Posted By fpl on September 2, 2010
This Labor Day Weekend, come see us on Saturday.
FPL will be closed Sunday & Monday for the Labor Day holiday. We will also be closed on Friday, Sept 3 as part of our regular Friday closures. The Main Library will be only be open Saturday, September 4 from 10-5.
Please note: our outside book drops will be locked while the Main Library is closed. If you have something that must be returned during the closure, you may return it to the Hunt Branch.
Have a great weekend! And if we don’t catch you on Saturday, see you Tuesday!
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Posted By Kyle on September 1, 2010
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
By Max Brooks (818.602 BRO)
This is the latest offering from Brooks, whose previous book, The Zombie Survival Guide, was a popular novelty read among the Horror Geek set. World War Z is much more robust and satisfying, like a big, juicy Chess Club brain. Zombie fiction works best when the shambling undead serve as a kind of cracked mirror through which the soon-to-be devoured humans can observe their own flawed reflections: What makes Us so different from Them? Brooks delivers with a book that’s not really about zombies at all, but rather an examination of the best and worst traits hidden in humanity, awaiting only the End of the World to make their appearance. Plus, it addresses some other important issues. For example, just how effective would F-22 Raptor Joint Strike Fighters and M-1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks be against a millions-strong army of the living dead? Hint: Not very. KS
Category: Book Reviews |
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Tags: Fiction, Horror, Max Brooks, Zombies
Posted By fpl on August 31, 2010
September is Library Card Sign-up Month, and FPL wants to remind everyone in Fullerton to have the smartest card of all – a library card.
Public library programming and books for children make a difference in the lives of students. By providing school-age children with engaging programs and amazing collections, students from all backgrounds become excited and enthusiastic readers.
A library card has always been the most important school supply of all. Today’s libraries are thriving technology hubs that millions rely as either their first or only choice for computer and Internet access. In doing so, libraries provide children with not only the tools to be literate, but information literate as well. There’s a lot happening at FPL, and the best part for both children and parents – in these though economic times – is that it’s all free with a library card.
Getting a library card with us is easy.
Observed since 1987, Library Card Sign-up Month is a time when the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country remind parents that a library card is the most important school supply of all.
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Posted By Kyle on August 12, 2010
Jesus and the Gospels (The Great Courses)
By Luke Timothy Johnson
[Book on CD—232.901 JOH]
If you’re not familiar with it, The Teaching Company’s Great Courses series consists of recordings (either video or audio) of various educational lectures given by eminent experts (usually university professors) on a wide variety of subjects. The library has a fair number of these productions, including Jesus and the Gospels. Professor Luke Timothy Johnson of Emory University approaches the subject from a mostly literary perspective, purposefully moving the emphasis away from the thorny theological and historical problems that the topic usually raises (though he does address both topics at length). Much attention is paid to the differences in tone, language, and style that exist between the Synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), as well as their individual origins and probable intended audiences. Also addressed are the various discrepancies between the accounts of events in the Synoptic gospels, the apocalyptic gospels (such as the canonical Gospel of John), Acts, Paul’s letters, and the various and sundry apocryphal gospels. Whatever your religious views, this course should heighten your appreciation of some of the most powerful (and, obviously, influential) literary works of all time. KS
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Tags: Great Courses, Luke Timothy Johnson, Non-Fiction, Religion
Posted By Kyle on July 28, 2010
It
By Stephen King
[Fiction—KING]
I’m a big Stephen King fan, but I find some of the premises of his novels unappealing. Weird psychic powers and creepy Lovecraftian ghosts in the Florida Keys, a la Duma Key? Love it! Weird cell phone calls that turn the recipients into homicidal maniacs, like in Cell? Yes, please. A murderous clown monster that lives in the sewers? Maybe not so much. Happily, it turns out I was wrong. I shouldn’t have doubted good ol’ Stephen, because It is a great read and it’s classic King all the way (for good and for ill, as I shall try to explain). First the good: What do we know that King writes well? Answers three: (1) coming of age stories, like The Body (aka Stand by Me), (2) scary boogiemen that prey on the innocent, like whatever it is that lurks in the Tadder’s closet in Cujo, and (3) extra-dimensional shambling things, like those From a Buick 8. Guess what? It has all those things! Plus, it employs a great flashback/time jump narrative device that keeps the action moving along nicely. That being said, I must touch on those things that King sometimes doesn’t always pull off. While great at dreaming up spooky situations and populating them with interesting characters, he is perhaps not always so great at bring the suspense to a head at the end, and It suffers from something of an anticlimax. I also don’t like that King so often resorts to sci-fi explanations for things that would have been much scarier had they remained purely supernatural. If it was good enough for The Shining and ‘Salem’s Lot, why mess around with it? KS
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Tags: Fiction, Horror, Stephen King
Posted By Kyle on July 20, 2010
The Magicians
By Lev Grossman
[Fiction—GROSSMAN]
