Just the Facts, Please

The library's new Audiovisual Room offers a plethora of benefits and conveniences over life in the old library building. For staff and patrons, simply getting out of the basement and being above ground for a change is a step in the right direction. The AV room is now a one-stop shop for ALL your Audiovisual needs: DVDs, music CDs, audiobooks, Playaways, video games and even a few VHS tapes. But what really has us all (ok, maybe just me) excited is that now all the library's non-fiction DVDs are housed in the same location, together alongside their format counterparts the DVD fiction feature films. In 2011, you don't have to browse the entire non-fiction book collection to find that pilates DVD or the Joan Rivers documentary, the latest travel film or the Art of the Steal, Restrepo or The Cove. Documentaries and non-fiction DVDs are a integral part of the library's AV collection. I feel like they sometimes went, er, under-noticed in the old building. They're getting better exposure now so drop by the Audiovisual room and check out something interesting on your next visit and tell us about one of your favorite non-fiction DVDs or documentaries. I'll tell you about Vernon, Florida.

It's a new day, it's a new year, it's a new you!

Happy New Year!! Did you make any resolutions? Is eating healthier and exercising on the top of your list? It is on mine, so, I did a little research, and this is what I found here at the Library: several fitness and healthy cooking magazines and DVDs that will help us attain our goal.

Two magazines in particular are Self and Shape.

 Self  is a magazine for women that specialize in health, fitness, nutrition, beauty and happiness. In addition to the usual articles on fashion and beauty, the current issue, January 2011, spotlights Jillian Michaels, with recipes and menus that will enable you to lose weight, and a workout regimen that will burn calories and get your body toned and in shape.

Shape magazine provides women with expert advice on health and fitness issues like exercise, nutrition and psychology. The latest issue has Brooke Burke, of DWTS fame, on the cover, with her favorite exercise routine – “15 Minutes to a Sexier Body”.

If you want to exercise at home with two of the toughest trainers, Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels, then check out the Biggest Loser series. There are 4 different  DVDs in this series, and you can start with the following:





Boot Camp  613.712 BIG - Join Biggest Loser trainer Bob, plus show contestant winners and finalists, and learn how to rev up your fat-burning furnace and experience dramatic weight loss in less time.

30-day Jump Start 613.712 BIG - Now's the chance to get started, get fit, and lose big. Burn fat and tone muscle through five 10-minute workouts that cover every inch of the body. Program includes: Cardio Level 1; Cardio Level 2; Strength Upper Body; Strength Lower Body; Abs. Plus Bob Harper gives the diet tips and motivation needed to get started and stay on track. 

            And coming soon:  Power Walk and Cardio max weight-loss. 

 Jillian Michaels’ 30-day Shred 613.712 JIL, is another good place to start: three complete 20-minute workouts which progress by level of intensity - just 20 minutes! Once you get going, combine it with Shred it with Weights 613.71 JIL - Jillian adds extra weight to her hardcore circuit training techniques for a total-body workout designed to burn maximum fat. Begin with Level 1 and progress to Level 2 for maximum body-shredding results.

To keep that weight off, we need to eat healthier. Check out these magazines:

Cooking Light - emphasizes nutritional eating and an overall healthy living.

Eating Well – is filled with healthy recipes for healthy eating, healthy cooking, healthy diet recipes, weight loss recipes and healthy menus.

Weight-Watchers Magazine delivers smart advice that can help you succeed with your weight loss plan.

With exercise and sensible eating, you should be on the way to a better you and so will I! Good Luck!

"Little Bee" by Chris Cleave

Published in early 2009, Chris Cleave's second novel, Little Bee, continues to be popular and is one of those novels that stays with you for a long time. This excellent read describes what happens when ordinary, mundane Western lives are thrown into stark contrast against the terrifying realities of war-torn Africa. Toward the beginning of the story, readers are faced with a very grim and difficult situation, however the novel then goes on to describe how a friendship is formed because of it. Moral dilemmas and a tension-filled dramatic ending give the reader plenty to think about and discuss. An excellent book discussion title.

If you liked Little Bee and are looking for other similar titles to read, try:

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi

Day After Night by Anita Diamant

The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

A Map of Home by Randa Jarrar

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

The Girls by Lori Lansens

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Broadway Lights

What better way to beat the winter blahs and spend time after the holidays than to attend a Broadway musical here in the Chicago area in person or in the comfort of your home. Here at the Glenview Public Library we have all the musicals, either on CD or DVD, for your listening pleasure. Check them out in the Audiovisual room!

