The Walking Dead: Complete First Season

The Walking Dead: Complete First Season

[DVD Walking]

Having just ended its second season on the AMC cable network last night, The Walking Dead is one of the most impressive television series I've watched in recent years. This boxed set gathers the first six episodes, which comprised the first season in Oct-Dec 2010. The plot, in a nutshell, is that Georgia police officer Rick Grimes is injured in the line of duty and ends up in a coma. When he awakens, in an abandoned hospital, he discovers that the world around him has gone to hell. Undead humans (zombies, called Walkers in this incarnation) are everywhere, and the few remaining human beings are on the run, hiding out and trying to survive. Grimes connects with a small band of survivors and the first season features their efforts to get to Atlanta and the CDC headquarters, where they hope to find a cure for the undead problem. The production design on this show is incredible, particularly in the 2-hour pilot. The cast provides intense, dramatic performances, and the storytelling (though it differs somewhat from the graphic novels it is based on) is compelling. Viewers have to be willing to accept the basic premise, but if you can get past that, this is a powerful, visually unforgettable series, telling all-too-human stories against an apocalyptic background. I can't recommend this one highly enough. The bonus features in this Season One boxed set were impressive as well, including missing scenes, behind-the-scenes footage and a great feature on Zombie Make-Up. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the graphic novel series that this tv series is based on; also, any of the classic "zombie" movies like Night of the Living Dead. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [subscribe to Scott's monthly booklist newsletter - It's All Geek to Me!]

[Also available in multi-issue graphic novel format, plus a stand-alone novel, The Governor.]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official Walking Dead web site ]

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month.

New Booktalk Booklist - Get Your Kicks on Route 66

If you missed Pat's recent booktalk on the theme of Route 66, presented at the Gere Branch on February 13, 2012, never fear -- her booklist is now available on the library BookGuide readers advisory pages!

Check it out at: Get Your Kicks on Route 66, for some excellent books -- both non-fiction and novels -- about the Mother Road that served America as the primary travel conduit to California from the 1920s to the 1970s.

File M for Murder

File M for Murder

by Miranda James

Rare books librarian Charlie Harris of Athena College again uses his librarian skills to help solve the murder of his daughter's ex-fiance, quite an unlikable man. Of course, Charlie's cat Diesel, a Maine Coon, features prominently in this continuing series. The assorted cast of characters grows book by book, as one gets to know Charlie, his family, his boarders, and his friends. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Murder Past Due, and Classified as Murder.] -- recommended by Carolyn D. - Polley Music Library

[ official Miranda James web site ]

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New Customer Review - In Care of Cassie Tucker

In Care of Cassie Tucker
by Ivy Ruckman [j Ruckman]

I found myself wishing that Ivy Ruckman had simply plopped her characters into the middle of the action rather than hitting us with so much foreshadowing. The result is a lackluster start. In the first chapter of In Care of Cassie Tucker, Cassie's younger brother is screaming about their rooster. Cassie rescues her brother and then teaches him his numbers. Next, Cassie helps sets the table. Then her mother sends her outside to do chores. Just like in movies with the same flaws, all these precursory events to the real story are intended to develop the character, but just make me antsy for the action to start. I don't want to hear "What I didn't know that long-ago Thursday -- that everything was about to change." I want the out-of-town cousin to arrive already! Once he does, I was able to settle back and enjoy the story -- which fortunately turned out better than those aforementioned perfunctory movies. My favorite chapter is when Cousin Evan teaches Cassie to swim. I also like their many discussions about religion. Ruckman's strength in writing about storms also shows itself in the chapters about a blinding blizzard. Despite its initial slow pace, In Care of Cassie Tucker kept me glued to my chair. -- review submitted by Allison H.-F. - a customer of the Bennett Martin Public Library [ Check out Allison's guest issue of Customer Snapshot ]

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New Customer Reviews appear regularly in the pages of the BookGuide web site. You can visit the Customer Reviews page to see them all and/or submit your own, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually as we receive them.

