Looking For A Vampire Series You Can Sink Your Teeth Into?

Who knows why vampire stories are so popular right now? Maybe the reality of current economic and political turmoil promotes a turn to fantasy for rest and relaxation; maybe Hollywood isn’t producing an adequate amount of high-calibre escapism–and since when was the movie as good as the book anyway? Or maybe, cutting even closer to the bone, imagining adventure, devotion and commitment for an eternity of lifetimes is what draws today’s readers. Whatever the reason, vampire novel series are hot commodities for both patrons and publishers.

If you have a hankering for a vampire story, here are some recent titles:

Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian

Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series

Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series including the latest entry Breaking Dawn.

The film adaptation of Twilight will be released on November 21st. A companion novel to Twilight, Midnight Sun, had 12 chapters from its manuscript illegally leaked onto the Internet. Meyer, out of fairness to her fans, posted the 12 chapters on her website but is now uncertain of ever finishing or publishing the book.

In case you thought that was all, keep your eyes open for the first book in The Passage trilogy by Justin Cronin, due out in August 2009. The film rights to the stories about death-row inmates turned into vampires by a government spawned virus have already been sold for $1.75 million to Fox 2000 and Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions. Not one to ignore a profitable trend, film director Guillermo del Toro, with the aid of Chuck Hogan, is also writing a vampire trilogy. The publication date has not yet been set.

Family Night October 18th, 7-8PM

Our first fall Family Night will be on October 18th from 7-8p.m.  A puppet show for all ages performed by Purple Rock Productions titled “Spinning Straw Into Gold”, a farcical retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin story.  Purple Rock Productions combines the arts of storytelling, puppetry, music and pantomime in creating a rare spectrum of enduring entertainment.  This is a family night that simply cannot be missed.  Please call the Library to register.

New Addition To Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy Series

Children’s author, Eoin Colfer has agreed to write a sixth book in the series originally authored by the late Douglas Adams. Colfer’s book, called And Another Thing . . . , will be published in October 2009.

In a statement, Colfer, author of the Artemis Fowl series, said he considers the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy “like nothing I had read before, or since for that matter. It is a slice of satirical genius. A marvel of quantum tomfoolery. A dissection of the absurdities of our human condition. A space odyssey that forces us to face ourselves and collapse in hysterics . . . My first reaction was semi-outrage that anyone should be allowed to tamper with this incredible series. But on reflection, I realized that this is a wonderful opportunity to work with characters I have loved since childhood and give them something of my own voice while holding on to the spirit of Douglas Adams. I am bloody determined that this will be the best thing I have ever written.”

Library Story Hours

Preschool Story Hours by Registration

Eligibility:
Preschool children age three to five are welcome to register.  Children must be three years old by the start of the session.

Registration:
Registration for the Fall 2008 begins Monday, September 29th at 10am.  Phone-in registrations will be taken after 11a.m. This program fills up very quickly.  A wait list will be maintained to replace those who may drop out.

Session Schedule:
2008 Fall Session:  October 6th – December 19th
Story Hours follow the same schedule as Essex Elementary School.

Choices of Days:
Mondays or Tuesdays 1-2pm
Wednesdays or Thursdays 10-11am

New!  Drop-in Story Time For Pre-Schoolers aged 3-5, Thursdays, 1-2p.m. beginning October 9th.

Monday Morning Play Group

Every Monday from 10-12pm, there is an informal drop-in playgroup for toddlers and pre-schoolers in the children’s room. Feel free to drop by to meet other children and their parents or caregivers.

Details On The Fall 2008 Book Sale

The Fall 2008 sale (and the May 2009 Sale) will be unusual thanks to a couple of long-time book admirers & collectors who have donated books you do not often see at library book sales.  They cover all categories, and most have their dust jackets, which are protected by plastic covers.  (Don’t mistake them for library discards!)  They will be interspersed with all other books in their particular categories, except for the collection of P. G. Wodehouse books, which will be a silent auction item on Saturday, October 4th.  (Please see below for details on this.)

This will be another excellent sale at the library.  Let us entice you with samples from each category.

Entryway Misc :   9 MAD magazines (1972-1997), The Ortho Problem Solver (for gardeners, Manga/Graphic Novels

Fiction:  Inheritance of Loss, Madam X, Gone with the Wind, Immortality, Crossing to Safety.

Biography & History:  My Life in France (Julia Child), Makers of Florence, 3 cups of  Tea, George Gershwin.

Miscellaneous: Pronouncing Dictionary of Musical Terms, Basic Electricity, Alien Agenda, Freakonomics, Chiropractic First.

Art:  Guide to Japanese Prints, TheWaking Dream, Winslow Homer Watercolors,  Mosaics of Jeanne Reynal.  (For those studying art history, we have several curriculum-related art books in great condition–no ink, pencil, or highlighting).

