New Books on CD

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffennegger

Elspeth Noblin dies and bequeaths her English flat over looking Highgate Cemetery to her sister’s 20-year-old twin daughters Julia and Valentina.  Eager for a new adventure, the two girls move in at once and quickly become involved with their aunt’s eccentric neighbors, including Elspeth’s former lover robert, a post-graduate researching Highgate. When Valentina concocts an elaborate plan to break away from her sister’s influence.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Best-selling author Dan Brown continues the story of Robert Langdon from The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons. Contained within the Lost Symbol’s twelve-hour time frame are twists and puzzles that will have listeners up late into the night.

New Playaway

Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris

No sooner has Sookie tied on her cocktail waitress apron for a night’s work when a special report comes on the television.  The time has come. Like vampires before the, Were and shifters have revealed themselves. Although a strong reaction might be expected from the humans of Bon Temps, Louisiana, everything goes smoothly-for a while. Then a mutilated werepanther body is found. And worse still, a race of unhumans far older than more powerful than vamps of wereanimals begins preparing for battles.

(Taken from covers)

BBC Wildlife Finder
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wildlifefinder/
“Watch the most amazing animals in the world.” Hundreds of videos and audio clips on individual species, as well as on habitats, ecozones, and adaptations.

Career Advice and Guide for Job Searches – US News Business
http://www.usnews.com/money/careers/
US News has long specialized in rankings, and there are plenty of them here: America’s best careers, best employers for older workers, and America’s best places to find a job. Also includes lots of advice (10 things to do when you’re unemployed, how to survive when you hate your jobs, etc.).

Child Care Resource Center
http://www.ccrcla.org/home/index.asp
A resource for both parents and child care providers, this site includes links to a database of licensed child care providers, financial assistance for child care, a learning and lending library, and training resources for child care providers.

DatabaseFootball.com
http://www.databasefootball.com/
Fans and fantasy football league managers will revel in the wealth of data here: current and historical NFL statistics, awards, player info, records, draft data, and more.

Fall Maintenance Tips for Your Home
http://www.statefarm.com/learning/be_safe/home/seasonal/fall.asp
Even in mild climates, you’ll need to spend some quality time with gutters, chimneys, windows, furnaces, etc. to protect your home from weather damage and keep your family safe. Here’s one useful checklist.

NeighborGoods
http://neighborgoods.net/
Why should a neighborhood with 16 houses have 16 lawnmowers, 16 snowblowers, etc., when with a website like this they can share and schedule the use of each other’s equipment? So far this site is available only for southern California, but people elsewhere may want to imitate this idea.

New Geography
http://www.newgeography.com/
“Economic, demographic and political commentary about places.” The articles and blog are searchable and browsable by categories Economics, Politics, Urban Issues, Small Cities, Demographics, Suburbs, Housing, and Best Cities Ranking(s).

NPR: National Public Radio
http://www.npr.org/
Radio programs are fleeting, but its archives, happily, are not. NPR offers news, opinion, concerts, reviews, interviews, blogs, and podcasts of their programs (available an hour after the program airs).

Public Data Sets on Amazon Web Services
http://aws.amazon.com/publicdatasets/
Amazon provides not only a centralized repository of several immense public data sets, but also tools that allow researchers to analyze the data and collaborate in their use. Datasets include Daily Global Weather Measurements, 1929-2009, census data for 1980, 1990, 2000, Ensembl Annotated Human Genome Data, the PubChem Library, and lots more.

Recipezaar
http://www.recipezaar.com/
A cooking, baking community that has contributed over 384,000 recipes to the database. Searchable, and browsable by recipes, cookbooks, and menus (romantic dinners, brunch, kid pleaser meals, etc.). Check out the currently featured Halloween Sweets and Treats.

SciDevNet
http://scidev.net/en/
“News, views and information about science, technology and the developing world.”

The Science of Cute
http://www.wimp.com/cutescience/
This video illustrates the current scientific thought on why baby animals and particular species and behaviors are universally awwwww-inspiring.

Read more from Marylaine Block.

From New York Times

Writing and reading — from newspapers to novels, academic reports to gossip magazines — are migrating ever faster to digital screens, like laptops, Kindles and cellphones. Traditional book publishers are putting out “vooks,” which place videos in electronic text that can be read online or on an iPhone. Others are republishing old books in electronic form. And libraries, responding to demand, are offering more e-books for download.

Is there a difference in the way the brain takes in or absorbs information when it is presented electronically versus on paper? Does the reading experience change, from retention to comprehension, depending on the medium?

Read all the viewpoints here.

Googling Fights Dementia, Study Suggests

Using search engines may help stave off dementia and memory loss, a new brain-scan study suggests.

Scientists found that middle-aged and older adults with little Internet experience showed increased activity in key brain regions after surfing the Web for an hour a day for just two weeks (brain facts).

