Lee and Lyn - Wilde Twins web site

Lee and Lyn - Wilde Twins

"Lee and Lyn Who?", will be the response of most. Lee and Lyn Wilde are twins who appeared in a few movies in the 1940s. They were singers and spent most of their careers traveling with big band orchestras. The website has a number of photographs from their performing days and photos of them as babies. It also features stills and images from some publicity about the girls. The biography portion is espcially good; Lee provided some of the information herself. Anyone who is interested in the 1940s might enjoy this piece of nostalgia. But the biggest reason for calling this site to our patron's attention is to point out once again the power of the web. That two somewhat obscure performers has such a nice site devoted to them rates an 'A' on any scale. [If you enjoy this, you may also like: http://www.penelope.demon.co.uk/deanna/ (The Deanna Durbin page)] -- recommended by Rianne S. - Bennett Martin Public Library

Have you visited this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

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.

Index to Podcast Recordings at the Library

Interested in listening to one of the libraries' audio podcast recordings, but don't want to take the time to browse through all the individual episodes to find one that matches your reading tastes?

Then check out our new Master Index to Podcasts -- See a listing by Author (of Fiction) or Dewey Decimal # (for Non-Fiction) of all the books (and other materials) that have been discussed in Podcast recordings on the libraries' web site to date!

The OTRRpedia

The OTRRpedia

from information compiled by The Old Time Radio Researchers Group

This website is devoted to old time radio. A search for programs or episodes is currently up and running and soon a search for radio talent will also be available. (People are already entered, they just can't be searched, but if you look for The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes there is a link to Basil Rathbone. There is also an index to look through for people.) One enjoyable feature is a radio diary. Enter a date and you will find what programs aired on that date. The information is compiled by the Old Time Radio Researchers Group. Clicking on that link brings up other links. Have a ball by clicking on the Publications link, then the Magazines Page. A list of magazines published primarily in the 30s and 40s comes up. Click on a title, then the original issue date comes up. Click on one, then wait just a little bit for it to load (the entire issue has been scanned) and you can actually read the magazine. The articles include the well known (Burns and Allen) and the not so famous (Irene Rich). Just one gripe: no sounds. You can't listen to the memorable theme for The Green Hornet (The Flight of the Bumblebee by Rimsky-Korsakov), so check it out on compact disc here at the library! You also can't listen to some of the great old commercials, like for Cream of Wheat or Pepsodent. (You'll wonder where the yellow went, when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent.) [If you like this, consider the following: There are LOTS of websites for individual programs (try looking for Vic and Sade; Victor Gook and his wife Sade live in a little house halfway up the next block. Vic is the Exalted Big Dipper of the Drowsy Venus Chapter of the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way. He is an accountant for a kitchenware company and he is sometimes asked to submit articles to the Kitchenware Quarterly!) Of course the library has many books on radio programs and you can experience the progams themselves on compact disc.] -- recommended by Rianna S. - Bennett Martin Public Library

Ready...Set...Write!

It's only a few hours and counting until thousands of aspiring writers and wordsmiths around the world launch into the annual event known as National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for short).

Participants can go to the NaNoWriMo website, sign up for a free account, and then begin writing their own version of the Great American Novel. Everyone who takes part is encouraged to shoot for the ultimate goal -- start with 0 words on November 1st, and finish with a complete 50,000-word novel (or longer!) by the stroke of midnight at the end of November 30th.

Looking for some moral support as you keyboard your way to literary greatness? You can hang out with the 340+ other Nebraskans who are registered participants -- bemoan your progress in the discussion forums -- identify your friends as Writing Buddies and track their daily word count -- get together at regularly scheduled NaNoWriMo gatherings in Lincoln -- and look forward to the big celebration party for local writers after the November 30th deadline has passed! You can keep your writing completely private or open it up to everyone else to read and critique.

Although a complete 50,000 novel in a month may prove to be too much for you, the creative and supportive environment of NaNoWriMo is sure to get your literary juices flowing, no matter whether you're writing a political thriller or Chick Lit!

So...check out NaNoWriMo.org, get started writing, and drop us a note in the comments here to let us know what your "handle" is on the NaNoWriMo site...we'll keep an eye on your progress!