Here’s my elevator pitch for Grossman’s wonderfully subversive fantasy novel: Holden Caulfield goes to Hogwarts. No, wait. Harry Potter is living in Manhattan and partying too much. Well, I’ll work on it. Intellectually gifted and romantically challenged Quentin Coldwater is the actual protagonist of the tale. He lives a life of exquisite teenage angst in Brooklyn, hoping to get into Princeton but not, you know, excited about it. He’s not excited about much of anything, actually, though he excels in academics and is a pretty passable amateur magician. His one great love, besides his best friend Julia (who is totally not into him in that way, of course), is Fillory. That is to say, for all intents and purposes, C. S. Lewis’s Narnia without any pesky copyrights attached to it. To be more precise, the novel describes Fillory and Further as a series of five books chronicling the adventures of the five Chatwin children in a magical land accessible from the 1930’s English countryside via various cupboards, closets, or what have you. Definitely not through any wardrobes, though. Anyway, Quentin is of the opinion that his life would be a lot more interesting if things like Fillory and talking animals and actual magic existed. And then…well, I feel fairly certain that you can extrapolate, at least in a general way, where this going, plot-wise. The writing is fantastic, the plot is fantastic, the dialogue is fantastic and hilarious. This is a young wizard who is realistic enough to drop f-bombs, get wasted, and have a sex life. In short, he’s more believable than your average world-saver. The Magicians is teenage fantasy for grown-ups. KS
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Tags: Fantasy, Fiction, Lev Grossman
Posted By Kyle on July 7, 2010
City of Bones
By Cassandra Clare
[Young Adult—CLARE]
The cancelation of my beloved Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel television shows has left me bereft and searching for some decent Urban Fantasy. From Jim Butcher (Harry Dresden) to Ilona Andrews (Kate Daniels), my search has taken me quite far afield, often with decidedly mixed results. It has even taken me to the YA section and, most recently, the Mortal Instruments series. This trilogy, of which City of Bones is the first installment, boasts a pretty decent cast of characters and a fairly involved back story. The plot revolves around a secret race of half-angel demon slayers called Shadowhunters. These supernatural enforcers (who are mostly hot teenagers) wage a constant war against renegade “downworlders”—vamps, werewolves, and faeries. It’s a more girly book than I would have preferred, but it’s definitely got more action than, say, Twilight. That being said, this is—if I may be permitted a Princess Bride reference—a Kissing Book. Unlike Stephanie Meyer’s insipid heroine and her lame “vampire” beau, though, Clare made me believe that her hormonal teens would actually prefer jumping each others’ bones to lying around being sparkly and annoying. KS
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Tags: Cassandra Clare, Fantasy, Fiction
Posted By Kyle on July 1, 2010
To Kill a Mockingbird
By Harper Lee
[Book on CD—LEE]
As a result of running completely out of zombie, ghost, and vampire fiction to listen to on CD, I’ve recently been forced to broaden my horizons. That is, the type of books which now fall into the category of Books I Will Give a Chance has expanded considerably. One result is that my command of the classics is now approaching respectability. My latest “read” has been my most enjoyable yet, a fantastic book of the sort where one is barely reading Chapter Two and finds oneself already growing melancholy at the prospect of the book ending. I don’t suppose it will really surprise anyone to learn that To Kill a Mockingbird is a good book, but it is so good: lyrical, moving, evocative, and heartbreaking. If you happen to enjoy audiobooks, Sissy Spacek’s lovely, innocent drawl and spot-on characterization on the Recorded Books production blend wonderfully with Harper Lee’s pitch perfect dialog to really bring Scout Finch to life. KS
Category: Book Reviews |
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Tags: Audiobooks, Classics, Fiction, Harper Lee
Posted By fpl on June 30, 2010
Starting tomorrow, July 1st, Fullerton Public Library will have new hours and new days of operation for 2010-2011 fiscal year.
The Main Library will be open from 10AM to 8PM Monday through Thursday, and 10AM to 5PM on Sundays. The library will be closed on Fridays and Saturdays. No items will be due on those days, and the outside drop bins will not be available.
The Hunt Branch will only be open two days a week. Tuesdays from 10AM to 6PM and Thursdays from 12PM to 8PM.
The Bookmobile will not be in service during this fiscal year.
* * *
And if that weren’t enough, it’s also Independence Day Weekend! Fullerton Public Library will be closed Sunday, July 4th and Monday, July 5th in observance of the holiday.
With the regular Friday and Saturday closure, that means you could check out a new 1-day DVD on Thursday, July 1st, and not have to return it until our next open day, which will be Tuesday, July 6th!
Enjoy the holiday!
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Posted By Kyle on June 24, 2010
The Strain
By Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan
[Fiction—TORO]
I’m not a particularly huge fan of Del Toro’s. I feel like his heart is in the right place, but he has never really come through for me in the execution. (Please don’t talk to me about Pan’s Labyrinth—that was, in my opinion, the boringest bore-fest of them all.) I am, however, a particularly huge fan of the Undead, so I decided to give this book a try. At first I thought it was about zombies, but, as Professor Abraham Van Helsing Setrakian puts it, “Think more along the lines of a man with a black cape. Fangs. Funny accent.” In point of fact, The Strain in its entirety is essentially an elaborate homage to Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Sometimes this works exceedingly well, as in the book’s opening scene: In a wonderful call back to the arrival of the lifeless Demeter in London, a Boeing 777 arrives at JKF and then just sits there, being ominous. After a while, though, it grows a little stale, as do the endless action scenes. A promising, if somewhat flawed, series debut. KS
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Tags: Chuck Hogan, Fiction, Guillermo Del Toro, Horror
