October 28, 2008

This week we're excited to interview one of the world's coolest librarians, Betsy Turcotte of the Mallett School

KB: We'll start out with a true or false question. It seems clear to me that you personally cannot be praised too highly for the fantastic work you do at Mallett School. True or false.
Betsy: False!
KB: Actually, it's true, so you got that one wrong. But to continue, is there a particular book which, when a child brings it up to your desk for check out, always makes you smile to see it go out?
Betsy: I tend to smile if they're taking out a book I know will make them smile, particularly a funny book.
KB: What advice would you give to parents who wish their kids would take more of an interest in reading, other than the obvious one of hanging out more at DDG?
Betsy: That's easy. They need to spend more time with their kids and books together. They need to read to them. They need to talk about books they read as a kid. They need to model reading.
KB: Fantastic Betsy. Thanks!


Here they are! Our weekly picks for the two best: two hardcover, two paperback, and two children's books. The very best new arrivals to leap out of the box and onto our shelves this week. Call or email us if you want more information on any of these titles, or to have us hold you a copy. Or stop in and check them out in person. We'd love to see you. Thanks as always for sharing your reading with us!


Book Cover Intimacies: Poems of Love
By Neruda, Pablo
Heebner, Mary
Heebner, Mary
2008/11 - Harper
9780061492167 - Hardcover
List Price $27.95 - Your Price: $22.36
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This is just an absolutely exquisite book which combines Neruda's love poems and Mary Heebner's paintings. The poems are provided in both Spanish and English, and in fact the whole book couldn't be more pleasing to the eye in terms of layout or content....More

 

Book Cover Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients
By Garten, Ina
2008/10 - Clarkson N Potter Publishers
9781400054350 - Hardcover
List Price $35.00 - Your Price: $28.00
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There's so much to be said for creative recipes using simple ingredients which are relatively easy to prepare. Popular chef Garten new Back To The Basics: Fabulous Flavors From Simple Ingredients delivers on its promises with a whole array of intriguing, accessible recipes accompanied by the sort of galvanizing photos of succulent finished products that make one decide to take the plunge and try cooking something new. ...More

 

Book Cover The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard
By Howard, Robert E.
2008/10 - Del Rey Books
9780345490209 - Trade Paper
List Price $18.00 - Your Price: $14.40
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Though best known for his Conan novels, Robert Howard was a very fine writer of macabre short stories. In the glory days (1930's) of magazines such as Wonder Stories and Weird Tales Howard, along with his friends H.P. Lovecraft, and Clark Ashton Smith, were considered the finest practitioners of their art. This new comprehensive anthology of The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard is filled with marvelous stories to sample when the mood strikes you. Though perhaps one is always in the mood for stories with titles like, The Horror from the Mound. ...More

 

Book Cover Grandma's Dead: Breaking Bad News with Baby Animals
By McCall, Amanda
Schwartz, Ben
2008/11 - Collins
9780061673764 - Trade Paper
List Price $9.95 - Your Price: $7.96
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Two things are immediately apparent about Grandma's Dead: Breaking Bad News with Baby Animals, it is very funny and very tasteless. The book is a series of actual postcards which feature adorable photos of baby animals coupled with bad news. Messages such as "you're not invited," the meteor can't be stopped," "Grandpa left you nothing, and "it's malignant," are conveyed by bunnies in baskets, darling pugs, and cute kittens. Will Grandma's Dead: Breaking Bad News with Baby Animals make the world a better place? Try it and find out!...More

 

Book Cover Spanking Shakespeare
By Wizner, Jake
Ewing, Richard
2008/10 - Random House Books for Young Readers
9780375855948 - Trade Paper
List Price $7.99 - Your Price: $6.39
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Spanking Shakespeare is a young adult novel loaded with appeal for high school age students. This is definitely not for a middle grade audience, but Shakespeare Shapiro is a character who has a real life edge and wit which speaks strongly to teenagers, particularly boys. The first section of the book is just flat out funny, but a serious side develops slowly and then takes hold of the story. The narrative combines Shakespeare's first person voice, along with the memoir he's writing for a mandatory school project, and first time author Wizner manages to present a complex, entertaining, and compelling story here....More

 

Book Cover Spyology
By Blake, Spencer
Steer, Dugald
Various
2008/11 - Candlewick Press (MA)
9780763640484 - Hardcover
List Price $22.99 - Your Price: $18.39
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Can there be a more apropos topic for an interactive book than spying? Spyology has it all, a fantastic code breaking cover, really interesting historical details, and a whole assortment of gadgets and cyphers which will occupy and thrill young and old alike. Brownies can be too fattening, but we can't imagine that an interactive book for children could be too much fun, so we figure that Spyology must be safe no matter how much great stuff it's packed with....More

 

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