder.  Library staff keep no records of what a patron has previously checked out, nor do we reveal what any person has checked out at any time.  Your secrets (and mine) are safe!

Don't tell me how to raise my kids until you get YOUR child off the top of the flagpole!

To Facebook, or not to Facebook, that is the question.

Whether tis nobler to join the throng putting every birthday, grandbaby picture, and marital break-up out on cyberspace or to remain facebook-less, that is the question.

And if we do decide to go Facebook, do we take our kids with us?

Nickelodeon Group President, Cyma Zarghami, says, “I urge every parent to read this book.”  Nickelodeon.  Now we are in my comfort zone.

Talking Back to Facebook by James P. Steyer claims to be “The Common Sense Guide to Raising Kids in the Digital Age.”  We certainly need a large dose of THAT!

As you’d suspect, the book has tons of information dealing with online relationships, the risk of addiction, and child safety.

  What I didn’t expect was a foreword by THE Chelsea Clinton.  This cozy little insight into the Clinton family home and the part media played was the most intriguing part of the book.  But then again, I voted for Bill!

Should I ban violent video games?  Is my kid a cyberbully?  Who is my child texting?  Let’s cut to the chase—spend some time OFF Facebook and have a chat with your kids.  That’s the book in a nutshell.

I'm going home with YOU!

If there ever was a book that leaped off the shelf and straight into my willing arms, it is Rainy Brain, Sunny Brain by Elaine Fox. I am the queen of  positive thinking. Or so I thought.

Imagine my surprise when I opened this book and discovered that I have much room for improvement.

Stunning research in neuroscience suggests that we can influence our personalities to the extent that our lives are only as “sunny” or as “rainy” as we allow them to be.  Call me a control freak, but I like the premise of being in control of, instead of being controlled by my mind.

Actor Michael J. Fox claims that the book, “provides a mental map to the sunny side of the street.”  With sections devoted to “elusive optimism” and “reshaping our brains from fear to flourishing” I couldn’t put it down, not even to run grab another chocolate chip cookie.

A vote for me is a vote for??????????

I played French horn in the high school band back in the 70s.

I was terrible at it, but I surely loved band.

When we’d get ready to head for our competition events,the director would look at me, point a finger and say, “You with the French horn--  just pretend to play.  We want to win this competition!” 

Ok, I will confess that I was not musically gifted.

The secret I will confess to you, but never  to my  band director is that part of the reason I was so terrible is because I never practiced.

Face it.

You get better at what you practice.

That little axiom has no age limit.

If you want to improve yourself, it is going to take some doing.

The start-up of you by Reid Hoffman, purportedly teaches us how to “adapt to the future, invest in yourself, and transform your career.”

I totally buy into this.

The people around us change, industries change, we better be ready to “jump onto our lifeboat and regroup,” as the book suggests.

One of my favorite chapters of the book was “Do the Hustle.”

I’m pretty sure this book was not supposed to add comedic relief,but hey, laughter is the best medicine.  As the book theorizes, “No matter where you are in your career, there will be moments when you feel like your back is against the wall.  When you may be short on funds or allies or both.  When no one is knocking at your door inviting you to stuff.  These situations call for :  hustle.  (hustler is bad, but hustle is good.)

The book packs a really terrific pep talk.

Question for you?  why is it  so difficult for us to invest in ourselves? 

Doing so is not being selfish. Actually we are better equipped to help others when we have first taken the best care of ourselves.

Can I see the value of something even if it goes against my personal beliefs?

Welcome to the 2012 political season………………..

You do the Hokey Pokey

 “And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.”

  --Nietzsche

It is time to face the truth:  I am a book snob.

Or maybe I’m a rebel book snob, which would be even more exciting to my robin-hood-ish mindset.

And to what am I referring?

I’m just saying if a book is on the bestseller list, I avoid it.

Not that I have no intention of ever reading it, it’s just that there are plenty of books at my fingertips, and I don’t want to feel pressured into reading the “flavor of the month.”

So, I held off awhile before reading Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto.

  No, I don’t normally wait a decade to read a book, but I knew I’d get around to it eventually.’

  Or not.

“Bel Canto,” which is  Italian for “beautiful singing,” is the story of the crisis that erupts when members of a terrorist organization  take hostages in a mansion.  After realizing they have too many hostages, the group decides to keep only the hostages they deem important, including a wealthy businessman, his translator, and a beautiful opera singer.  Neither the terrorists nor the hostages can foresee the months ahead, the friendships forged, the sorrowful deaths that await.

