Find your Oscar winners at the Library

The Academy Awards are exciting for movie lovers everywhere. Now that the winners have been chosen and announced, make plans to see your favorite movies again, or see some winners for the first time. We have them here, at your public library.


The Departed (Best Picture and Best Director) - view the trailer, reserve a copy

Little Miss Sunshine (Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor) - view the trailer, reserve a copy

The Last King of Scotland (Best Actor) - view the trailer, reserve a copy

Babel (Best Original Score) - view the trailer, reserve a copy

An Inconvenient Truth (Best Documentary Feature) - view the trailer, reserve a copy

Happy Feet (Best Animated Feature Film) - view the trailer, reserve a copy

Marie Antoinette (Achievement in Costume Design) -view the trailer, reserve a copy

Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Man's Chest (Best Visual Effects) - view the trailer, reserve a copy

New books we ordered February 22, 2007

Below is a list of the books recently ordered by the library. They are grouped by Fiction, Non-fiction, Large Print and Children. Click on the title to see more and request a copy!


Fiction
A spell for Chameleon by Anthony, Piers
Follow your heart : your best friend's boyfriend by Bright, J.
Bad connection : a novel by Carlson, Melody
Notes from a spinning planet-- Ireland : novel by Carlson, Melody
Papua New Guinea by Carlson, Melody
Heart of glass by Dean, Zoey
Damage control by Dugoni, Robert
Castle of Wizardry ; Enchanters' end game by Eddings, David
Pawn of prophecy ; Queen of sorcery ; Magician's gambit by Eddings, David
Shoutout at Gold Creek by Johnstone, William W.
Slaughter trail by Johnstone, William W.
The faerie path by Jones, Frewin
Fat free and fatal by McKevett, G. A.
Elvenblood by Norton, Andre
Sweet home Carolina by Rice, Patricia
Sixty days and counting by Robinson, Kim Stanley
Visibility by Starling, Boris
Don't scream by Staub, Wendy Corsi
Narn i chin Hurin : the tale of the children of Hurin by Tolkien, J. R. R.
In sheep's clothing by Warren, Susan
Sands of time by Warren, Susan
Lethally blond by White, Kate
Deep lie by Woods, Stuart


Nonfiction
Failing America's faithful : how today's churches are mixing God with politics and losing their way by Townsend, Kathleen
The friendship : Wordsworth and Coleridge by Sisman, Adam
In spite of the gods : the strange rise of modern India by Luce, Edward
Collected poems by Auden, W. H.
Catch a fire : the life of Bob Marley by White, Timothy
Death by black hole : and other cosmic quandaries by Tyson, Neil deGrasse
The female brain by Brizendine, Louann
A history of the English-speaking peoples since 1900 by Roberts, Andrew
House of worship : sacred spaces in America.
The money answer book : quick answers to your everyday financial questions by Ramsey, Dave
Nemesis : the last days of the American republic by Johnson, Chalmers A
The passion principle : discover your passion signature and the secrets to deeper relationships in life, love and work by LeBlanc, Donna
Pawfiles by Levin, Kim
Simply shrimp : with 80 globally inspired recipes by Peterson, James
The edge of disaster : rebuilding a resilient nation by Flynn, Stephen E.
Sacred causes : the clash of religion and politics from the Great War to the War on Terror by Burleigh, Michael


Large Print
Dream when you're feeling blue by Berg, Elizabeth


Children
David Beckham's soccer skills : the official David Beckham soccer skills book by Beckham, David
You are my I love you by Cusimano, Maryann K.
You are my miracle by Cusimano, Maryann K.
Slip! slide! skate! by Herman, Gail
Driving buddies by Jordan, Apple
Old, new, red, blue! by Lagonegro, Melissa
My tooth is about to fall out by Maccarone, Grace
Fluffy meets the Tooth Fairy by McMullan, Kate
Two crazy pigs by Nagel, Karen Berman
On the night you were born by Tillman, Nancy
How do dinosaurs learn their colors? by Yolen, Jane
How do dinosaurs play with their friends? by Yolen, Jane

DVDs, music and books on CD we ordered February 22, 2007

Below is a list of the DVDs, music and books on CD recently ordered by the library. Click on the titles to see more and request a copy!


