Denio's blog

Inside Job received the top prize for documentaries at last month’s Academy Award ceremony. It examines the build up to the current global financial crisis.

Although the filmmakers are passionate about the subject, clearly evidenced in Ferguson’s Academy Award acceptance speech, “Forgive me, but I must start by pointing out that three years after a horrific financial crisis caused by massive fraud, not a single financial executive has gone to jail, and that’s wrong,” the documentary appears to be well researched with interesting interviews, and some notables who declined to be interviewed.

In Christopher Nicholson’s delightful novel, The Elephant Keeper, eighteenth century England is described in exciting detail as one boy grows up alongside two spectacular companions, Timothy and Jenny, elephants – the first elephants to be seen in Europe.

In Lunch in Paris: A Love Story, with Recipes, Elizabeth Bard captures the sights, sounds AND TASTES of Paris, the cultural challenges of an expat living in France and the angst of a Renaissance woman trying to find her place in a practical world. If you liked Eat Pray Love and Under the Tuscan Sun, you’ll love this delicious memoir!
NK

Pictured: Amanda Bonner with author and musician Rosanne Cash at Southern Voices 2011

Our very own librarian-journalist, Assistant Director Amanda Bonner, reports weekly to the Birmingham News on all the happenings at Hoover Public Library.

Check out her latest article, from March 2, 2011: Southern Voices Does Not Disappoint.

Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff was especially interesting to read while history was recently being made in Egypt. Schiff sifts through centuries of conflicting accounts to extract the lady from the legend. What emerges is an epic biography of a woman who was more sage than seductress; “formidable, spirited, disciplined and resourceful” and an era when women enjoyed legal autonomy over 2,000 years before “women’s lib” entered our vernacular.
-NK

Cleopatra by Stacy Shiff is currently #5 on the New York Times list for best-selling nonfiction. Schiff's 1999 book, Vera (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov) won the Pulitzer Prize in 2000.

Interested in the history of Beirut, known as the "Paris of the East" ? Check out the new book Beirut by Samir Kassir.

Alan Bradley’s Debut Dagger Award winning Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is a delightful, old-fashioned romp through the English countryside during the summer of 1950.

We've just added lots of great new nonfiction titles! Here are just a couple that caught our eye.

What does a librarian do on vacation? Visit libraries of course!

Susan Spafford, Nonfiction Department Coordinator, recently cruised aboard the Nieuw Amsterdam to Curacao, a small island in the southern Caribbean. Besides enjoying the well-appointed library on the ship, she also visited the local library in Willemstad, the capital. Check out the photos below!

“Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” First Amendment to the US Constitution

“The basic foundation of our democracy is the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of expression. The Opposing Viewpoints Series is dedicated to the concept of this basic freedom and the idea that it is more important to practice it than to enshrine it.”

Every book in Greenhaven Press’s Opposing Viewpoints series begins with this simple statement. This series is perfect for anyone hoping to better understand the timely issues and debates we hear about in the news every day. Each book focuses on one controversial issue and features essays from notable voices from every side.