Reminiscent of The Great Gatsby, there is beauty, politics, elegance, danger, romance, and yes, yes, the music.

Patchett says, “How much does a house know?  There could not have been gossip and yet there was a slight tension in the air, the vaguest electricity that made men lift their heads and look and find nothing.”  As a reader, I could hear the house whispering but I sure missed the message.  I could have read the ending to this book first and STILL wouldn’t have seen it coming when it arrived.

Too much work makes Ender a dull boy

I am not a science fiction fan.
It’s not that I am anti-science
fiction, it’s just that there are so many other genres I enjoy, I just rarely wander into that area.

A close friend of mine told me I should read the book
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card.
Not you MUST READ this book, or your life will be without
meaning , just a simple “you should read
this” and there was something about that cryptic statement that lured me to the
sci fi collection.

The story centers around the battle for mankind to survive
when attacked by an
alien species. Sorry, no real surprises there.

Did you know that approximately 8 million adults suffer from
Attention Deficit Disorder? I say that to emphasize the difficulty that
any writer faces in gaining and keeping my attention. That being said, I found myself sucked into this
story quicker than a
chocoholic (me) gets sucked into the local cookie factory when roaming around
the mall. Wait a minute, maybe this
science fiction stuff has some merit after all!

The story was entertaining, if a little too
obvious. Choosing Valentine as the name
for the sweetest sister in the world? Please don’t make it that easy for
me!
Ender, our pre-teen main character and
tactical military genius, has the daunting job of practicing warfare to learn how to save the earth. It was not the ant-like aliens that were
unbelievable, not the intergalactic space travel, not the way parents could
easily give away their offspring to save mankind that I found unbelievable.

It was Ender’s wisdom that did not ring
true. Brilliant? Yes. But we know
intelligence and wisdom are vastly different creatures, and the deep thinking
Ender displayed was just too big a leap for me to believe. Enjoyable?
Yes, and I’m glad I ventured down that aisle………..

No Peeking in the Neighbor's Windows!!

When I was in high school, our social science instructor
informed us that “someday, a mental health check up will be as common as a
physical health check up.”
Sadly, that has not come to pass. I’m saying sadly because all my friends and most of my family
could benefit from some therapy, and you can include me in that list,
too. Then again, who wants to be “normal”?????
In Shrink Rap by Robert Parker, our
Detective Sunny finds herself working for stunning romance novelist Melanie Joan Hall.
Sunny is doing her darndest to
protect Melanie, who is being stalked by her ex-husband, who is, coincidentally also Melanie’s ex psychiatrist.
Hmmmmmm………….
Sunny being the go-getter that she is decides to go undercover—as it were—and seek
therapy from the ex husband/psychiatrist—while also best-friending her own
ex-husband.
You can bet that our Sunny girl is going to discover some
things about herself that perhaps she didn’t want to know.
Our author is such a tease. Will
Sunny wind up dead? Will the psychiatrist wind up on the couch with
Sunny? Is Melanie really an innocent victim or a fiend in disguise?
The short chapters pack plenty of intrigue to
keep you reading till you discover all the answers in this clever little story.

When I grow up, I want to ride the Garbage Truck!!

There have been times when—rebelling against all those
literary assignments of yore—that I have read nothing but what could best be
described as trash.
After devouring 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse by Garth Johnson, at least now I know what to do with all
that trash.

This volume showcases a collection of the most inventive work being
made with recycled materials. The book shows examples of how to turn your trash into works of art, fashion, jewelry, housewares, interiors, etc.

“Remake, restyle, recycle, renew” seems to be Garth’s mantra, and it’s not a case of “ do
what I say, not what I do”. Some unbelievably gifted artists have shared their creations in the pages of this book. If you have been searching for something that would help to unleash the creative genius that has been trappeddeep inside your DNA, this is a good place to begin.

My favorites? Chic formal wear designed from aluminum foil—haute
couture for which to DIE! And the SHOES!
I am salivating as only a tender-footed,
formerly stiletto wearing 50-something-year-old
can salivate. Sigh.

I suppose artists and
crafters have always been recyclers—in years past because it was a thrifty
choice, but now because it has become a
moral imperative.

