Thank You For Being a Friend

September is Women's Friendship Month, and while the month is over, it's never too late to celebrate the beauty of friendship!  Read on for five of our favorite fictional friendships:


Rosalind and Celia - Shakespeare's As You Like It

These Shakespearean cousins would clearly be friends even if they weren't related!  When Celia's father bans Rosalind from court, Celia promptly follows her friend into the Forest of Arden. Once there, she's more than happy to join Rosalind in donning disguises and enjoying the often complex, always hilarious antics of the forest. These are pals who know how to stay together through thick and thin -- but who also know how to have fun together.

Request "As You Like It" on DVD from the Catalog



Anne and Diana - L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series

"Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world." So says Anne Shirley, the spunky, imaginative, orphaned hero of L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables books. When she arrives at Green Gables newly adopted, she is thrilled to discover there's another little girl her own age at the next house over -- Diana Barry, who quickly becomes Anne's BFF (or "bosom friend"). Their childhood friendship forms a bond that lasts throughout their lives -- and the book series.

Request "Anne of Green Gables" from the Catalog



Laverne and Shirley -- Laverne & Shirley

Starring Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams, this ABC sitcom revolved around the lives of two roommates, co-workers, and best friends. Working together as bottlecappers in a Milwaukee brewery, the characters originally appeared as buddies of Fonzie on Happy Days before warranting their own spin-off show. The two friends were presented as polar opposites: Laverne is a tough-talking tomboy from Brooklyn, while sunny Shirley is a bit shyer and decidedly more optimistic. Their differences give the two gal-pals unique outlooks on life -- but it also makes for a fun, and decidedly hilarious, friendship.

Request "Laverne & Shirley" Season One on DVD from the Catalog

Blanche, Rose, Dorothy, and Sophia - The Golden Girls

Long before Samantha, Miranda, Carrie, and Charlotte -- there were the Golden Girls. The show revolved around a trio of women living as roommates in 1980s Miami: Dorothy, a no-nonsense but good-humored substitute teacher from New York; Rose, a simple but good-hearted counselor from Minnesota; and Blanche, a Southern belle who just manages to find time for her job at a local art museum in between her busy nightlife. And then there's Sophia, Dorothy's mother, who is perhaps the wisest -- and most mischievous -- of the bunch. Supporting each other through dating woes, family crises, and the challenges of changing lives, these gals are always there for each other. Usually over a cheesecake.

Request Season One of "The Golden Girls" on DVD from the Catalog

Ashburn and Mullins - The Heat

Buddy cop movies are a dime a dozen -- but it's rare that the cops in question are women. In The Heat, Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy take center stage as the story's leading ladies. Bullock plays Ashburn, the tough-as-nails FBI agent whose strength and skill in the field isn't enough to win over her fellow agents when they come up against her unforgiving personality. It's not until she meets Mullins (Melissa McCarthy) -- a Boston plainclothes cop whose unorthodox methods seem to (usually) help, rather than hamper, her investigations -- that Ashburn may have finally found a partner, and a friend, who can understand her. It just might take a little effort for them to find a way to work together ... but you can count on there being plenty of laughs along the way.

Request "The Heat" on DVD from the Catalog



-- Post by Ms. B

The Other Baker Street Irregulars

The iconic figure of Sherlock Holmes has proven the inspiration for fictional detectives that run the gamut from Hercule Poirot to Temperance "Bones" Brennan, from Lt. Columbo to Richard Castle. And yet the inspiration for fictional detectives can come from all sorts of places -- even from the history books themselves.

In this book list, we offer a selection of murder mysteries that all feature a real-life historical figure as their story's star. While fictional, these novels offer a peek into what life would've been like in a variety of times -- and with a variety of very unique people. Here are historical figures like you've never seen them before. Read on and enjoy!



-- Aristotle

Philosopher, scientist ... and now, detective. In Margaret Doody's Aristotle Detective, the young student Stephanos narrates the tale of his teacher solving crimes, using deductive reasoning on par with Sherlock Holmes. The twist, of course, is that Stephanos is a student in 332 BCE Athens, and his teacher is none other than Aristotle himself. Yet this is no dry-and-dusty take on history: Doody seamlessly weaves disguises, escapes, and midnight attacks in with well-researched details of 4th century BCE Athens -- home and politics, citizenship and the legal system, the treatment of men and women, and more. The result is a story as historically informing as it is immensely entertaining.