Read more here. Go ahead, it will make you healthier!

Netlibrary – new titles

110 new titles were added to Netlibrary in September. Seventy seven of those are available in MP3 format (iPod compatible).

To view the title lists, go to:
http://will.state.wy.us/wyld/econtent/newtitles.html

Remember, FAQs and more help is available at http://will.state.wy.us/wyld/econtent/eaudio.html

Contrary to popular belief, the job of a librarian has absolutely nothing to do with books; the job of a librarian is to help people find information, and information comes in several different forms.  Read more here.

BOCDS

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit,” begins J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy classic, introducing readers to the world of Middle-earth, an enchanting land of elves, goblins, trolls-and an endearing race of little people called Hobbits.

The Fellowship of The Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

From his fortress tower in Mordor, the evil sorcerer Sauron send forth a darkness that creeps across the enchanted land of Middle-earth. Men and elves and dwarves have raised armies in futile efforts to combat this evil. Great wizards have failed to keep it in check. Sauron’s shadow threatens to engulf all.

The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

The War of the Ring builds in intensity as the armies of the West form in defiance of the dark minions of Sauron pouring forth vrom Mordor.  Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam edge ever closer to Mount Doom.  Desperate to avoid the watchful eye of the Dark Lord and the treacherous betrayal of Gollum, the two noble hobbits struggle through the Land of Shadow in an attempt to destroy the One Ring of Power and end Sauron’s evil reign forever.

True Compass by Edward M. Kennedy

In this landmark autobiogra0phy, five years in the making, Senator Edward M. Kennedy tells his extraordinary personal story-of his legendary family, politics, and fifty years at the center of national events.

Strength In What Remains by Tracy Kidder

Deo arrives in the United States from Burundi in search of a new life. Having survived civil war and genocide, plagued by horrific dreams, he lands at JFK airpost with two hundred dollars, no knowledge of English and no contacts. He ekes out a precarious existence delivering groceries, living in Central Park, and learning English by reading dictionaries in bookstores.  then Deo begins to meet the strangers who will change his life, pointing him in the direction of Columbia University, medical school, and a life devoted to healing.  Kidder breaks new ground in telling this unforgettable story as he travels with Deo back over a turbulent life and in seach of meaning and forgiveness.

A Gate At The Stairs by Lorrie Moore

The family she works for seems both mysterious and glamorous to her, and although Tassie had once found children boring, she comes to care for, and to protect, their newly adopted little girl as her own. As the year unfolds and she is drawn deeper into each of these lives, her own life back home becomes ever more alien to her; her parents are frailer; her brother, aimless and lost in high school, contemplates joining the military. Tassie finds herself becoming more and more the stranger she felt herself to be, and as life and love unravel dramatically, even shockingly, she is forever changed.

Twilight Eyes by Dean Koontz

They’re out there. Watching. Waiting. Unseen by normal eyes, but all too visible to Slim MacKenzie, a young man blessed-or cursed-by Twilight Eyes…

They’re out there. Lurking in the darkest shadows of an eerie, moonlit carnival.  Feeding their twisted needs with human suffering. And fiendishly plotting the downfall of the human race…  They’re out there. But don’t scream. They’ll hear you.

MP3′s

The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan

“The thing you need to know about me,” she begins, “is that I am George Corrigan’s daughter, his only daughter.” Intertwining her own story with that of her larger-than-life, Irish-American-born salesman father, Corrigan illustrates an unbelievably powerful and healing father-daughter relationship that evolves as they both face a battle with cancer.

ISHI In Two Worlds by Theodora Kroeber and Karl Kroeber

The live story of Ishi, the last Yahi Indian, lone survivor of an exterminated tribe, is unique in the annals of North America anthropology. Ishi stumbled into the twentieth century on the morning of August 29, 1911, when, desperate with hunger and terrified of the white murderers of his family, he was found in the corral of a slaughterhouse near Oroville, California. Finally identified as a Yahi b an anthropologist, Ishi was brought to San Francisco by Professor T.T. Waterman and lived there the rest of his life under the care and protection of Alfred Kroeber and the staff of the University of California’s Museum of Anthropology.

(Taken From Covers)

Ellen Newell will be attending a reception in her honor for her newest artwork creation; Bent Covers.  She does woodcuts, a process that she will be happy to tell you more about. We, at the library, are proud of her inspiration for this series as they are inspired by library work, reading and book covers. Take some time this evening and drop by the library from 6:00 – 8:00.

From CNN.com

Now, actress Florence Henderson, otherwise known as Mrs. Brady, has a new mission: Helping older adults learn to use technology.

Her new business, Floh Club, is a “telephone-based technical support service” focusing on people who didn’t grow up with computers — especially grandparents who want to stay in touch with family but are intimidated by webcams, Facebook, instant messaging or even e-mail.

Henderson says Floh Club is “like roadside assistance for your computer.”

Read about it here.