Staff Picks

Are you a gamer?  Whether you enjoy old school classics videogames or more modern fare, we’ve got a selection of documentaries that will interest you!

Do you feel you have something to say and just need to get it out? Why not start a blog? The Nonfiction Department has books that can help get you started.

Have you ever wondered what the authors that you like are reading? Which books do they treasure and which ones helped to shape them into the authors they are now? In The Book That Changed My Life edited by Diane Osen, you can read about different award-winning authors and the books that shaped them. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and two-time National Book Award winner David McCullough talks about two books that changed his life as a boy and a young man. Alice McDermott, another National Book Award winner, discusses the impact that reading Wuthering Heights had on her, and how it inspired her interest in both the storyteller and storytelling. James Carroll tells us about some of the books that had life-changing potential.

Would you like to get more sleep, fall asleep faster, or lose weight? Yes, lose weight! Looking for a good reason to get more quality rest? Look no further than Sleep Away the Pounds by Cherie and John Calbom. More than a weight loss book, this work instructs you in the restorative powers of sleep, teaches relaxation methods, provides sleep strategies for improving your sleep, and details a menu plan that tells you not only what to eat, but when to eat it. Peppered with interesting facts and written in a straightforward, positive, and easy to read style, this book offers great incentives to get more sleep. Sweet dreams!

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

Have you wanted to broaden your horizons with a good book lately? Or perhaps you’ve felt like reading something that will take you back to your roots? In either case, Promised Land: Thirteen Books that Changed America by Jay Parini is sure to inspire you with ideas for your reading list. This collection of essays focuses on the core thirteen books that entered American life and explains how they altered how we think and act. The author also offers a list of 100 other influential books in our history. Find this book, and others like it, in the Literature Room in the Nonfiction Department.

Or perhaps you want to plan the Great American Road Trip? Here are some great stories about traveling around our wonderful nation:

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
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We've been super busy around here, but have no fear! We haven't let that keep us from reading some great books in our spare time. Okay, maybe we should have been doing laundry or raking leaves instead. But give us a break! We have a reputation for being the best at reader's advisory, and we want to keep it that way.

John Flanagan's books are some of the most enthusiastically pursued titles at the Hoover Public Library. Many of our patrons (and one of our staff) haven't even been able to wait for the U.S. release dates. Instead, they order books from Mr. Flanagan's home country of Australia. Then they rub our faces in it when we have to wait. Well, the wait is over for the newest in The Brotherband Chronicles series. The third book, The Hunters, hits the shelves on Tuesday, October 30, 2012.

Remember how I promised a monthly blog series called Reading Snapshot? Well, I keep my promises. Here's what we're currently reading.

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.

September 19, 2012 is the tenth anniversary of International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Sure, a holiday devoted to talking like pirates sounds like a goofy idea, but I think everyone needs a little goofiness now and then. There are several ways the Hoover Public Library can help you celebrate. Obviously, we have plenty of books and movies about pirates. And, yes, there will be a list of some of the newest and best at the end of this post. But I want to focus on something you may not be aware of . . . Mango Languages.

This is the first in a new monthly blog series. Each Reading Snapshot will feature the titles our Kid Zone / Teen Spot staff are currently reading. The list is divided into Kids vs Teens, but click on the blue to get more information before you choose which book you'd like to add to your reading list.

It's the final week of Dream BIG 4 Real. We made it to Week 8, so I think we deserve some Midnight Snacks. Treat yourselves to these books about food.

1. All in Just One Cookie by Susan E. Goodman
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2. An Astronaut Cookbook: Simple Recipes for Kids by Sarah L. Schuette
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3. Banana Split Pizza and Other Snack Recipes by Heather E. Schwartz
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