Cowboys & Aliens (graphic novel)

Cowboys & Aliens
by Fred Van Lente, Andrew Foley, Luciano Lima, Luciano Lars and J. Wilson, and Silvio Spotti [741.5 Van]

Having been mildly entertained by the hodge-podge film Cowboys & Aliens in the summer of 2011, I was intrigued to actually read the graphic novel that served as inspiration for that film. I ended up far more impressed by the graphic novel than by the film. They resemble each other in only broad strokes -- both deal with humans in the wild west encountering a small alien invasion force and their efforts, with the assistance of one rebellious alien, to prevent the invaders from summoning additional reinforcements. Where the film introduces human conflicts with a cattle baron and an amnesiac central hero, the graphic novel is much more of a straight adventure story, with a traditional heroic cowboy trying to save the day. I'm not a fan of the art in the graphic novel, which varies from quite good to atrocious, but the flow of the action and the storytelling was good. If you haven't seen the film, the book will make even more sense. I recommend this -- as both science fiction, western and graphic storytelling. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the feature film, starring Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford.] -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [ view and subscribe to Scott's monthly booklist newsletter - It's All Geek to Me! ]

[ Wikipedia page for movie ] | [ official Cowboys & Aliens graphic novel web site ]

See more books like this on our Graphic Novels booklist

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide

website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month.

Stranger Than Fiction

Stranger Than Fiction

[DVD Stranger]

One of my favorite films from the past few years! I'm not normally a big Will Ferrell fan -- I find most of his films played a little too broad, slapsticky, farcical and crude for my taste. He's actually a very good actor, capable of serious drama and even sweetness at times. And Stranger Than Fiction provides him with a very intriguing opportunity to explore his acting chops. Ferrell plays Harold Crick, an IRS auditor living a very organized but repetitive life. That life is thrown off-balance when Crick begins hearing a woman's voice providing voice-over narration, which is describing everything he does. No-one else hears the voice, and Harold begins to think he's going insane. What could have been another overly-broad comedy actually turns out to be an intelligent, introspective look at reality -- what it is, to various points of view. Stranger Than Fiction features excellent performances from both Will Ferrell and Emma Thompson as Karen Eiffel, the eccentric, reclusive author who appears to be writing his life story...as he lives it. This film will make you laugh, make you think and make you feel! Highly recommended. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [ Subscribe to Scott's monthly booklist newsletter -- It's All Geek to Me! ]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ]

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month.

Bookmarks

Bookmarks
[Periodical Bookmarks]

If you have ever been at a loss as to what to read next, this is the magazine for you. Bookmarks was named "Best New Magazine" by Library Journal shortly after its debut in 2002. It is a bimonthly comprehensive new books guide, and also includes articles about classic and contemporary authors, a reader advisory section and "best of" lists from every genre. Each of the new books featured in Bookmarks is followed by several brief summaries of various reviews, which allows for a much broader impression of the book than would any in-depth review from a single source. I've gotten a couple of great title ideas from this magazine that I probably wouldn't otherwise have tried. After the magazine did an article on Kurt Vonnegut's life and works back in a 2003 issue he effused, "...nowhere else have I found such thoughtful and literate reportage on the state of the American soul, as that soul makes itself known in the books we write. News of the hour indeed!" [Bookmarks is carried by both Bethany and Walt libraries; copies can be reserved and sent to any other library location for pick-up.] -- recommended by Steph E - Anderson and Bethany Branch Libraries

[ official Bookmarks Magazine web site ]

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide

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New Customer Review - Night of the Twisters

Night of the Twisters
by Ivy Ruckman [j Ruckman]

The opening bothers me every time I reread it: "When I was a little kid, I thought a red-letter day was when you got a red-letter in the mailbox. Now that I'm older and more experienced, I know that there are black-letter days as well as red-letter ones. Those BIGGEES, the real blockbusters that mess up your life?." The observation feels forced, just as much as the slow pace of the first few chapters. Yet I have to hand it to Ivy Ruckman, every time I reach the point where the first tornado hits the Hatch house, I am unable to put down her one hundred-and-fifty page book. Better yet, for a while after reading it, every noise around me and every change in the weather puts me on alert. After living in Nebraska for over ten years, I understand how Midwesterners can become complacent about weather alerts. Whenever I read Night of the Twisters, I am reminded why that is not a good idea. -- review submitted by Allison H.-F. - a customer of the Bennett Martin Public Library

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New Customer Reviews appear regularly in the pages of the BookGuide web site. You can visit the Customer Reviews page to see them all and/or submit your own, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually as we receive them.

