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Written on: September 14th, 2009 in Reviews
Two notable books reviewed in this weekend’s New York Times are based, solemnly and appropriately for the weekend of the 9-11 commemorations, in the aftermath of America’s response to the attacks, one in Afghanistan, the other at least in part, in Iraq.
John Krakauer’s long-delayed, much anticipated biography of Pat Tillman, Where Men Win Glory gets a mixed review- mostly because Krakauer has written a full-length biography of Tillman, the pro football player who walked away from his NFL contract to become an Army Ranger, and who died in a still-controversial “friendly fire” incident in Afghanistan in 2004, rather than just focusing on his military service. This makes for an unusual combination in which Krakauer juxtaposes Tillman’s childhood, college football stardom, and his move into pro football with the rise of Al Qaeda during the same period, with disconcerting pairings of benchmarks and accomplishments for both.
The other work, similar in some ways, is Shake the Devil Off, by Ethan Browne, the true story of Zachery Bowen, who served in both Kosovo and Iraq, and who returned to his native New Orleans and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina brutally killed his girlfriend and then took his own life. Lisa Scottoline has written a nuanced review of this complex book that you can read here
Finally, on a lighter note, the review section also includes Lev Grossman’s The Magicians (which I am hoping to finish and return in the next day or so!) I’ll have to admit that I didn’t like Grossman’s previous novel, Codex, at all- but the Magicians is a great ride so far. The basic concept is a knowing twist on Harry Potter, Narnia, and all of the pantheon of classic fantasy- what if magic really existed, and young magicians went to a Hogwarts-like academy to improve their skills and become masters of the manipulation of reality? What do they do when they graduate and return to the real world, which remains ordinary, despoiled, and stunting?
Written on: September 11th, 2009 in Reviews
Kudos to Gale/Cengage for publishing a very positive review of EBSCOs GreenFILE- a rival company’s product:
EBSCO once again made another important indexing/abstracting database freely available to librarians, other information professionals and the entire public (that cares). It deserves more up-to-date information than is currently offered by EBSCO because its content was good at the start, and grew by 25% since the launch of the database…
GreenFILE is a free service– available to anyone online, and a good starting point for anyone interested in researching environmental issues using abstracts or summaries of articles from the thousands of journals and magazines that are digitized by EBSCO and delivered online through library websites. If you’re a Delaware resident, you can follow up your research in GreenFILE by using your library card number and PIN to log in to Environment Complete, a more fully-featured EBSCO database that offers full-text versions of the articles abstracted in GreenFILE
Written on: September 11th, 2009 in Blog Posts
Written on: September 10th, 2009 in News
On Tuesday September 15th at 7.30 pm, the Delaware Department of Justice presents a free live Web Seminar with Jean Chatzky, Personal Financial Expert, financial editor for NBC’s Today and frequent contributor to The Oprah Winfrey Show, who has been working with people and their money for decades. Her experiences have inspired books on topics ranging from money to happiness. In her latest effort, Chatzky provides insights on how to thrive in a tough economic climate.
Join us on September 15, 2009 at 7:30 PM for this free hour-long interactive Web Seminar as Jean shares tips to help you save more money, safely invest the money you save and answers your financial questions. You register for the webinar and watch a preview at this link.
This program is sponsored by the Securities Unit of the Delaware Department of Justice and is funded solely through fines and fees collected by the Securities Unit.
And don’t forget, the Delaware Library Catalog offers a number of resources to help Delawareans cope with the pressures of the current economy, from free online access to magazines and periodicals, our recession resources guide, a virtual career center, access to education and vocational testing online, and selected financial literacy reading lists.
Written on: September 9th, 2009 in Q & A's
A: The News Journal maintains a list of umbrella civic groups on their website.
The News Journal states “more than half of New Castle County residents live in unincorporated areas, and for many of them, their closest “government” are civic associations and maintenance corporations. Such groups often arrange for snow removal and organize family activities; some supervise deed restrictions and maintain common land.”
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Written on: September 9th, 2009 in News
Click on the links below to get lists of new items available from the Delaware Library Catalog in various formats (lists will open in a new window):
Read more Delaware Library Catalog blog postings here.
Written on: September 8th, 2009 in Q & A's
A: You can print out a library card application from home in English or in Spanish. Fill it out and bring it with ID to your local library. Parent/guardian signature is required for children under 17.
Thanks for using Ask a Librarian Delaware. Have a question? Ask us!
Written on: September 8th, 2009 in Blog Posts
The Army recommends a substantial reading list to warfighters preparing to deploy to Afghanistan- it has published a list which includes dozens of books and online resources selected to give service members a deep understanding of the history and culture of Afghanistan and the role and tactics of Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
It’s an impressive list that anyone with an interest in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs would benefit from looking at.
The Delaware Library Catalog includes many of the core titles from the list:
The list also includes links to online resources and online retailers, such as MCDP1: Warfighting. The full pre-deployment reading list can be seen here (opens in a new window)
UPDATE: More military reading lists can be found at this link.
Written on: September 7th, 2009 in Blog Posts
There’s an African theme to several of this week’s New York Times Book Review selections.
An Expensive Education by Nick McDonell gets a great review, and Sam Tanenhaus’ weekly podcast (opens in a new window) includes an interview with McDonell about his “unerringly entertaining book”.
Tracy Kidder’s Strength in What Remains-“a work of the utmost skill, sympathy, and moral clarity” concerning central Africa’s ethnic genocide . You can read an extract from chapter 1 at this link (opens in a new window).
Sisters of Sinai, by Janet Soskice is a delightful recounting of the rediscovery of the earliest Christian gospels at St. Catherine’s Monastery by an irrepressible pair of Victorian widows
Moving away from Africa, the new E.L. Doctorow novel, Homer and Langley has been garnering great reviews as a “small but sweeping masterpiece”, based (typically for Doctorow) in a true story about two reclusive brothers in New York who fill their decaying mansion with the daily evidence of the madness of the world. The book is also a sensitive study of the psychopathology of compulsive hoarding.
Written on: September 4th, 2009 in Reviews
If you’re a ‘geek dad’ like me, this question can take the place of any rugged outdoor pursuit you may otherwise be planning this holiday weekend.
If you’re interested in the history of how labor day came to be, you can learn more at the Department of Labor’s website. The first labor day holiday was observed in 1882 by the Central Labor Union, and in 1894 the U.S. Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September a legal holiday.
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