From the Shelf to the Small Screen

Turning into a couch potato over the holidays? Here are a few books to add to your reading list and then you can add them to your DVR too. 

In Modern Romance, author and comedian Aziz Ansari teamed up with sociologist Eric Klinenberg for a book that is part comedy and part educational. Not the kind of dry, fact filled text found in most classrooms, this book contains Ansari’s charming wit and tackles dating and love in the modern age with humor and grace. Ansari, previously on Parks and Recreation, is best known as a stand-up comedian. He has several stand up shows available on Netflix: Buried Alive and Dangerously Delicious. He also has an original series on Netflix, Master of None, which he created and stars, which focuses on establishing a career as an actor and love life in his early 30’s. 

If you are a fan of Bravo’s Top Chef, you may have read cookbooks or even visited restaurants owned by the Judge Chefs and the contestants. But if you want to know more about the hostess of the show- Padma Lakshmi, her memoir is the best source. In Loss, Love, and What We Ate, Lakshmi dishes about her childhood, spent both in India and in the United States, and love life, as well as being a single mom and TV celebrity. And, of course, as a true foodie she sprinkles her memories with recipes and tales of traditional meals with her family. 

Top Chef’s latest season, set in Charleston, South Carolina is currently airing on Bravo. 

Tired of politics? Not ready for a holiday story yet? Liane Moriarty’s novel Big Little Lies is the perfect winter reading escape. Moriarty’s story, like her other novels, reads like a raunchy reality show- think Real Housewives of Australia- but with a ‘whodunit’ twist.  Big Little Lies is the snarky tale of three women who meet when their young children attend the same suburban school.  Despite different family circumstances, the women’s friendships grow through a series of darkly humorous episodes centering on raising children in the suburbs. Each learns that the others’ lives may not be as picture perfect as they seem. The story takes a dramatic turn at the annual school fundraiser when a murder occurs. Yet the women remain close as they bond over marriage, motherhood, and, finally, murder. 

Now you really can read the book before you watch the show! Big Little Lies has been made into a ‘limited’ dramatic series starring Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon, premiering on HBO February 19, 2017.

MLC Reads: October 16, 2015

As Lemony Snicket said in Horseradish, “Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.” These are the books we carried around with us last week.

Richard Wright and the Library Card

written by William Miller

illustrated by Gregory Christie

picture book
four stars

The words he had read echoed in his ears, colored everything he saw. He wondered if he would act differently, if others would see how the books had changed him.

The meat of this picture book is pulled from an incident in Richard Wright's autobiography, Black Boy. We reread this book for the anniversary of Richard Wright's birth last month (September 4, 1908) and again marveled at the lovely adaptation. Denied books by the Memphis library's segregation policies, Wright borrows a library card from a white coworker and uses it to check out stacks of books. Solid introduction to one of Mississippi's most famous and enduring authors.

 Honor Girl

written and illustrated by Maggie Thrash

graphic memoir

four stars

This coming-of-age graphic memoir swept us back to our own experiences at summer camp: learning new skills, meeting new people, dealing with the "popular" kids, finding yourself, first crush, first love, first broken heart... Read this for a bittersweet blast of nostalgia.

 In a Dark Dark Wood

written by Ruth Ware

fiction: mystery/thriller

five stars

This is the kind of book that will either drive you crazy or lead you to love it and not be able to put it down until you've reached the climatic end. The story flips back and forth between the present and the past. A woman, Nora, wakes up in the hospital. She is all bruised and a police officer is guarding her hospital room door. She has no idea why she is there, but she starts to recall the "hen party" she had attended days before. The mystery of what happened at this two day event is quickly unraveled. Ware has the ability to create a very eerie setting and to keep the reader guessing until the very last chapter. We thoroughly enjoyed this one; it had us reading until late into the night.

 Marketing with Social Media

edited by Beth C. Thomsett-Scott

nonfiction: marketing in libraries

four stars

This is the perfect introductory book for libraries that are just beginning to use social media. It covers many of the basic networking sites, including Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Blogs, Pinterest, YouTube, etc... Each chapter contains one topic area and explains how to get started and how to maintain the site, as well as including case studies, statistics, and a reference section. Highly usable, the only downside to this book is that the fast-changing technologies it profiles change so rapidly that this book will soon be obsolete.

We've got these books lined up for next week. We can't wait to read them and tell you all about them!

• Modern Romance
  written by Aziz Ansari
  nonfiction: sociology, romance, and humor
• Black Hole
  written and illustrated by Charles Burns
  graphic novel
• In the Woods
  written by Tana French
  fiction: mystery, thriller
• She is not Invisible
  written by Marcus Sedgwick
  young adult

Until next week, happy reading!

Wonderful Words

If you follow the Mississippi Library Commission on social media you have probably noticed our word of the day hashtag (#wordoftheday). We usually post unique vocabulary words on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. To find these words we consult the LearningExpress Library as well as the Oxford English Dictionary (OED)* and coincide the word with a significant event that took place on that day. This could be an author's birthday, a Mississippian's birthday or an important event or holiday.

Here are some of our favorite words from the past year: 

To see all of our words check out our Pinterest board, Wonderful Words.  Also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.  

*If you would like to use the OED for you own reference just contact us for the username and password.

Oh, Where Have You Been, MLC, MLC?

Oh, where have you been, charming MLC?

Have you noticed a dip in the amount of Facebook posts you see in your News Feed from your favorite community organizations and non-profits? Facebook is famous--dare we say infamous?--for changing their policies and procedures. (Just this morning they began rolling out changes in the layout for pages, so expect a new look for all those places you follow by June 13!) If you'd like to see more of your favorite places in your News Feed, we suggest the following easy-as-pie steps:

Visit the page you've missed seeing.

Hover you mouse over the Liked button until the drop-down menu appears.

Click Get Notifications. A check mark will appear.

We suggest doing this for all your favorite pages!

Want to further change what you see in your News Feed? Facebook has some pointers here: https://www.facebook.com/help/www/218728138156311?rdrhc.

If you also have the song "Billy Boy" running through your head now, here's a link to the music and lyrics: http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/games/songs/childrens/billyboymp3.htm. Enjoy!

Have questions? We have answers! Leave a comment or give us a call!