Perry Mason, Season One, Volume One

Perry Mason, Season One, Volume One

[DVD Perry]

Perry Mason was one of the pioneering legal television series during the 1950's. Based on ideas and characters by Erle Stanley Gardner, the plots feature complicated legal manouvering and many suspects that usually only Perry can sort out in the courtroom. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Boston Legal, The Good Wife, Shark.] -- recommended by Jim W. - South Branch Library
[Also available The Perry Mason Novels of Erle Stanley Gardner.]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this series ] | [ official Perry Mason episode guide web site ]

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month.

To Your Scattered Bodies Go

To Your Scattered Bodies Go
by Philip Jose Farmer

This classic novel is the first in Farmer's multi-volume Riverworld saga. British explorer Sir Richard Francis Burton dies, then awakens in a vast alien space, floating with millions of other naked bodies in rows and columns. Attempting to break free from the invisible bonds holding him tight, he then suddenly awakens again, naked, with hundreds of other individuals, all from various time periods in Earth history, on the banks of a river. In an afterworld that no-one expected, it appears that some force has resurrected everyone who has every lived, from all time periods of history, and placed them in a controlled environment along the banks of an apparently-million-mile-long river. Who is behind this? Why are they doing this? How can individuals from different cultures, languages and philosophies possibility co-exist with civility. This first volume focuses on Burton's insatiable need for freedom and exploring the boundaries of his new world, and featurings a small group of the characters who are drawn to his magnetism and/or become his enemies. Later volumes in the series explore in much greater depth the background of the Riverworld and those who created and maintain it. This is truly one of the science fiction genre's most memorable classic entries, and should not be missed by anyone trying to read the SF award winners, although Farmer's handling of female characters leaves something to be desired. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [Subscribe Scott's monthly book column newsletter -- It's All Geek to Me! -- from the library.]

[ Riverworld entry on Wikipedia ] | [ official Philip Jose Farmer web site ]

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide

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Booze Cakes

Booze Cakes
by Krystina Castella [641.865 Cas]

A collection of recipes that incorporate booze in desserts in a classy way. A fantastic book for a girls' night in. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Make Your Own Drinks by Susy Atkins, a cookbook on making alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks using fruit, herbs and vegetable, or Cooking With Beer: Taste-Tempting Recipes and Creative Ideas for Matching Beer and Food by Lucy Saunders.] -- recommended by Carrie K. - Bennett Martin Public Library


[ official Booze Cakes web site and blog ]

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide

website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month.

Side Jobs (on CD)

Side Jobs

by Jim Butcher

This collection of all the Dresden Files short stories and novellas was released after the Dresden novel Changes (2010), in which -- *spoiler alert* - Harry Dresden died (don't worry, he comes back). The stories included her have appeared in a variety of venues, mainly thematic genre anthologies -- so you might have seen some of the stories previously -- I know I had. None-the-less, it's great to have them all put together in a single package. This collection also features one all-new story, "Aftermath", set 45 minutes after the conclusion of Changes -- it focuses on Harry's cop friend Karrin Murphy, and deals with her coming to terms with the loss of Harry and her need to take up his role as a a protector of the windy city's paranormal population. I thought this one story alone was worth the price of the book! One other note -- friends have been trying to convince me to listen to the Dresden Files books in audio format, because actor James Marsters (Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer) is the narrator. This was the first Dresden book I "listened" to instead of "read". My friends were right -- Marsters does a terrific job with the narration, imbuing a variety of different characters with slightly different voices and personalities. I recommend this volume in both print and audiobook formats!. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the rest of the Dresden Files series.] -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[Also available in print and downloadable E-book formats.]