This is a book to which I keep returning.
No, I’ve decided, I don’t want to see this particular book
on the shelves of my Public Library.
It is a book I must OWN! It’s the kind of book I could crawl into and
you’d never see me again.

YOU should go look at it.

I’ve stared until my eyes hurt—and as with all addictions—the
more I get of this book, the more I desire it.

Please don't return your scrolls to the Book Drop

When I was a small child, our local library was in the dark
basement of the County Courthouse. Cold,
bleak, uninviting, yet its volumes still held magic that I have never
forgotten.
The years have passed and today’s library has morphed into
an organization scarcely recognizable—yet the magic continues.
I’ve thought a lot about this--change, and how things do not
stay the same.
Will books in their present form cease to exist?
Will this technologically advanced world of e books, tablets
and other technology eat us alive?

I will admit that I love the feel of a book in my hands.
Yet, I own a “smart” device and have downloaded books and
other media to it.
“All great changes are preceded by chaos.” ~ Deepak Chopra
We don’t have to be afraid.
Your Public Library is a great place to stay in touch with
your ever changing world.

In the distant past, people wrote on scrolls.
I don’t see any scrolls lying around today, and we have made
it just fine.

I'll waste my time if I choose, thank you very much!

Man in the music
The creative life and work of Michael Jackson

“You’re taking THAT book?” someone asked me as I picked up a copy of Man in the Music: The Creative Life and Work of Michael Jackson and was flipping through the pages.
“Well, I was thinking about it,” I replied.
“Well, you shouldn’t waste your time on things like that,” offered the self-appointed book police of my reading list.
That did it.
For SURE that book was going home with me now.
After all, it is MY TIME and I get to choose how I will or will not waste it.
But let me assure you, this was worth the check out.
This 2011 volume was much to my liking. Author Joseph Vogel is a New Yorker who tends to write about pop culture, music, and politics.
The book focused much more on Michael as a creative artist and less about all the drama in his personal life.
During my former stint studying genealogy, I had soon discovered we all have outlaws in our ancestral pages.
But we DON’T all have creative geniuses lurking in our family branches.
I loved the photos, and I will even forgive him for being (page 185) more beautiful that I will ever be and being able to pull off wearing that much glitz (page 78.)
There was the prerequisite background info about how the songs were written. Fascinating.
But mainly, the book focuses on Michael and “the magic.”
And to me, it was.

Save me the piece with the most Icing!

First, I want to say that I think what you read is no one’s business but yours, meaning, no one should judge you if you choose to read only westerns, or only graphic novels, or only Harlequin romances. We read for different reasons. I might read a text book to pass an exam, a book on carpentry to complete a project, or a mystery for entertainment. Or perhaps I’ll read something that’s pretty much totally fluff. It’s like frosting on the cake, or gravy on the mashed potatoes. You don’t have to have it, but every once in a while, it’s good to treat yourself.
And with that disclaimer I confess to reading Susan Phillips’ Natural Born Charmer. Pure chick-lit. Some shocking (well at least to me) language, and some sex thrown in for good measure. The book has some fun characters, my two favorites being Blue, the feisty, unlikely heroine of the tale, and Riley, a young 12 year old who has recently lost her Mom. The author also throws in a dash of small town shenanigans, just to keep things interesting. This book will never be on any English teacher’s required reading list.

Chasing the starry Cetus

“The sad and solemn night
Hath yet her multitude of cheerful fires;
The glorious host of light
Walk the dark hemisphere till she retires . . . .
And thou dost see them rise,
Star of the Pole! And thou dost see them set.
Alone, in they cold skies,
Thou keep’st thy old unmoving station yet.
--William Cullen Brant
“Hymn to the North Star”

If you challenge me to a game of astronomy trivia, you might win, but I would have the most fun, hands down. I love trivia AND stars, constellations, black holes, dazzling doubles and glittering globulars. If you are similarly afflicted, or simply in the mood for something different—you should pick up Deep-Sky Wonders: A tour of the Universe with Sky and Telescope’s Sue French. Stunning pictures, purportedly by the hundreds, although I confess I did not count them, entrance the reader. An education in star maps, sky-hopping, deep sky objects, and planetary nebulae await. With chapters titled “Scuttling around the Scorpion,” and “A Toehold in the Virgo Cluster,” how can you resist?