DVDs
Bobby
The descent
John Q
The last king of Scotland
Little children
Notes on a scandal
Rosa Parks Story
Seven
The sun also rises

The great jaguar rescue
The iguana sing along
The last unicorn
Movers and shakers
Musical school days
Shy rainbow
Superstars
Underwater mystery

Bob Marley & the Wailers: Catch a fire
The Exodus Decoded
Franklin Delano Roosevelt: President of the 20th Century


Music
Brenda Lee: The definitive collection
Crystal Gayle: Greatest hits
Dashboard Confessional: Dusk and summer
Dashboard Confessional: Swiss army romance
Elvis Presley: Elvis ultimate gospel
Mat Kearney: Nothing left to lose
Sugarland: Enjoy the ride
Tim McGraw: Let it go


Books on CD
Fiction
Dream when you're feeling blue by Berg, Elizabeth
The assassin by Coonts, Stephen
Damage control by Dugoni, Robert
The devil's labyrinth by Saul, John
Let the dog decide by Stavroff, Dale

Nonfiction
Speaking of faith by Tippett, Krista

DVDs, music and books on CD we ordered February 15, 2007

Below is a list of the DVDs, music and books on CD recently ordered by the library. Click on the titles to see more and request a copy!


DVDs
Breakout
End of days
Fallen
For your consideration
Halls of Montezuma
Live feed
The Nativity story
No way out
The Old Curiosity Shop
Saw III
Skulls
Tenacious D in the pick of destiny
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
To Sir, with love
To the shores of Tripoli
Tuskegee airmen
Young lions

The comedians of comedy
Road to glory

Archie & friends
Arthur and the Invisibles
Eragon
The Ultimate Benji Movie


Music
Angela Hewitt: Rameau
Cardinall's Musick: Byrd: Laudibus in sanctis
Carly Simon: Into white
Dave Barnes: Chasing Mississippi
Eamonn Coyne: Honk toot suite
Fall Out Boy: Infinity on high
Harry Connick, Jr.: Oh, my Nola
Keith Jarrett: The impulse story
Nate Najar Trio: I'm all smiles
Ornette Coleman: To whom who keeps a record
Roy Clark & Joe Pass play Hank Williams
Stile Antico: Music for Compline
Switchfoot: Oh! Gravity
Taking Back Sunday: Where you want to be
Tony Trischka: Double banjo bluegrass spectacular


Books on CD

Fiction
A wanted man by Miller, Linda Lael

Nonfiction
The God delusion by Dawkins, Richard
Doin' my time by Gaffigan, Jim

New books we ordered February 15, 2007

Below is a list of the books recently ordered by the library. They are grouped by Fiction, Non-fiction, Large Print and Children. Click on the title to see more and request a copy!


Fiction
Wild indigo by Ault, Sandi
The tinderbox by Bannister, Jo
Strip search by Bernhardt, William
The tell-tale horse by Brown, Rita Mae
All-American girl by Cabot, Meg
Ready or not : an all-American girl novel by Cabot, Meg
She went all the way by Cabot, Meg
Spider Mountain by Deutermann, Peter T.
Spinning Dixie by Dezenhall, Eric
The sea lady by Drabble, Margaret
Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade by Gabaldon, Diana
Mad dash by Gaffney, Patricia
The Dead Fathers Club by Haig, Matt
Heart-shaped box by Hill, Joe
The betrayers by Hunt, James Patrick
The perfect fit : fat-free dreams just don't taste the same by Kean, Louise
Silent partner by Kellerman, Jonathan
Rabid by Kenyon, T. K.
Summer by Kingsbury, Karen
The last spymaster by Lynds, Gayle
The careful use of compliments : an Isabel Dalhousie novel by McCall Smith, Alexander
A wanted man : a Stone Creek novel by Miller, Linda Lael
The gravedigger's daughter : a novel by Oates, Joyce Carol
The Granville legacy by Parker, Una-Mary
Touching stars by Richards, Emilie
The case of the missing books : a mobile library mystery by Sansom, Ian
Death's little helpers by Spiegelman, Peter
Last seen alive by Thompson, Carlene
Fire burn by Turnbull, Peter
Let the northern lights erase your name : a novel by Vida, Vendela
Trainspotting by Welsh, Irvine
The godfather's revenge by Winegardner, Mark
Oranges are not the only fruit by Winterson, Jeanette
China dolls by Yu, Michelle