[ official Jim Butcher web site ]

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide

website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month.

American Pickers - The Complete Season One

American Pickers - The Complete Season One

[DVD American]

This reality series is about two guys named Mike and Frank who travel all across America looking for antiques buried in peoples' buildings that they think are diamonds in the rough. They buy them from the owners, fix them up with the help of their friend Danielle, and sell them for a profit. It's a cool show that teaches you a lot about history - most of the stuff they find comes with its own unique story. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Storage Wars - people buy a storage locker and turn its contents for a profit or Pawn Stars - people bring antiques to a pawn shop in order to sell or pawn them for money.] -- recommended by Carrie K. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official American Pickers web site ]

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month.

New Customer Review - Holding Up the Earth

Holding Up the Earth
by Dianne Gray [j Gray]

Shifting the point of view as Dianne Gray does in Holding Up the Earth is not my favorite literary technique, yet she manages it pretty well. She actually switches between the voices of five different girls to bind together her story of fourteen-year-old Hope, a foster kid who has been shuffled from home to home since the death of her mom. Hope visits her new foster mom's Nebraska farm and through old letters, a diary, and stories, hears the voices of four girls her age who lived there in 1869, 1900, 1936, and 1960. Through their tales, readers are introduced to the life of pioneers and hired hands and of life during the dust bowl and later nuclear testing days. And through Hope's voice, readers learn about farming and small towns, but also something more. May we always have memories that shape us, but may we also always move forward to make new ones. -- review submitted by Allison H.-F. - a customer of the Bennett Martin Public Library

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New Customer Reviews appear regularly in the pages of the BookGuide web site. You can visit the Customer Reviews page to see them all and/or submit your own, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually as we receive them.

The Buddha in the Attic

The Buddha in the Attic
by Julie Otsuka

A beautifully crafted jewel of a book, sharing glimpses into the lives of Japanese picture brides in early 20th century California. Uniquely told in first person plural style, this novel heartbreakingly displays the optimism, despair, and strength of women, from their travel to a new culture across the ocean until their forced internment during WWII. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try When the Emperor Was Divine, by Julie Otsuka and The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford.] -- recommended by Kathryn K. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[Also available in downloadable audio and downloadable E-book formats.]

[ official Julie Otsuka web site ]

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide

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Rango and The Oscars

Enjoy tonight's Oscar telecast, celebrating the best in motion picture entertainment for 2011! While you're waiting for the show to begin, enjoy the following review of one of tonight's five films nominated for Best Animated Feature Film, then check out the You've Enjoyed the Movie...Now Enjoy the Book! booklist on BookGuide, featuring the books that Oscar-winning films have been based upon.

Rango

[DVD j Rango]

I wasn't sure what to expect from this film -- the trailers and DVD cover made the art seem vaguely grotesque in some ways, but in the end I fell in love with this film. Though marketed as a film for kids, I really believe the majority of this film's references and humor were aimed at a more nostalgic adult audience. Rango is the tale of a pet chameleon with aspirations of being an actor, who ends up abandoned in the desert. In search of civilization and precious water, our main character stumbles across a nearly-dead western town in need of a heroic sheriff, and decides to "act" the part. What he doesn't expect is the need to truly become a hero to the townsfolk as they face a serious struggle. This film is full of wonderful tributes to traditional western tropes, and has some terrific voice performances from actors such as Johnny Depp, Ned Beatty, Harry Dean Stanton and many more. The animation, both on the characters and their environments, was stunning, both in quiet emotional scenes and slam-bang action sequences. Highly recommended! -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[Also available: various kids books and videogames based on Rango.]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official Rango web site ]

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month.

Bossypants (on CD)

Bossypants (on CD)
by Tina Fey

I've enjoyed Tina Fey's writing and acting on both Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock, and was pleased to see she was the narrator of the audio version of her own book. Her sarcastic, witty attitude comes across perfectly as she reads Bossypants, and it's obvious she's having fun sharing her memories. At the same time, however, I sort of felt as if this biography was very light -- she doesn't really go into any serious depth about any of her topics, instead breezing through her experiences almost like an outsider, or teasing us with hints of a greater story, which then she doesn't share. Still, if you enjoy biographies about the making of television shows, or you're a die-hard SNL fan, or you grew up making jokes or "putting on a show", you'll probably enjoy this one. I definitely enjoyed listening to this more than I did reading it...Fey's personality comes across very effectively on audio. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[Also available in downloadable audio and print formats.]

