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 67. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat - Oliver Sacks - 256 pages (8/10)I like how the cover matches my usericon, hah. Yay, Magritte. I've been meaning to read this book for years. How could you not with a title like that? Dr. Oliver Sacks is a guest star on a podcast I regularly listen to, Radio Lab, and after hearing certain cases, I knew it was long past time I read his book. Sacks has been a neurologist for many years, and this book was his first. Published in 1985, it details the strange and amazing cases he's come across during his career. This book is amusing, fascinating, and touching. One interesting case was a man who had alcohol amnesia. He was in his late fifties, but he thought he was 19 in 1945. Whenever he mentioned his brother, he mentioned that he was in accountancy school and was engaged to a nice girl, even though at the time of the book his brother had been an accountant for thirty years. Up until the age of 19 he could remember his life perfectly, but everything after that was a blur. Sacks would see the man one day and the next day the patient would introduce himself again. Each case detailed in this book is unique and varied. The book is well-organized: "The book comprises 24 essays split into 4 sections which each deal with a particular aspect of brain function such as deficits and excesses in the first two sections (with particular emphasis on the right hemisphere of the brain) while the third and fourth describe phenomenological manifestations with reference to spontaneous reminiscences, altered perceptions, and extraordinary qualities of mind found in "retardates" (Sacks, 163) I always took advantage what it was like to go through day-to-day life with no neurological disorders. I can't fathom what it must be like to not be able to trust your sight, or to not be sure where your body parts are, or to not remember ten minutes ago. Sack's main thesis of the book is that human identity is still preserved, no matter how debilitating a disorder an individual has. A person with severe amnesia can still recognize someone he or she loves. A person with severe mental disabilities can still love deeply and find passion in past times. Identity persists. Booksforfood is my book reviewing journal. I like new friends :)
I am looking for 2 gay romances books from the same author The first I was about a basketball player and the owner of a bar, and the second was about the love between the twin of the basketball player from the first book who I think that was a race driver and a actor Could someone tell thier names because i dont remember Thanks
 In September 2009, Seanan McGuire published her first novel Rosemary and Rue. This urban fantasy debut quickly received attention as one of the best debuts of 2009. Now the multi-talented author has three new books scheduled for publication in 2010. Two are continuations of her Toby Daye series: A Local Habitation and An Artificial Night. The third will be published under the pseudonym 'Mira Grant' and will be titled Feed. As McGuire says: "Who needs sleep?" Today author Seanan McGuire is answering questions at Book Love Affair. Go leave a comment to ask this wonderful author what you'd like to know! (Also, participating in the interview earns extra entries in the BLA Leviathan giveaway!) ( Check out the interview at Book Love Affair? )
Hi All, I hope that you all had a nice Thanksgiving! Here's a heads-up for fans of The Beatles (and books!): BEATexpo 2009 will be coming to CT this weekend. A celebration of music, tribute bands will be on hand, as will music luminaries, celebrities, and several authors who will be signing copies of their books. More details here: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-3859-Hartford-Books-Examiner~y2009m11d27-BEATexpo. John 
 Ash (2009) Written by: Malinda LoGenre: YA/Fairy Tale/Fantasy Pages: 264 (Hardcover) The premise: in unfairly simple terms, Ash is a lesbian re-telling of Cinderella. But that's an unfairly simply description. Sure, you've got the Cinderella myth, but rather than falling for the typical Prince Charming, Ash finds herself attracted to the King's Huntress, and she'd do anything to stay with her. Even if it means bargaining with the fairy, a risk that could very well make her lose everything. My RatingWorth the Cash: note I'm giving this rating to a hardcover. I always feel that carries more weight than if the book were a paperback, for obvious reasons. At any rate, this is a very enjoyable read that I tore through in a day, but the prose isn't light so much as it reflects a certain fairy tale quality, perfect for a re-telling of the Cinderella story. Ash is a likable heroine you can empathize with, and even though she makes mistakes, the mistakes are her own and she works to fix things the best she can. The love story itself needed a little bit more development between the first meeting and the admission of love, but I did like the characters together, and I liked that Ash was attracted to a person instead of the wealth and power a partner could bring her, which signifies not only the difference between Kaisa the Huntress and Prince Charming, but also between Kaisa and Sidhean. One of the most important messages of the book: loves doesn't ask for anything in return, and love will love you for who you are, not who you aren't. What a simple lesson, and what an easy one to forget. Malinda Lo is definitely on my watch list, and I look forward to her next offering, whatever it may be and whenever it might arrive. Review style: it's kind of a hard book to spoil, isn't it? I mean, anyone who knows the general Cinderella tale knows where the book is going, but the trick is, because it's a re-telling, you're on ground that's familiar but not, and you tend to forget it's a re-telling you're reading. At any rate, there's spoilers, but nothing that doesn't correlate to the actual fairy tale. The full review, if you're interested, may be found at my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome. :) REVIEW: Malinda Lo's ASHHappy Reading! DON'T FORGET: November's book challenge is drawing to a close, but you can still get your hands on Alaya Dawn Johnson's Racing the Dark. However, December's challenge has been announced, so if you want to get an early start on Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn, we'd love to have you! Details on participation are here!
