mclib dot net

For a chilling read, I have the book for you.

mclibdotnet — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 20:12:23 +0000

I love horror books. Zombies, vampires, especially ghosts. There is a look in people’s eye when you tell them that. If I could see through the monitor, not to say that I can’t but just say I could, readers of this post will have the same look on their face. The look will reflect concern, an appalled hint and will actually totally tell the story of, “what is wrong with her?”

If your face is not doing that, let me recommend that you turn the thermostat up to 80 and then open up the book, Blood Harvest by C. J. Boulton. You will never miss the air conditioning because it sets up a chill that refuses to go away. It is a very scary mystery involving a small town in England where two churches stand against the sky, closed to the purposes that they were built. There is a druidic influence, voices and appearances in the church cemetery and a new priest who has no idea what he is getting into.

Three children live with their family- mom is American in a new home built strategically close to both churches and, of course, the cemetery. The time is fall and the town has its own odd customs for the harvest season.

Open, read it, and I bet you will be a great deal cooler and you won’t sleep.

Enjoy!

Julie Hart

Mango Languages

mclibdotnet — Wed, 12 May 2010 18:42:09 +0000

Did you know we have a fun, fast and easy language learning program called Mango Languages? The best part it is free for McCracken County Public Library patrons and you can access it anywhere there is internet with your library card.

Mango is the easiest and most effective way to learn to speak a foreign language. Mango is available in two versions:

Mango Basic:

Perfect for a foreign language beginner, Mango Basic teaches everyday greetings, gratitudes, goodbyes and helpful phrases in a short period of time. The courses, which require only two to five hours of time to complete, are currently available in 22 foreign languages and 14 English as a Second Language (ESL) courses.

You can view all the supported Mango Basic languages and ESL courses here: http://mangolanguages.com/mangobasic/languages/

Mango Complete:

Mango Complete offers a 100-lesson course that digs much deeper and is designed to provide a more complete understanding of the entire language and culture. It is available in nine foreign language and three ESL courses. Foreign language courses include Chinese, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. ESL courses include Polish, Spanish and Portuguese.

To learn more about Mango and get a short preview of what the program has to offer, you can visit the company’s website at http://www.mangolanguages.com. Even better, you can visit http://www.mclib.net/mango.htm and get started on the courses themselves!

Spring break and the howl of the Wulfe Brothers

mclibdotnet — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:30:19 +0000

Sitting in my office it is as if there is no wall between this room and the meeting room and currently, the Wulfe Brothers are singing to a crowd of 130+ and my chair is moving with the music. Nice. There are two more shows today!

I brought back the book The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen without finishing it, since it has other holds on it, I put my name back on it. A book where a girl has a room in an old house, living with her grandfather whom she had never met before, where her wallpaper changes to suit her mood is just too neat not to read.

Have you ever noticed that once you have a notice that there is a book on hold for you, then three more follow almost immediately? It happened to me on the end of the aforementioned visits to Powell’s bookstore, so had I had to let some of them come back as a responsible reader. I DID keep the book about Dogscaping Your Garden out of respect for the labs and for the sake of the season.

Hamish is now working the case of Death of a Cad. Lobsters devouring a murdered corpse is a new one on me and I resolve not to think about that too much.

We will be closed the week of the 11th for re-carpeting and re-shelving the fiction. If you read a certain author you will find all of their books together in one place.

Get stocked up NOW.

Happy reading!

Julie

The Thing on the Wing

mclibdotnet — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 20:52:07 +0000

On the way home from attending the Public Library Association Conference in Portland, Oregon, it was my distinct pleasure to spend the time on the flight towards Paducah reading a collection of Richard Matteson’s short stories entitled, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. I found a used copy at Powell’s bookstore. As a biblioholic, that is the penultimate store which sits on a whole city block and is three stories of used and new books carefully color coded. Oh, my. In fact, I purchased that one the second trip I made to the store. My first trip I went a little bazinga in the literature section having found a prime 1st addition James Thurber and a collection of William Cowper poetry that I did not own (the Thurber replaces one in my bookshelf that is not as prime- look for it at the Friends book sale in July).

‘Tis the season for chasing rabbits. I digress, Richard Matheson wrote many of the original Twilight Zone scripts and is a favorite of mine for the sheer terror he produces. Reading the original Nightmare on a four-five hour flight from Portland to Chicago is a supreme pleasure that I can highly recommend to anyone and especially those who associate William Shatner or John Lithgow with the story. They were wonderful, but the story is even better.

The flight to Portland was spent with Hamish McBeth, a Scottish constable brought to us by M. C. Beaton and eventually in a series on BBC. The book was being read to me by my Ranger on the way to the airport so I checked the book out in order to find out what happens next. The library book was mailed back home. I finished it before de-planing. Hamish is brilliant but wants to stay under the radar because he refuses to accept a promotion, loving the Scottish countryside and his bizarre animals more than the idea of fortune or fame. No one gets knocked off in M. C. Beaton unless they “had it comin'”. If Hamish delights you, also check out Agatha Raisin. They are both in series that will seduce you to read them all and still starve for more.

Respectfully Submitted,

Julie

Great Day for McCracken County

mclibdotnet — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:06:41 +0000

If you missed meeting Garth Stein on Tuesday, March 9th at WKCTC, you missed a wonderful time. As well as he can write in the voice of a dog, he can speak and be personable and friendly. He shared a bit of his bestselling book, The Art of Racing in the Rain, and told stories about his muse (his wife) and his real life experiences in auto racing. Poor, poor Miata never saw it coming.