[ Publisher's official Bossypants web page ] | [ Tina Fey page on Wikipedia ]

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide

website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month.

The Art of Fielding

The Art of Fielding
by Chad Harbach

It's true, I do love baseball, but I'm certain The Art of Fielding is not just for baseball fans. This surprisingly satisfying first novel by Chad Harbach centers around Henry Skrimshander, a scrawny small-town kid who is an absolute savant on the infield. Set in a fictional college campus, Henry is surrounded by a handful of rich characters, the sort you like all the more for their flaws. There is Owen, Henry's self-described "gay mulatto roommate", a strict environmentalist who spends his time between innings with his head in a book; President of the college Guert Affenlight, who finds falling in love a completely new experience in his 60s; Guert's daughter Pella, who married too young and has returned home for something of an unconventional fresh start; and Mike Schwartz, the lumbering and arthritic captain (and glue)of the team. When Henry's errorless streak is suddenly and unexplicably broken it sets in motion an unravelling of long held ambitions and expectations. The characters' journey through the unpredictablility of love and life expectations makes The Art of Fielding a richly enjoyable book. -- recommended by Steph E. - Anderson and Bethany Branch Libraries

[Also available in book-on-cd format.]

[ Publisher's official Art of Fielding web site ] | [ Wikipedia page for Chad Harbach ]

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide

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Delectable Mountains - a Just Desserts selection!

Delectable Mountains
by Earlene Fowler

After multiple recommendations to use an Earlene Fowler title for the libraries' Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group, we finally used one of her titles -- Delectable Mountains -- for one of our group discussions in January 2012. I enjoyed this one quite a bit -- it's a middle-of-the-road mixture of cozy and police procedural, and falls right in the middle of the long-running series featuring Benni Harper, set in a small California community. The characters are all well-defined, even if the mystery itself is a bit predictable. Benni doesn't stand out as a busy-body, as many "amateur sleuths" do -- her involvement in the mystery seems reasonable, and I found myself liking her as a character very much. I recommend this series to anyone who's a fan of such authors as Carolyn G. Hart -- strong sense of place, and character-driven storyline. Enjoy! -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library and coordinator of the Just Desserts group. [ Join other mystery fans each month to discuss a pre-assigned mystery novel -- our February 2012 meeting is tonight, February 23rd! ]

[Also available in book-on-cd format.]

[ official Earlene Fowler and "Benni Harper" web site ]

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide

website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month.

New Customer Review - Together Apart

Together Apart
by Dianne Gray [j Gray]

While the blizzard that affected the lives of the main characters was a real event known as The School Children's Blizzard, Together Apart is about much more. Many people who survive natural disasters say that the main thing is that their family lived. While that may be true, it is also just as true that the real story lies in what happens after the disaster. Together Apart is what happens to the fictional Hannah Barnett, whose two brothers died in the blizzard of 1888. As for Hannah, she huddled with a local boy to keep warm -- incurring rumors in the community about their relationship and causing estrangement with her farming family. Needing her own space to grieve, Hannah applies in town for work. Together Apart is also about Isaac, the boy with whom Hannah huddled to stay alive. When Isaac tires of abuse from his step-father, he runs away but only to the nearby town because he wishes to stay close to his mom. There are plenty of other things I could tell you about Together Apart, but I'd prefer for you to discover these delectable treasures for yourself by reading the book. -- review submitted by Allison H.-F. - a customer of the Bennett Martin Public Library [See Allison's issue of the Customer Snapshot library newsletter]

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New Customer Reviews appear regularly in the pages of the BookGuide web site. You can visit the Customer Reviews page to see them all and/or submit your own, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually as we receive them.