Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading? – read the article and leave a comment!

Check out the New York Times article about whether or not online reading is really reading (like we traditional readers do when we read between the covers of a book). The jury is still out on this one. Let us know what you think!

Go to this link to read the article — http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/books/27reading.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5070&en=018a275d92417649&ex=1217995200&emc=eta1

Upcoming books into movies

thanks to The Early Word

Read the books now (click to reserve) and decide about the movie later.  Did they do it justice or botch the job?  You decide!

8/08
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
Starring: Amber Tamblyn, America Ferrera
view movie trailer

8/24
Nanny Diaries
view movie trailer

9/12
Nights in Rodanthe
Director: George C. Wolfe
Starring: Diane Lane, Richard Gere
view movie trailer

9/12
Towelhead
Director: Alan Ball
Studio: Warner Bros.
starring: Aaron Eckhart, Toni Collette, Maria Bello, Peter Macdissi, Summer Bishil
view movie trailer

9/26
Choke
Director: Clark Gregg
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Anjelica Huston, Kelly Macdonald
view movie trailer

9/26
Miracle at St. Anna
Director: Spike Lee
Starring: Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso, Omar Benson Miller, John Leguizamo, Joseph Gordon Levitt, James Gandolfini
view movie trailer

10/03
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
Director: Peter Sollett
Starring: Michael Cera, Kat Dennings

10/03
What Just Happened?
Director: Barry Levinson
Starring: Robert De Niro, Catherine Keener, Sean Penn, Bruce Willis, Stanley Tucci, John Turturro, Kristen Stewart, Robin Wright Penn, Michael Wincott, Lily Rabe

10/10
City of Ember
Director: Gil Kenan
Starring: Bill Murray, Tim Robbins
view movie trailer

10/10
Body of Lies OR House of Lies
Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe
view movie trailer

10/17
The Secret Life of Bees
Starring: Dakota Fanning as Lily Owens; Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys and Sophie Okonedo as the beekeeping sisters; Jennifer Hudson plays Lily’s nanny.
view movie trailer

10/24
He’s Just Not That Into You
Studio: New Line Cinema
Director: Ken Kwapis
Starring: Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Connelly, Kevin Connolly, Bradley Cooper, Justin Long, Ginnifer Goodwin, Wilson Cruz, Brooke Bloom
view movie trailer

12/25
Time Travelers Wife
Director: Robert Schwentke
Starring: Rachel McAdams, Eric Bana, Ron Livingston, Jane McLean

John Coltrane in a box

The Coltrane Computer in Dix Hills

“The Friends of the Coltrane Home” partnered with the library to put together a searchable database of Coltrane’s music and photos for you to browse, listen, and learn about the great jazz artist and former resident of Half Hollow Hills.  Enter the Dix Hills building and stroll towards the magazines – you’ll see the computer on your right, past the DVDs.  Pull up a chair and put on the headphones, and let yourself get transported by the music and images.

Where have I seen this before?

The future of libraries is safe with librarians like this around!

Blu-ray DVDs have arrived

Blu-ray DVDs are specially formatted DVDs that provide great picture quality and a better movie-viewing experience, but only if you play them on the right electronic equipment. You need a special Blu-ray DVD player, or a Sony Playstation 3. Also, the new format will be displayed best on an HDTV (high definition TV.)

You can find the Blu-ray DVDs across from the Circulation Desk in Dix Hills, and you will run across them in our catalog, too.  Be sure to check the call number for the word BLU to be sure you’re getting the one you want.

Any questions or suggestions, please let us know!

Guilt-free summer reading

New York Magazine’s suggestions for poolside. The always quirky magazine finds the best selections to indulge your taste for the light but satisfying.

Alive in Necropolis, Doug Dorst – A first novel that New York describes as “playful.”

Legal Limit, Martin Clark – In 2004, The New York Times Magazine called Clark “not only the thinking man’s John Grisham, but, maybe better, the drinking man’s”

The Dud Avocado, Elaine Dundy – The LA Times called the main character, who spends two years after college in Paris, “a cross between Carrie Bradshaw and Holden Caulfield.”

The Anglo Files, Sarah Lyall – Lyall used to cover publishing for the NY Times. When she moved to London, she began writing about the Brits and their amusing ways for the paper. New York calls the book “mischievous.”

Whacked, Jules Asner – The Houston Chronicle calls the book “a souffle of murder, chick-lit love angst and Hollywood dish.”

Summer of Naked Swim Parties, Jessica Anya Blau – This sounds more like poolside fare; “a witty account of the agonies and ecstasies of a girl coming of age in late-seventies California.”

The People on Privilege Hill, Jane Gardam – New York describes the stories as “Flannery O’Connor without the menace.”

Kafka Comes To America, Steven Wax – The Seattle Times calls this “a compelling story of two men wrongly imprisoned, and a legal system that makes it no easy thing to help them.”

Search for them and more in our catalog, and if you have any suggestions, please add them in a comment below.