Nonfiction
One-skein wonders : 101 yarn shop favorites
Bad bridesmaid : bachelorette brawls and taffeta tantrums : tales from the front lines by Agrell, Siri
The wild parrots of Telegraph Hill : a love story... with wings by Bittner, Mark
The Secret by Byrne, Rhonda
Space race : the epic battle between America and the Soviet Union for dominion of space by Cadbury, Deborah
Garfield at 25 : in dog years I'd be dead by Davis, Jim
American fascists : the Christian Right and the war on America by Hedges, Chris
Pistol : the life of Pete Maravich by Kriegel, Mark
The white cascade : the Great Northern Railway disaster and America's deadliest avalanche by Krist, Gary
100,000+ baby names by Lansky, Bruce
60,000 + baby names by Lansky, Bruce
Beatrix Potter : a life in nature by Lear, Linda J.
Uncertainty : Einstein, Heisenberg, Bohr, and the struggle for the soul of science by Lindley, David
The last forest : the Amazon in the age of globalization by London, Mark
Deep economy : the wealth of communities and the durable future by McKibben, Bill
On the Wealth of nations : books that changed the world by O'Rourke, P. J.
Financial peace revisited by Ramsey, Dave
Lost mountain : a year in the vanishing wilderness : radical strip mining and the devastation of Appalachia by Reece, Erik
A war of frontier and empire : the Philippine-American war, 1899-1902 by Silbey, David
Give a horse a second chance : adopting and caring for rescue horses by Wise, J. R.


Large Print
The Alexandria link by Berry, Steve
Last spymaster by Lynds, Gayle


Children
Cars
I can be your friend
My Day
Oh, where is my hairbrush?
Stand Up!
Union of the snake by Jerwa, Brandon
My life as a toasted time traveler by Myers, Bill
Henry and Mudge and the big sleepover by Rylant, Cynthia
Henry and Mudge and the great grandpas : the twenty-sixth book of their adventures by Rylant, Cynthia
Henry and Mudge and the tumbling trip by Rylant, Cynthia
Henry and Mudge in the sparkle days by Rylant, Cynthia
Mr. Putter and Tabby see the stars by Rylant, Cynthia

How to find a good clean movie

Hollywood produces hundreds of movies every year and there are probably as many men and women who make a living reviewing them. These men and women often focus on the story being told rather than the movie's content when deciding if a film is good or bad. But there are a lot of movie viewers out there that take things like vulgar language, violence, and sex into consideration when they go to see a movie. I have unearthed three good movie review websites for these people who want to know about the content of a movie in addition to its artistic value.

The first is Yahoo! Movie Mom. The Movie Mom reviews movies with the intention of helping parents decide what movies are appropriate for their kids to watch, but I think many adults also will appreciate her reviews for their own personal viewing. Movie Mom uses a letter grade scale that considers several criteria: The age group the movie targets, use of profanity, nudity and sex, alcohol and drugs, violence and scariness, and diversity issues. What I like most about Movie Mom's reviews are the discussion points for after the movie that she includes with each review. Here are two of her reviews on recent DVD releases:

Flags of Our Fathers
Flicka

The second is The Dove Foundation movie reviews. The Dove Foundation is a non-profit Christian organization committed to encouraging Hollywood to make more family-friendly films. They merely judge a movie "family approved" or "not approved" but the method in which they decide whether a movie is family friendly or not can be helpful to anyone who wishes to avoid offensive material. A score between 0-5 is assigned to the movie in 6 different categories: Sex, Language, Drugs, Violence, Nudity, and Other (other is miscellaneous but possibly offensive material). Here is a sample of two of their reviews for recent theatre releases:

Music and Lyrics
The Last Sin Eater

The third is the self-proclaimed "biggest Christian movie database on the planet", Christiancinema.com. This website is best for people wanting to find faith-based movies or movies produced by Christian companies to rent or purchase. I used it recently to make a list of Christian and religious movies in the library's collection and I think others will find it useful. They have a movie review section, but many of the reviews link back to The Dove Foundation.