Click here to request Aristotle Detective




-- William Shakespeare

The era: Elizabethan England. Symington Smythe (who doesn't care for his name) has been trained by his uncle as an ostler, but his real passion lies in a far different direction: the theatre. When, much to his father's disgust, Symington makes for London to realize his dreams, he does so quite on his own. That is, until he encounters one William Shakespeare, a young man also on his way to a life in the theatre. While meeting up with Shakespeare puts Symington on the path towards conspiracy, mistaken identity, arranged marriages, and murder, there's no denying it's an exciting way to jumpstart an artistic career.

Click here to request A Mystery of Errors



-- Jane Austen

Jane Austen couldn't be happier to be visiting her newly-married friend, Isobel Payne, Countess of Scargrave. But then, tragedy strikes, as Isobel's husband (many years her senior) falls victim to a strange and swift-moving illness. Isobel is heartsick, but her problems are only beginning, as she soon receives a message accusing her of adultery with her husband's nephew -- and of murdering her husband the Earl. Terrified, Isobel turns to Jane for help, and so it is up to the young author to uncover the clues and peel back the mystery before Isobel is disgraced ... and before Jane herself makes an enemy.

Click here to request Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor



-- Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt begins her (fictional) amateur sleuthing quite without meaning to; a young woman who works for Roosevelt is accused of murdering her boyfriend. Convinced that her employee is innocent, Roosevelt takes it upon herself to prove it -- even if that means stepping on the toes of several government officials, including the Congressman whose son was the murdered man. There's jewel thefts, gambling, and false identities to contend with, but through it all, Roosevelt -- like her real-life incarnation -- remains steadfast and determined to see justice done.

The Eleanor Roosevelt mystery series deserves special mention for being the work of a perhaps-unlikely author: Roosevelt's own real-life son, Elliott Roosevelt. (Though whether or not he had ghost writers helping him out has been a topic of debate.)

Click here to request Murder and the First Lady



-- Edgar Allan Poe

"Now, in my opinion, Dupin was a very inferior fellow." So said Sherlock Holmes, in a line in which author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle poked gentle fun at Holmes's literary predecessor: C. Auguste Dupin, the deducting detective of Edgar Allan Poe's trio of mystery tales. The truth remains that it is Poe, not Conan Doyle, who wrote the first Western modern detective story -- a debt which Conan Doyle himself acknowledged on multiple occasions, with obvious admiration for Poe. It makes Poe a natural fit as the star of a mystery novel, even if we remember the author far better for his tales of horror.

In this young adult read, we hear the tale of Edmund, whose mother is gone and whose sister has just vanished. Alone in the dark streets of nineteenth-century Providence, Rhode Island, Edmund has no one to turn to for help -- save a dark and shadowy stranger who introduces himself only as "Dupin." It seems this man needs Edmund's help as much as Edmund needs his, as the two of them work together to solve the mystery surrounding them.

Click here to request The Man Who Was Poe




-- Post by Ms. B

The (New) Golden Age of Television

While there is no disputing that there have been quality television shows on in every decade since the medium of television began. It's also true that there has been a lot of really bad shows too. According to most critics the Golden Age of Television was the 1950s. From shows such as The Kraft Television Theatre and Playhouse 90 to The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents to the numerous variety shows, there was no lack of quality shows to entertain the American public at the time.

Now, in the second decade of a new century, many are saying we are experiencing a new Golden Age. It's hard to dispute this. Shows such as Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Game of Thrones and American Horror Story lead this new age. Most critics look to HBO's The Sopranos as the turning point to well-written, thought provoking, quality shows that hadn't been seen on television in many years.

The Sopranos changed the landscape of TV by being that water cooler show that everyone was talking about. With the release of season one on DVD in 2008 many more people were able to take part in that conversation. Later, services like DVRs, Netflix and Hulu Plus, gave viewers a way to watch this and many other shows.

But not every show is available on Netflix and not everybody wants to buy a whole season or more of a show on DVD. That's where the library can help out! We have many of the most talked about new shows available. Check out the list below. And be sure to check the blog often for other lists of award winning television shows.