I've been reading reviews on Stephen King's new book, Under the Dome, but am thinking of checking out the e-book instead of the insanely massive hardcover! Also came across some quotes by him in this review where he talks about his influences in writing. It mentions some of his faves like Bram Stoker, William Golding, Tolkien and on the Infloox site I even saw some extremely nice comments he had to say about Harry Potter (of all things!!). Anyone know more about direct influences on his writing? 
http://libraryjuicepress.com/blog/?p=1868 There’s a book idea we’ve been kicking around here at Litwin Books, and we need an author. I don’t want to completely disclose the idea for this book, but I want to say enough to potentially find the right author. It will be a reference book that takes a skeptical view of commonly-encountered statistics and facts. I want to find an author who is good with social science research methods and able to see the problems behind factual claims across a range of issues and subject matter. I want to find someone who has these skills and has a healthy dislike for the way that public discourse is distorted by misinformation, bias, and ideology. My hope is for a book that has something to offend everyone.
Any takers? Please contact me at rory at litwinbooks.com.
I read an interesting article the other day which was about how technology was influencing libraries such as the use of online catalogues etc. However the thing that interested me the most was how how technology can help to use the space in libraries more effeciently but this subject was only touched upon briefly. So I just wondered, how does your library make use of limitted space? what items take up less space than traditional formats?
 66. Lady Windermere's Fan - Oscar Wilde - 80 pages (9/10)"Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes." I didn't read the copy with this amazing cover--it's from a 1966 edition--but I thought it was too pretty not to use as my image thumbnail. I love Oscar Wilde. He's so pretty, witty, and gay. He's hands-down one of my favourite playwrights and poets, though I've yet to get around to reading all of his poetry or plays. I listened to this as a full-cast audio recording while I photocopied 3,000 pages at work, and I don't think I would have been able to get through that task without this play. This play is a satire of marriage and how in the time period where it was written, a happy marriage was not the most prevalent. Lady Windermere hears hints that her husband, whom she loves devoutly and believes that he feels the same, has been giving money to an attractive and mysterious woman, a Mrs. Erlynne. She begins to doubt their love, and is incensed when her husband insists that she must invite Mrs. Erlynne to a ball Lady Windermere is holding that night. She is so furious that she proclaims if the woman comes into her home she will smack her across the face with the fan her husband gave her that morning. The fan becomes a symbol of her mistrust for her husband, and later on, her precarious honour. It's a tightly-written play, where each character comments on a type of personality and each has a purpose. No character is flat or stale, and everything comes together like a dance at the end. There's a twist that I found rather easy to guess, but it's still an excellent play and worth reading/watching/listening to if you enjoy clever dialogue and witty banter. It has one of my favourite quotes in it, which is perhaps overquoted now, but I love it still: "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." This is my book review journal. I enjoy making new friends!
Hi there, I've decided that I want to break out of public library work and try to get a job at the local University or community college library. A little background...I've been an MLS librarian here at the main public library for almost two years, and have worked in a public library for four years. I'd like to get a job at the big state university here. As I prepare myself for this change, I come to you all with a question - What's new and sexy in academic libraries right now? I'm reading as many journals as I can, but it would help to get an idea of what to focus on. I'm specifically looking at technological and web applications that are affecting collections and services. What do I need to know about if I get an interview? Thanks so much, Carrie
 Title: Go ask Alice Editor: Beatrice Sparks Series: There isn't a series. Genre: Teen reading, fiction, thriller. Back Cover:January 24th After you've hat it, there isn't
even life without drugs....It started when she was served a soft drink laced with LSD in a dangerous party game. Within months, she was hooked, trapped in a downard spiral that took her from her comfortable home and loving family to the main streets of an unforgiving city. It was a journey that would rob her of her innocence her youth---and ultimately her life. Read her diary.
