LibraryPoint Blog

Keep up-to-date with the latest news about the Central Rappahannock Regional Library.
04/22/2013 - 9:38am

Outside the wind is lifting just so, ruffling the new leaves on the trees and chasing the old ones away. It's spring, a time to celebrate the rebirth of the flowers and the greening of the trees. It's time to go fly a kite and watch it buck and soar in the breeze.

You can make a simple kite all by yourself, paint it or color it with markers, and let it fly up in the air. 

03/04/2013 - 8:23am
Saga: Volume One by Brian K. Vaughan

The universe has declared war on itself and everyone is choosing one of two sides. It all started when the species on a planet tried to conquer a species on its own moon. The destuction knows no end, but amongst the slaughter, within the dismal senselessness of bloodshed, there is a child born. She is the daughter of Alana and Marko, who are supposed to be enemies. Now all three are on the run. Saga: Volume One is the beginning of their story.

03/01/2013 - 2:59pm

Boy are we lucky! The England Run Branch of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library system is one of only ten libraries in the country to receive the exhibit, Discover Earth: A Century of Change.  This exciting and fun educational opportunity is more than just a collection of information panels.  It features interactive, multimedia displays allowing visitors to experience digital information in a dynamic way, encouraging new perspectives on our planet and reinforcing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) concepts.  Between now and the end of April, visitors can experience the exhibit and enjoy special classes and events.  The exhibit will answer many earth science related questions, but it’s also designed to encourage scientific inquiry.  The library has purchased wonderful titles for adults and children to further pursue these interests.

03/01/2013 - 10:27am
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

This readalike is in response to a patron's book-match request. If you would like personalized reading recommendations, fill out the book-match form and a librarian will email suggested titles to you. Available for adults, teens, and kids.  You can browse the book matches here.

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane: "In 1954, U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels and partner Chuck Aule arrive at Shutter Island's federal institution for the criminally insane to apprehend an escaped prisoner but instead begin to feel that someone is trying to drive them crazy." (Library Journal)

If you liked Shutter Island, and in particular psychological thrillers with twists and mysteries, you may also like these titles:

Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson 
An amnesiac attempts to reconstruct her past by keeping a journal and discovers the dangerous inconsistencies in the stories of her husband and her secret doctor. (Catalog summary) 
 

 

 

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn 
On the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick's wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police immediately suspect Nick. Amy's friends reveal that she was afraid of him, that she kept secrets from him. He swears it isn't true. A police examination of his computer shows strange searches. He says they aren't his. And then there are the persistent calls on his mobile phone. So what really did happen to Nick's beautiful wife? (Catalog summary) 

 

03/20/2013 - 2:05pm
New Catalog Feature: Recently Returned
If you have been a user of our My Borrowing History application, you are already familiar with the usefulness of being able to track what you have checked out and returned in the past. This feature is now integrated into the new catalog and is available for you to enable. First, go to http://librarypoint.bibliocommons.com and create an account or log in if you have already have an account. Then enable Recently Returned by going to "My Settings," then "Privacy," and check the Recently Returned checkbox. This will start tracking the materials that you return. If you are no longer interested in tracking your returned material, simply leave this box unchecked.
 
02/28/2013 - 9:43am
Boot & Shoe by Marla Frazee

Boot & Shoe, by Marla Frazee, is the story of two dogs who are the best of friends and a trouble-making squirrel. Boot and Shoe are littermates and are mostly inseparable, living in the same house, eating from the same bowl and even sleeping in the same bed. But Boot is a back porch kind of dog while Shoe prefers to spend his time on the front porch. One day a squirrel arrives, determined to cause trouble. What follows is an epic chase all around the house and yard that will have readers chuckling.

02/27/2013 - 4:31am
Civil War Recipes: Receipts from the Pages of Godey’s Lady’s Book

By the mid-1800s, American middle class women frequently turned to Godey’s Lady’s Book for household advice, sewing patterns, and recipes. Although founded by Louis Godey, from 1837 to 1877, it was led by Editor Sarah Josepha Hale and under her leadership, circulation rose dramatically. In Civil War Recipes, Lily May and John Spaulding have done a very nice job of selecting recipes from the first part of the 1860s run of the magazine and presenting them along with enough culinary history to make for an interesting read.

02/26/2013 - 4:31am
The Magic Circle

"Don't you love it, Mother? We can shut our eyes and pretend we live in a candy house. All candy. Everywhere."

The Ugly One in The Magic Circle by Donna Jo Napoli remembered how her child loved sweets. Asa was beautiful, and her mother tried to give her all the beauty she could though they were poor.

She worked as a midwife in the village where she was accepted for her healing gifts. She took simple things in exchange for her services: some food, a bit of wool, or perhaps a lovely ribbon for Asa's hair.

The hunchbacked woman was simply good, happy knowing that her talents were used to help others. Yet her neighbor Bala knew they would be rich if she could persuade the Ugly One to drive the demons from the burgermeister's son. The Ugly One protested. She was a midwife, an herbal healer sometimes, nothing more than God wished her to be. But when she saw the boy, yellowed and dying from a tormenting demon, she believed that God had given her another path.

04/22/2013 - 11:50am
Bill the Galactic Hero by Harry Harrison

Military science fiction has been a major part of the science fiction genre since the publication of Robert A. Heinlein’s classic Starship Troopers in 1959.  For the most part, military science fiction is not thought of as humorous, but one exception to this rule is Harry Harrison’s hilarious satirical novel Bill the Galactic Hero.  The story of a cowardly, naïve, and none-too-bright young man who becomes an unwitting enlistee in a deadly, galaxy-spanning war, Harrison’s novel is filled with deadpan humor, bizarre situations, and satire of the conventions of military science fiction.

02/22/2013 - 4:10pm
Hood by Stephen Lawhead

This readalike is in response to a patron's book-match request. If you would like personalized reading recommendations, fill out the book-match form and a librarian will email suggested titles to you. Available for adults, teens, and kids.  You can browse the book matches here.

Hood by Stephen Lawhead: "The first in a trilogy called King Raven, Hood tells the story of an alternative Robin Hood, a rebel in the deep forests of Wales in 1093. (Lawhead's extensive research convinced him of this premise.) Son of a king, a young man named Bran is made homeless when his father is killed and the kingdom of Elfael becomes a pawn to squabbling Norman factions. A long and fascinating time in the wilderness, in which Bran's faith and health are restored by an old woman of mystical origins, brings him at last to his destiny: leading a band of dauntless archers against the kingdom's usurpers. Robin Hood is born, along with Maid Marian, Friar Tuck, and Little John, in this highly imaginative, earthy adventure that has little to do with Errol Flynn but is just as rousing." (Booklist)

If you enjoyed this book's depiction of warfare and society in medieval Europe, here are some other titles you may enjoy:

Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell
A fugitive English forester and mercenary defender saves young novitiate Melisande and, defending himself from a vengeance-seeking rapist priest and Melisande's father, finds himself slogging his way to Agincourt as an archer in King Henry V's army. (worldcat.org)

 

 

Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman
Thirteenth-century Wales is a divided country, ever at the mercy of England's ruthless, power-hungry King John. Llewelyn, Prince of North Wales, secures an uneasy truce by marrying the English king's beloved illegitimate daughter, Joanna, who slowly grows to love her charismatic and courageous husband. But as John's attentions turn again and again to subduing Wales--and Llewelyn--Joanna must decide where her love and loyalties truly lie. The turbulent clashes of two disparate worlds and the destinies of the individuals caught between them spring to life in this magnificent novel of power and passion, loyalty and lies. (worldcat.org)