Brooklyn Nine Nine - Season One

Jake Peralta is a Brooklyn detective with a gift for closing cases and little respect for authority. When no-nonsense commanding officer Raymond Holt joins the 99th precinct with something to prove, the two go head-to-head.

Orange Is The New Black - Season One

Brooklynite Piper Chapman's wild past comes back to haunt her and results in her arrest and detention in a federal penitentiary. To pay her debt to society, Piper trades her comfortable New York life for an orange prison jumpsuit and finds unexpected conflict and camaraderie amidst an eccentric group of inmates.

Orphan Black - Seasons One and Two

Sarah is on the run from a bad relationship when a lookalike stranger commits suicide right in front of her. Sarah sees a solution to all her problems by assuming the dead woman's identity and clearing out her bank account. Instead, she stumbles into a thriller mystery, and uncovers an earth-shattering secret: she is a clone. She learns there are more like her, genetically identical individuals, nurtured in wildly different circumstances, and someone is trying to kill them off, one by one.

True Detective - Season One

In 2012, Louisiana State Police Detectives Rust Cohle and Martin Hart are brought in to revisit a homicide case they worked in 1995. As the inquiry unfolds in present day through separate interrogations, the two former detectives narrate the story of their investigation, reopening unhealed wounds, and drawing into question their supposed solving of a bizarre ritualistic murder in 1995.

The Good Wife - Seasons One through Five

Follows a politician's wife who pursues her own career as a defense attorney after her husband is sent to jail on charges of political corruption. Alicia Florrick not only deals with her career but also with keeping her family together as she provides a stable home for her two children.
     





--Post by Tracy

September Library Reads

The September Library Reads list is out and here are a few of the picks. To see the full list, click here.

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes:
And Other Lessons from
the Crematory
by Caitlin Doughty


“Part memoir, part exposé of the death industry, and part instruction manual for aspiring morticians. First-time author Doughty has written an attention-grabbing book that is sure to start some provocative discussions. Fans of Mary Roach’s Stiff and anyone who enjoys an honest, well-written autobiography will appreciate this quirky story.”

Patty Falconer, Hampstead Public Library, Hampstead, NH

Station Eleven: A Novel
by Emily St. John Mandel


“An actor playing King Lear dies onstage just before a cataclysmic event changes the future of everyone on Earth. What will be valued and what will be discarded? Will art have a place in a world that has lost so much? What will make life worth living? These are just some of the issues explored in this beautifully written dystopian novel. Recommended for fans of David Mitchell, John Scalzi and Kate Atkinson.”

Janet Lockhart, Wake County Public Libraries, Cary, NC

The Distance: A Thriller
by Helen Giltrow


“Imagine a modern-day Robin Hood who deals not in money, but identity. Karla, the protagonist of The Distance, is a tech guru with a conscience, and the security of several nations dependent on her. This nuanced book kept me on the edge of my seat. I cannot wait until the next one comes out.”

Cathy Scheib, Indianapolis Public Library, Indianapolis, IN

The Paying Guests
by Sarah Waters


“You can almost bet that a situation with long-term guests–paying or not–is not going to turn out well. This novel by Waters, who many know from her earlier books Tipping the Velvet and The Little Stranger, will keep you turning the page to see just how tense things can get, and how far fear and passion can push someone.”

Elizabeth Angelastro, Manlius Library, Manlius, NY

Season of Storms
by Susanna Kearsley


“Once again, Kearsley introduces you to a cast of characters who will quickly hold a special place in your heart. Celia and Alex mirror lovers from decades past, sharing similar secrets and passions. Flashbacks are woven seamlessly into the storyline, and the strong family component is handled beautifully, with surprising twists and turns.”

Marianne Colton, Lockport Public Library, Lockport, NY






--Post by Tracy

School Days

School's back in session!  With the first day of school just behind us, students of all ages are settling down into new schools, new grades, and new worlds of fresh challenges. (And maybe just a little wistful daydreaming of the next summer vacation.)

So if you know a student who might need some help getting back into the school spirit, try one of these recommended reads about the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of school life.



For Kindergarteners:

-- I Am Too Absolutely Small for School by Lauren Child

Though they have their own animated TV show now, Lola and older brother Charlie got their start as characters in Lauren Child's immensely popular Charlie and Lola picture book series. Seven-year-old Charlie is a very kind older brother who occasionally finds it challenging when he's asked to mind his precocious and imaginative four-year-old little sister -- especially when Soren Lorenson, Lola's best imaginary friend, is around.