His book should contain a warning, once you open it you will not be able to close it. It gallops along at a pace only a real life Labrador Retriever can set and takes your heart along with it. The demise of the pooch is seen from the first chapter and in Enzo, the dog’s view, is just one lap in the racetrack of his future plans. It is a wonderful book so if you missed the author’s visit to Paducah, do not miss the book- available in CD and LP as well as the book at MCPL. And Patrick Dempsey has been signed to plan the human in the upcoming motion picture, but don’t wait until then!

Hopefully, you did not miss Professor Andrew Halford’s unusual treatment of the book. If you could not attend his Off the Shelf book discussion, you will want to catch it on TV tonight- March 11, 16 or 18th at 7:00 p.m. on channel 7. You will want to tape it, DVR it, transcribe it, and watch it again.

Your next opportunity to meet an adult author will be November, David Baldacci will be appearing at WKCTC to discuss his book, Wish You Well.

‘Til next time!

Julie

Kentucky Politics: Bombast, Burgoo & Bourbon

mclibdotnet — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:24:03 +0000

Kentucky Politics: Bombast, Burgoo & Bourbon

A presentation by

Berry Craig

Author & WKCTC History Professor

December 10 @ 7:00 p.m.

In the Library Meeting Room

Time was, Kentucky politics was dominated by the three Bs—Bombast, Burgoo, and Bourbon. Craig begins this talk by examining each of these spicy ingredients in turn. He ends by relating a tale that combines all three and brings to mind the famous remark about Kentucky politics being “the damnedest.” After all, asks Craig, where else could a man running for governor drink too much, throw up in public, and still get elected?

Presented by the Kentucky Humanities Council and McCracken County Public Library

Contact Bobbie Wrinkle -270-442-2510 X 19 bwrinkle@mclib.net

All programs are free & open to the public

“Myths & Misconceptions about Paducah : Myths, Legends, Lore, Lies & Damnable Lies”

mclibdotnet — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:43:43 +0000

“Myths & Misconceptions about Paducah : Myths, Legends, Lore, Lies & Damnable Lies”

A presentation by

John E. L. Robertson

Author & Local Historian

During this talk Robertson will discuss fascinating and some perhaps controversial aspects of Paducah’s history, including often debated Chief Paduke, internationally know “Speedie”, Pegleg Pete and the tales of the witches of Island Creek and the “eyes” on Poole Road. He will also take a look at unique persons and events that shaped Paducah’s rich history such as Paducah’s greatest contribution to professional baseball, evolution and the Scopes, a Paducahan who was honored with a fossil named for him and the landing of the SS New Orleans. Robertson is an avid local historian and author of several titles including : Paducah a Pictorial History, Paducah Frontier to the Atomic Age and the recent, Paducahans Famous and Not So Famous and Profiles of Past Paducahans, co-authored by the late Allan Rhodes Sr. In 2008, The Kentucky Historical Society honored Robertson with the Lifetime Contribution to Kentucky History Award.

November 12 @ 7:00 p.m.

In the Library Meeting Room

Contact Bobbie Wrinkle -270-442-2510 X 19 bwrinkle@mclib.net

All programs are free & open to the public.

An Evening Upstairs in October!

mclibdotnet — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:02:56 +0000

Be Haunted by History This Month

@ Your Library

More Kentucky Ghosts

A presentation by

Lynwood Montell

Western Kentucky University Folk Studies Professor Emeritus & Author

Much of Kentucky’s rich historical legacy is preserved in ghost stories,
including those related to the Civil War, ancestors, graveyards, murder
victims, haunted spots on the landscape, haunted houses, and ghostly lights
and screams. Montell’s talk will also discuss the historic value of hearing
and preserving Kentucky’s verbal legacy.

October 22 @ 7:00 p.m.

In the Library Meeting Room

Contact Bobbie Wrinkle -270-442-2510 X 19 bwrinkle@mclib.net

All programs are free & open to the public

Where’s Your Bookmark Today?

mclibdotnet — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:57:43 +0000

My bookmark is nestled in the pages of “Persona Non Grata,” the third installment of Ruth Downie’s Roman Empire series. I love this series. Set in the second-century, the series chronicles the life of an army doctor as he humorously solves the captivating mysteries he seems to find himself tangled in. In this book Ruso returns home to his family after many years of service with the roman legion. The Medicus has brought his trusty companion, Tilla, along for the journey. Her meeting with the family is less than perfect, as is Ruso’s welcoming. From the start they plunge head first into a nest of conspiring family members, a murder mystery, and tax plot that threatens to bury them all, nothing too much for the medicus to handle though. Filled with plot twists, intrigue, and humor, Downie’s Roman Empire series is fast, fun-filled read. I am thoroughly enjoying this latest addition to the tale.

An Evening Upstairs in September

mclibdotnet — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:05:42 +0000

“The Houses of Alben Barkley“

with Steve Gabany, PhD

author of Historic Architecture of Paducah & McCracken County

Alben Barkley, whose given name was not Alben William Barkley, was undoubtedly one of Paducah’s best known figures. This interesting discussion led by Gabany, author of the recent 2nd edition Historic Architecture of Paducah & McCracken County, will cover several homes and buildings associated with the Veep. He will trace the rich architectural history of the buildings using computer graphics. Steve Gabany spent 37 years as a university administrator and professor in California and Indiana. He and his wife Carol moved to Paducah three years ago as part of the Artist Relocation Program. They completed the renovation of the “Sebree House”, 6th and Madison, which serves as an art studio and bed and breakfast. Copies of his architectural books will be available for purchase & autographing.

Presented by the Friends of the McCracken County Public Library

September 17, 2009

7:00 pm

In the Library meeting room

All programs are free and open to the public

For more information, contact Bobbie Wrinkle by telephone at 270-442-2510 ext. 19 (Toll-free 866-829-7532) or email at bwrinkle@mclib.net

For more information on Evenings Upstairs click here.