Posted in Authors, Awards, Book Recommendations on February 11, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
In 2005 the first Man Booker International Prize was awarded to Albanian poet and writer Ismail Kadare. In Kadare’s novel “The Ghost Rider” an old woman is awoken in the dead of night to find her daughter Doruntine standing at her front door. The daughter claims she was brought home by her brother Konstandin. But unbeknownst to her, Konstandin has been dead for years. Who is this mysterious ghost rider?
The Financial Times called Kadare “…a great writer, by any nation’s standards.”
Posted in Awards, Books, Uncategorized, tagged Thumbs Up! on February 23, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Hey Milford, Michigan Teens:
If you are between the ages of 12 and 18 it’s time for you to have a say. We want you to play a part in choosing the Thumbs Up! Award winner. This award was established in 1986 to recognize excellence in Teen Literature. Over the last 12 months a committee of Teen Librarians has spent hours reading about 400 titles all released in 2010 and have met on several occasions to come up with a list of the top 20 titles. Now they need your help!
Simply read the books (or as many as possible) listed on the ballot and choose your favorite (just ONE). Want to get started now? Here’s the list of the top 20. Milford Library owns most of these titles and can request the rest.
White Cat by Holly Black
Zombies vs. Unicorns edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier
Beat the Band by Don Calame
Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
The Search for Wondla by Tony DiTerlizzi
Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
Ostrich Boys by Keith Gray
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King
Lost for Words by Alice Kuipers
Party by Tom Leveen
Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
Athena by George O’Connor (Graphic Novel)
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
Dirty Little Secrets by Cynthia Jaynes Omololu
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Sorta Like a Rock Star by Matthew Quick
After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick
Ghostopolis by Doug TenNapel (Graphic Novel)
Not That Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian
Ballots are due no later than April 29, 2011. There will be a box in the Teen Department to put your ballots in before the deadline or you can mail your ballot directly the Committee Chairperson.
Pick up a ballot today and Happy Reading!!!
Posted in Awards, Movies on February 2, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Movie buffs the world over await this day every year, the day we find out which of the year’s films get graced with a nomination for an Academy Award. See all of the nominations here. This year the list is a little different. For the first time since 1943 the Best Picture category includes 10 films rather than the 5 films we’ve been used to. The list includes Avatar, The Blind Side, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire, Up, A Serious Man, and Up in the Air.
I was hoping the category’s expansion would also mean a broader variety of films would be nominated. What about Star Trek? Sure, it’s a franchise film with lots of special effects, but it was a lot of fun. Don’t fun films ever get nominated? I loved it, and I’ve never been a Star Trek fan before. I haven’t seen the The Hangover yet, but it won the Golden Globe for Best Comedy – isn’t that worth something? I was very happy to see Up get nominated in both the Best Picture and Animated Feature Film categories, however. It’s about time animated films get some recognition for their storytelling as well as their technical achievements.
Looking at the list of nominees, it looks like I have some catching up to do. I’ve only seen two of the Best Picture nominees. It’s a good thing many of them are already out on DVD or are coming out soon. We already have The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, District 9, and Up in the library’s collection, and will be adding the others as they are released.
The Oscars will be televised on March 7th at 8PM Eastern on ABC.