Enter her world.
You will never forget her.For thirty-five years, the acclaimed, bestselling first-person account of a teenage girl's harrowing descent into the nightmarish world of drugs has left an indelible mark on generations of teen readers. As powerful---and as timely---today as ever, Go Ask Alice remains the definitive book on the horrors of addiction. "AN EXTRA ORDINARY WORK... A DOCUMENT OF HORRIFYING REALITY." ---The New York Times Book Review Reason for Reading: I actually was just walking through the teen reading aisle of B.Dalton (never really considered reading anything from this section) and seen 'Go ask Alice'. I've heard of people talk about it before so I picked it up and read the back. It was a keeper from there on out. Pages: 213 Copyright Date: 1971 Cover: A darkish background mostly looks like shade with about 2/4 of a girl's face blended in with the shading. At the top of the cover it states that there were "MORE THAN 5 MILLION COPIES SOLD." Imaginary Theme Song: Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit Grade: Oh definitely an A+ Recommended for: It's a great book for anyone to read. Related Reads: Honestly, I don't think there's anything that relates with this book.
I read this children's book series when I was younger (so it was probably out in the late 90s) and it was one of my favorites. I cannot remember the titles or any of the character names but I remember that the covers consisted of a girl with black pigtails in the shape of spheres and her alien friends who one night in the first book came to her window and took her off on adventures for one reason or another, one of her newfound friends was a robot type creature I'm pretty sure and one of the books in the series had to do with climbing a giant wall of some sort. I am desperately trying to remember more about the series so I can find these books again! They are a big piece of my childhood and I would love to find them...does anyone by any chance think they know what books I am talking about? Please let me know even if you have an inkling about it! Thank you so much!
Hello, My library school no longer offers a course in archiving, so I didn't get any experience in this area. I've started volunteering at an oral history program, and one task I will take on is archiving their documents. I will most likely be working with archiving both the printed transcripts and the MP3s on their server. I want to check out a text or other resource to help familiarize myself with standard archiving practices. Can anyone be of help? Much thanks, Carrie
Hey there! Can anyone recommend some good German children books? I wanted to give something special to my best friend for Christmas. She's studing translation and loves children books, I found this site ( thalia) but there are to many titles to choose from so I'm kinda lost. I'm sure she has already read the Her Bello trilogy and Zugmaus by Uwe Timm. Something inedit would be better but classics will do too. Thanks in advance to everyone who could help! cross-posted
 Title: Finnikin of the Rock Auther: Melina Marchetta Genre: Fantasy Pages: 399 Rating: 4/5 From the blurbFinnikin of the Rock and his guardian, Sir Topher, have not been home to their beloved Lumatere for ten years. Not since the dark days when the royal family was murdered and the kingdom put under a terrible curse. But then Finnikin is summoned to meet Evanjalin, a young woman with an incredible claim: the heir to the throne of Lumatere, Prince Balthazar, is alive.
Evanjalin is determined to return home and she is the only one who can lead them to the heir. As they journey together, Finnikin is affected by her arrogance... and her hope. He begins to believe he will see his childhood friend, Prince Balthazar, again. And that their cursed people will be able to enter Lumatere and be reunited with those trapped inside. He even believes he will find his imprisoned father.
But Evanjalin is not what she seems. And the Truth will test not only Finnikin's faith in her... but in himself.
review Title: The Graveyard Book Auther: Neil Gaiman Genre: Fantasy Rating: 4/5 From the blurbBod is an unusual boy who inhabits an unusual place-he's the only living resident of a graveyard. Raised from infancy by the ghosts, werewolves, and other cemetery denizens, Bod has learned the antiquated customs of his guardians' time as well as their timely ghostly teachings-like the ability to Fade. Can a boy raised by ghosts face the wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead? And then there are things like ghouls that aren't really one thing or the other. This chilling tale is Neil Gaiman's first full-length novel for middle-grade readers since the internationally bestselling and universally acclaimed Coraline. Like Coraline, this book is sure to enchant and surprise young readers as well as Neil Gaiman's legion of adult fans.( review )review
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