Taking stock

What follows is a great little article recently published in Library Notes, a publication of Morningstar.com, arguably one of the best online resources for information on stocks and mutual funds. If you have ever felt overwhelmed by the responsibilities of your financial life, read how Lorene Kennard has reduced the workload to a manageable project each month of the year:

Personal finance is my favorite part of investing. Sometimes, we think of investing as stocks and mutual funds, but that is only one aspect of a financial plan. Here is a monthly guideline that I use to help keep myself on track.

January
Early in the year is a good time to look at last year's finances and plan for the new year. I like to see what my 401(k) is doing and what my mortgage balance is. Also, every year I put together a spreadsheet listing my expenses.

February
This is the time I start thinking about my taxes. I get them done early, so I can either pay Uncle Sam or get my refund early and not have to think about it any more.

March
Now that I've got a clear record of my expenses and my tax refund is on the way, or the check is in the mail to Uncle Sam, I have a better picture of my financial situation. I want to make sure I have enough in my emergency fund. The amount you need is really determined by your situation, but at least three months worth of expenses is the minimum most everyone should have.

April
April is not my favorite month. My homeowners insurance and my car insurance are due in April. This is another reason I take care of my taxes in February. I usually review the policy and make sure the limits and deductibles still work for me.

May
Every May, I get a copy of my credit report. I've moved a lot and with all of the credit card offers that come in the mail, I want to make sure nobody is taking advantage of my good credit.

June
This is a big conference month, so I don't have much in my personal finance plan for June. I do a quick check to make sure my beneficiaries on my life insurance and investment accounts are accurate.

July
This is a slower month for a lot of us. Because the year and the summer are half over, it's a good time to reflect on what we've accomplished already and think about our plans for the rest of the year.

August
I check my 401(k) account only a couple times a year. This month, if I have to, I rebalance my account to make sure my contributions are going into the funds I set up according to my asset-allocation plan.

September
Even though I've been out of school for a while, September still feels like back-to-school month when we have a new beginning. I like to go through my filing cabinet and shred, shred, shred.

October
Continuing the back to school theme, I like to look through some personal finance books in October. There are a lot of good books on this topic, as you know from my prior columns.

November
November is another month related to insurance. For a lot of us, this is our open-enrollment period at work.

December
If I've kept up with all of the items I've listed here, I take this month off to enjoy the holiday season. I don't completely forget about my plan, though. When I set a budget for shopping, I keep my personal finance situation in mind. This makes life much less painful, especially the January and March items.

This might sound systematic to you, but really everything I've described is simple and easy to do. And I think you should do it to maintain sound economic health. It makes life so much easier and pleasant.

DVDs, music and books on CD we ordered February 8, 2007

Below is a list of the DVDs, music and books on CD recently ordered by the library. Click on the titles to see more and request a copy!


DVDs
Across the Pacific
Action in the North Atlantic
All through the night
The bases are loaded
Color of the Cross
Dust
The gathering
Gold mine in the sky
Heaven knows Mr. Allison
The longest day
Miss Potter
Passage to Marseilles
Roll, wagons, roll ; Riders of the frontier
They shoot horses, don't they
Tough guys of the west

The Cisco kid
U.S. vs. John Lennon

Charlotte's Web
Everyone's hero
The legend of the golden pyramid
Penguins: I like to move it Madagascar 5


Music
Frankie Laine : America's number one song stylist
Frankie Laine: Golden years
Jack Ingram: Live where you are
Norah Jones: Not too late
Taylor Swift
Mahler : his life & music by Johnson, Stephen


Books on CD

Fiction
Jargan by Brand, Max
The cloud of unknowing by Cook, Thomas H.
Power play by Finder, Joseph
Absolute fear by Jackson, Lisa
Whitewash by Kava, Alex
Kingdom come by LaHaye, Tim F.
Down Sonora Way ; Strange pursuit by L'Amour, Louis
The marshal of the sentinel ; Booty for a bad man by L'Amour, Louis
The rider of the Ruby Hills ; Showdown trail by L'Amour, Louis
War party ; Horse heaven by L'Amour, Louis
Revenge of innocents by Rosenberg, Nancy Taylor
The terror by Simmons, Dan

Nonfiction
True happiness by Chodron, Pema
Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene by Ehrman, Bart D.
It's up to you by Kongtrul, Dzigar
Here's Johnny! by McMahon, Ed
Meditations for a miraculous life by Williamson, Marianne