Adults

We have an extensive collection of Christian nonfiction here at the Hoover Public Library. If you are looking for something from popular insipirational authors like Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, T.D. jakes, Gary Chapman, Anne Lamott or local author David Platt , we have what you need. If you are looking for classics from C.S. Lewis, Dietrich Bonhoeffer or Billy Graham, we have those as well. We have books detailing the history of the Christian church and its various denominations, and ones on building the church of the future. We have books of prayers, hymns and daily devotionals. We even have books on dieting and nutrition from a Christian perspective!

February is Library Lovers' Month!  One of the best ways to demonstrate your love for Hoover Public Library is to fill out a comment card.  These lime green cards, available at every desk, give you the opportunity to tell us what we're doing right and suggest ways we can be even better.  You can also send an email to hvcontact@bham.lib.al.us or fill out this online form.

A love out of time.  A spaceship built of secrets and murder.

Beth Revis's Across the Universe trilogy "just might make sci-fi cool again." (Booklist review)  The final book, Shades of Earth, comes out this Tuesday, January 15, 2013.  If you haven't yet discovered the drama aboard Godspeed, make sure you start at the beginning.  For more information, go to one of the following websites:
http://www.bethrevis.com/books/
This is the official author webpage.  It showcases reviews, book trailers, an author interview, and a fan art gallery.
http://acrosstheuniversebooks.com/

Love New Orleans? Visit the Nonfiction Department to read these love letters to New Orleans and Louisiana from noted Southern authors:

• Feet on the Street by Roy Blount, Jr.
• Poor Man’s Provence by Rheta Grimsley Johnson
• The House on First Street by Julia Reed

I AM SO EXCITED!!!! Do you know what movie hit the big screen today, December 14, 2012? The first installment of Peter Jackson's return to the Shire -- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.  I loved how he handled The Lord of the Rings trilogy.  And, as a child, I loved the animated version of The Hobbit. In fact, I used to terrorize my little sister with my dead-on impression of Gollum.  I finally read the book in high school and realized that my beloved cartoon left out a "bit" of the story.  Not sure if there's enough material to do THREE movies, but I can't wait to find out.  Stop by the Hoover Public Library to see the fantastic display in the Teen Spot.  And pick up every "little" hobbit thing that we have to offer. 

When I sent an email out to our staff requesting their favorite holiday movies, I thought I'd get lists of DVDs.  And I did.  But I also got all these little bundles of Christmas memories too.  I feel so honored that my coworkers were willing to share their family traditions with me.  Those stories are what made this blog post one of my very favorite ones to put together.  Whether you need warm fuzzies, holiday hijinks, or Bruce Willis this Christmas, you'll find what you're looking for here.

The Nonfiction Department has recently added some great new books on Chinese history. Check out these titles on China’s long history:

• Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War by Stephen R. Platt
• The Boxer Rebellion and the Great Game in Chinaby David J. Sibley
• China’s Wings: War, Intrigue, Romance, and Adventure in the Middle Kingdom During the Golden Age of Flight by Gregory Crouch
• Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China by Ezra F. Vogel
• Restless Empire: China and the World Since 1750 by Odd Arne Westad

Hidden Treasures? What kind of treasures? Books!

You may have been in the library and saw a book that caught your attention. Perhaps someone was checking it out, checking it in, asking about it, or maybe you saw it on one of the many carts that our library pages use to get materials back where they belong. Believe it or not, there are things that we may not have seen before either. Today, while in the Adult Biographies, several titles jumped out asking to be picked up and considered:

Dog Days : A Year in the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile by Dave Ihlenfeld
B Ihlenfeld

The name's Bond . . . James Bond. Also known as Agent 007. He first appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming, but catapulted to fame on the big screen. On October 5, 1962, the first Bond movie, Dr. No, introduced a larger audience to the Aston Martin-driving, shaken not stirred martini-drinking secret agent. And now -- 50 years, 6 actors, and innumerable Bond girls later -- the 23rd film, Skyfall, is in theatres.

A new acquisition to our adult nonfiction collection, Still Life: Inside the Antarctic Huts of Scott and Shackleton with photography by Jane Ussher and essays by Nigel Watson of the Antarctic Heritage Trust, is a beautiful and haunting memorial to those first doomed explorers of the South Pole. Bound in rough canvas with coloring reminiscent of the century old material still slowly decaying in situ in Antarctica from the original expeditions, the detailed photographs within are intimate investigations of what life was like for these adventurous, and often heroic, men. The climate and isolation of these modest huts in Antarctica has left intact and untouched many artifacts of this time period. Jars and tins of food stores sit unopened. Hams still hang in muslin bags.

One month of summer is already over. But you still have plenty of time to clean your grill and try out some new recipes. New grilling cookbooks to check out include: Charred & scruffed : bold new techniques for explosive flavor on and off the grill by Adam Perry Lang and Rao's on the grill : perfectly simple Italian recipes from my family to yours by Frank Pellegrino.

David Zinczenko, author of the very popular Eat This Not That series has written Grill this, not that! : backyard survival guide.

Other healthy grilling cookbooks include Cooking Light's Way to Cook Grilling and Grilling Vegan Style by John Schlimm.

To understand Stieg's work, I said, one had to know who he really was.--pg. 185

I picked up this book yearning to learn more about the author who died before his novel legacy was even published. That fact in itself intrigued me; I just really wanted to learn more about Stieg Larsson's life from an unbiased source. With this relatively short biography, you get the straight facts--no beating around the bush, just the candid and honest facts--from the one constant presence in his life: Eva Gabrielsson.

I do not exactly know what I was expecting when I opened The Language of Flowers and started reading, but I do not think that I was expecting to be completely and utterly amazed and captivated by the story right from the very first paragraph:

For eight years I dreamed of fire. Tree ignited as I passed them; oceans burned. The sugary smoke settled in my hair as I slept, the scent like a cloud left on my pillow as I rose. Even so, the moment my mattress started to burn, I bolted awake. The sharp, chemical smell was nothing like the hazy syrup of my dreams; the two were as different as Carolina and Indian jasmine, separation and attachment. They could not be confused. (pg 3)