When Mum and Dad decide that Lola is big enough to start school, Lola's not so sure it's a good idea. "I probably do not have time to go to school," she informs Charlie. "I am too extremely busy doing important things at home."

But Charlie is quick to point out all the important things Lola needs to learn how to do (like writing letters to Santa Claus, reading secret messages on the fridge, or learning how to count out the correct number of snacks in case of surprise elephant attacks). Persuaded at last, Lola decides to give school a go, and discovers it just might be fun after all. (Even if Soren Lorenson is a bit nervous.)



For Elementary School Students:

-- Wayside School series by Louis Sachar

1. Sideways Stories From Wayside School

2. Wayside School is Falling Down 

3. Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger

Wayside: The Movie [DVD]

Wayside School was designed to be a normal elementary school -- a one-story building with thirty classrooms inside. But the builder got it a little wrong, and accidentally constructed a thirty-story building with one classroom on each floor. (He said he was very sorry.)

So perhaps it's to be expected that Wayside School is a school where strange things tend to happen. Where students are sometimes actually rats, math problems are made up of words instead of numbers,  and there is no 19th floor.

The series kicks off with thirty stories about the class on their thirtieth floor -- and their new teacher, Mrs. Jewls (their former teacher got turned into an apple). These clever, funny, and zany little tales are the perfect read for students of all ages.

For Middle-School Students:

-- Middle School Is Worse Than Meatloaf by Jennifer L. Holm

The premise of this book rests in the idea that the things around us have a story to tell. And in this book, it makes for a compelling argument. Cards, notes, school reports, diary entries, receipts, mail, invitations, report cards, and more are all used to tell the story of a year in the life of Ginny Davis. She's kicking off her first year of middle school with a list of goals that include a starring role in her dance school's production of The Nutcracker, rekindling her friendship with former chum Mary Catherine Kelly, keeping her older brother Henry in line ... and getting her mother to marry Bob so that Ginny can have a proper stepdad at last. But, as Ginny is quick to discover, such plans rarely go as expected.

Told with English class essays, text messages, shopping receipts, teacher notes, cards from her Grandpa, and Ginny's own notes and pictures, the story of Ginny's ups and downs of her first middle school year is told in a wholly unique style.



-- It's the First Day of School ... Forever! by R.L. Stine

Phil Connors of Groundhog Day got off easy. Artie has a much bigger problem: he's stuck repeating the first day of sixth grade.

Artie starts off the morning by falling out of bed and smacking his head -- not a good way to kick off your first day of school. The day only goes downhill from there: his little brother gets glue in Artie's hair, Artie's dog jumps up on the new school principal, and Artie manages to make enemies with Brick the Bully. At least tomorrow will have to be better ... until Artie wakes up and discovers he's trapped, reliving the first (and worst) day of school. What's a new sixth-grader to do?

This humorous (and horrifying) read is a perfect fit between premise and writer: author R.L. Stine has long been known as the master of horror for the middle school set. His popular Goosebumps series is full of creepily fun titles like The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena, It Came From Beneath the Sink! and The Cuckoo Clock of Doom. Stine is always careful to find a balance between the screams and the laughs in his quirky midde-school novellas, and it pays off in spades in this fun and freaky read.



For High School Students:

-- Freaks and Geeks [DVD]

Though short-lived (the show ran for only eighteen episodes), Freaks and Geeks has become an undeniable cult classic. It was created by Paul Feig, director of Bridesmaids and The Heat, and produced by Judd Apatow, who directed Knocked Up and This is Forty. 

Set in the early 80s, the show was timeless in its representation of the high school hierarchy. "Mathlete" Lindsay Weir is struggling to break out of the expectations put on her by herself and others, and so befriends the "freaks" -- the misfit slackers who are on the fringes of the William McKinley High School social scene. Meanwhile, her younger brother, Sam, hangs out with his fellow "geeks" as he and his friends work hard to fit in.

The show played with the humor of teenage stereotypes, but was always aware of the pain involved in finding yourself and your place in the world ... and in high school. It makes for a relatable story that should appeal to high school students everywhere -- and those who remember those school days.

-- Post by Ms. B