Book Cart Mixtures:  White Wings (15 paper airplanes), The Book of Lullabies,  Hooked Rugs, Colloquial Persian.

Gardening:  Robin Hood’s Barn, Jerry Baker’s Book of Garden Solutions.

Cooking: Classical Chinese Cuisine, Food-Lover’s Guide to Canning, Keys Cuisine

Travel & Nature:  Stokes Field Guide to Birds, The Klamath Knot, River Town—Two Years on the Yangzte.

Humor/Literature/Poetry/Drama:  A New Path to the Waterfall, Charlie Chan is Dead, The Koran Interpreted, ee cummings selected poems.

Maritime/Nautical & Sports: Channel Harbours, Ships & Shipwrecks of the Americas, Lighthouses & Legends of the Hudson, 1993 Masters Journal.

Foreign Language & Computers:  Arabic, German, Spanish, Latin, Albanian, Asterix books in Spanish, Webdesign Basics, Data Structures & Algorithms in Java.

Large Books: Pioneer Churches, Roman Jewellery, The American Auto Factory, Nantucket Lights

CD’s & Videos:  From Brahms to Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Ephemera, Etc:  History of Ocean City New Jersey, The Morgan Horse, Multiplication Flash Cards, bookmarks since the May sale.

Children’s Books:  There’s a wonderful all-around selection here, including some choice oldies.  For this sale we have some new categories:

Easy Readers or I-Can-Read books have their own box.

Holiday Books have their own box.  (For adult holiday books, look on the bottom shelf of one of the book carts.)

American Girl Books also have their own spot.

Computer Games will be over with the adult audio-visual materials.

Silent Auction – Only on Saturday, October 4, 2008

We have a collection of 19 hardcover books by P.G. Wodehouse.   There are no dust jackets here.  The books are early editions (most 1920’s and 30’s – a couple earlier and later) and in reasonably good condition.  See photo below.  Two have spine covers separated at one edge.  They will be located at the end of the circulation desk, and the minimum bid will be $100. for the lot.  If you will not be at the sale on Saturday but would like to put in a bid anyway, please email me, doragrover@yahoo.com, and I will get back to you.

The following titles are in the collection offered:  Young Men in Spats, Golf Without Tears, Mostly Sally, Summer Moonshine, Jeeves and the Tie that Binds, The Butler Did It, Bill the Conquerer, Return of Jeeves, Damsel in Distress, If I Were You, The Code of the Woosters, Uneasy Money, Luck of the Bodkins, Money for Nothing, Leave it to Psmith, Blandings Castle, Fish Preferred, Picadilly Jim, Thank you Jeeves.

How to Tell the Best From the Rest With Betsy Bray

Christie’s antiques expert Betsy Ray is coming back to the Library, Thursday evening,  Oct. 30th, to present her program, How to Tell the Best From the Rest. Ms. Ray, whose responsibilities with Christie’s include coordinating appraisals for estates, institutions, and private clients as well as facilitating consignments, will tell us what to look for in judging antiques, and guidelines on determining values. Her presentation will also include a brief history of auctions, how values for art are set, what’s “hot” in the antiques markets now, and tips on smart collecting. (Time TBA)

American Masterpieces: Two Centuries of Art from the New Britain Museum of American Art

On Friday, October 10th at 3 PM, representing one of this country’s finest small museums, Deputy Director of Museum Education Maura O’Shea will give an illustrated “tour” of what makes the New Britain Museum one of the most interesting places to visit in Connecticut.

Entrepreneur 101: What It Takes To Start Your Own Small Business

On Wednesday, October 1st, 6:30 PM, a speaker from the Small Business Administration will present information specific to starting a small business as well as providing advice on how to keep small businesses thriving in a tough economy.

The Crisis In Georgia–The European Union Takes The Lead by Jerome L. Wilson

On Sunday, September 21st at 4PM, Essex resident Jerome Wilson, who recently returned from the European Union capital of Brussels, will review the leading role that the EU has assumed in seeking to resolve the crisis in Georgia. EU President Nicolas Sarkozy has become the point man in negotiating with the Russians to work out a lasting peace in Georgia as well as restraining Russia from further aggressions within their newly proclaimed “sphere of influence.” While in Brussels, Mr. Wilson met with 14 Ambassadors to the EU, the President of the EU Parliament and the Parliament’s Chairman For Relations with the United States.

Welcome New Children’s Assistant Jessica Branciforte!

Jessica recently graduated from Central Connecticut State University with a degree in Elementary Education and will begin a graduate degree in Library Science at Southern this month. A resident of Cromwell, Jessica has been a very active and enthusiastic volunteer for the Cromwell Belden Public Library working on many children’s programs including appearances as “Fancy Nancy”.