Bank of America Theatre - Chicago:
Irving Berlin's White Christmas (12/15/10-1/2/11)
9 to 5: The Musical (1/18/11-1/31-11)

Cadillac Palace Theatre - Chicago:
Wicked (12/1/10-1/23/11)
Les Miserables (2/2/11-2/27/11)

Circle Theatre - Oak Park:
Kiss Me Kate (Thru 1/30)

Drury Lane - Oak Brook:
Monty Python's Spamalot (12/30/10-3/6/11)

Light Opera Works - Evanston:
Hello, Dolly! (12/26/10-1/2/11)

Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre:
The Music Man (Thru 1/9/11)
Guys & Dolls (1/26/11-3/27/11)

Debbie Macomber

Debbie Macomber, best-selling author of women’s fiction with more than 130 million copies of her novels in print will be leaving her longtime publisher MIRA and joining Random House Publishing Group. Ballantine Bantam Dell division’s Ballantine Imprint will be publishing her novels starting in 2012. Macomber said, “I am delighted and grateful to find a home with the energetic, inspired, and extremely impressive team at Ballantine Bantam Dell. I’m looking forward to a new stage in my 28-year publishing career, full of fresh ideas and exciting opportunities to bring my stories to the widest possible audience, and to deepen my long-term relationships with my loyal readers.” As one of her loyal readers I hope she continues with the same characters I have grown to love. When I pick up a Debbie Macomber book, I know I will get a quality story with inspirational and optimistic characters. Along with her new publisher, she will begin a new series set in her hometown of Port Orchard, Washington. I can’t wait to read it.


Current 2010 Fiction Releases:

Call Me Mrs. Miracle: While working in the toy department of a family-run department store in New York City, Mrs. Miracle seizes the opportunity to connect Holly who is searching for the perfect present for her nephew and the owner’s son Jake. The Hallmark Channel premiered this made for television movie on November 27, 2010.

Hannah’s List: On the first year anniversary of his wife’s death from ovarian cancer, Dr. Michael Everett, pediatrician, finds a letter from her making one last request. She implores him to remarry and she suggests three women for consideration. Two of the women he already knows, Winter Adams Hannah’s cousin and a trained chef, Leanne Lancaster, Hannah’s oncology nurse and the third he never met Macy Roth an animal-loving artist. In the months that follow, he spends time with each woman getting to know them and even learning a few things about himself. Who will Michael choose, pick up a copy and find out.

1022 Evergreen Place: Neighbors Mary Jo Wyse and Mack McAfee feel their love grow stronger as they work together to solve the mystery of what happened to the World War II solider who wrote the letters that Mary Jo found, and to the girl he wrote to. Another great installment in this heart-warming series.

Holiday Memories in Movies

It's that time of year to stop by the AV Desk at GPL and bring all your holiday memories back to life. Check out some of our great classic Christmas movies as well as our more modern titles. Go home, curl up by the fireplace with a cup of hot cocoa, relax and enjoy.
Choose a Christmas classic:

"It's a Wonderful Life" (1946) - Frank Capra's magical tale of a man who's allowed to see what his family, his friends, and his community would have been like had he never been born.

"Miracle on 34th Street" (1947) - Charming tale of a department-store Santa who believes he really is Kris Kringle and helps thaw hearts.

"White Christmas" (1954) - Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye shine in this light romantic comedy. Irving Berlin's score is tops.

"A Christmas Carol" (1951) - This is an animated adaptation of Dickens' classic moral fable. This black and white British version where Alastair Sim's Scrooge is visited by the Christmas Eve ghosts is considered to be among the best.

"A Christmas Carol" (1984) - This is my personal favorite of all the film versions. It evokes the glories and miseries of Victorian England that spurred Dickens to write the tale. George C. Scott is masterful as Scrooge and depictions of the ghosts are chilling.

"A Christmas Story" (1983) - Hilarious and sweet, this picture of Christmas and family life in 1950's small-town America is hard to beat. The infamous "leg lamp," the kid who sticks his tongue to a frozen lamppost, the pink bunny pajamas, and Ralphie's vivid imagination will melt the heart of any Christmas grinch. This is storytelling at its best with a terrific cast.


OR, you can add to your classics list by watching more modern Christmas movies of recent years like:

"Elf" (2003) - Will Farrell is hilarious in this solid holiday film.

"The Santa Clause" (1994) - Tim Allen is great as an unwilling Santa in a nice and funny family Christmas movie.

"Love Actually" (2004) - It's all about love and holiday cheer in London.

"Home Alone" (1990) - Voted the greatest family Christmas movie of all time in which Macauley Culkin fends off idiotic burglars after his parents abandon him. Love this movie because when left on his own, Macauley not only danced around in his underwear and at junk food - as you'd expect a kid to do - but also acted like an adult, buying a toothbrush and decorating the house.

"Jingle All the Way" (2007) - A fun family holiday film where the fight for a perfect Christmas present is on.

Room by Emma Donoghue

Have you ever been reading a book that you didn’t want to end? And then, after you’ve finished it, you can’t get it out of your mind? That’s what happened to me when I read Room by Emma Donoghue.

In many ways, Jack is a typical 5-year-old. He likes to read books, watch TV, and play games with his Ma. But Jack is different in a big way--he has lived his entire life in a single room, sharing the tiny space with only his mother and a mysterious nighttime visitor known as Old Nick.  For Jack, Room is the only world he knows, but for Ma it is a prison in which she tries to create a normal life for her son. When their world suddenly expands beyond the confines of their four walls, the consequences are moving and extraordinary. Despite its distressing premise, this unique novel is full of moments of hope and beauty, and the dogged determination to live, even in the most desolate of circumstances. A stunning and original novel, readers who enter Room will leave changed, as though, like Jack, they are seeing the world for the very first time.

Once you’ve finished this novel, you may want to go to http://www.roomthebook.com/ to have an interactive look at Room itself.

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