Al Gore Given 2007 Nobel Peace Prize

Sharing recognition with the IPCC, the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, former vice-president Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace prize today for "efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change"

Gore said: "I am deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. This award is even more meaningful because I have the honor of sharing it with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change--the world's pre-eminent scientific body devoted to improving our understanding of the climate crisis--a group whose members have worked tirelessly and selflessly for many years. We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity. It is also our greatest opportunity to lift global consciousness to a higher level.

"My wife, Tipper, and I will donate 100 percent of the proceeds of the award to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a bipartisan non-profit organization that is devoted to changing public opinion in the U.S. and around the world about the urgency of solving the climate crisis."

The library has copies of both his movie and book, An Inconvenient Truth. The DVD was created by a Glendale resident and library user. Other books about Al Gore and global warming are available as well.

TEMPTING TITLES - New Nonfiction (3 of 4)

Here are more new nonfiction books that have arrived or are coming to the Glendale Public Library. To get to the catalog record of any book where you can place an online hold click on the image or the book title.

More Taz, the blog dog. See below --

Dewey Decimal 700s (Art, music, entertainment, sports)

Coltrane: the story of a sound, by Ben Ratliff

"Ratliff, the jazz critic for the New York Times, isn't interested in simply retelling the biographical facts of John Coltrane's life. Instead, he analyzes how the saxophone player came to be regarded as “the last major figure in the evolution of jazz.” Always going past the legend to focus on the real-life stories and the actual recordings, Ratliff's assessment is a model for music criticism." (Publishers Weekly)

Carlisle Vs. Army: Jim Thorpe, Dwight Eisenhower, Pop Warner, and the Forgotten Story of Football's Greatest Battle, by Lars Anderson.

"Before Jim Thorpe had his Olympic medals taken away, before Dwight Eisenhower became president and before Glenn "Pop" Warner became synonymous with Little League football, all three men tore up the gridiron with a reckless abandon that reflected their single-minded, Type-A personalities…Gripping, inspiring coverage of three powerful forces' unforgettable convergence: the sports version of The Perfect Storm." (Kirkus)

Dewey Decimal 800s (Literature)

The Science of Stephen King: from Carrie to Cell, the terrifying truth behind the horror master's fiction by Lois H. Gresh and Robert Weinberg

"Gresh (senior science writer, Univ. of Rochester) and Weinberg are popular and prolific authors who have separately published many works of fiction and nonfiction and have collaborated on seven books. Their aim here is to relate Stephen King's novels, stories, and films to their literary and cinematic precursors as well as to the pop science and pseudoscience that underpin them. Thus, we get a chapter discussing string theory and the plot details of The Dark Tower and another chapter discussing the Drake equation (How many intelligent races are out there in the universe?) and the plot details of The Tommyknockers. (Library Journal)

At Large and At Small: familiar essays by Anne Fadiman

"Starred Review. Fadiman, a National Book Critics Circle Award winner for The Spirit Catches You and You Fall, makes a bold claim: "I believe the survival of the familiar essay is worth fighting for." The "familiar essays" that Fadiman champions and writes are in the mold of the early 19th century, rather than critical or personal works as we've come to know them. Her essays combine a personal perspective with a far-reaching curiosity about the world, resulting in pieces that are neither so objective the reader can't see the writer behind them nor too self-absorbed. And spending some time with Fadiman is a pure delight. She loves the natural world and taxonomies of all kinds .." (Publishers Weekly)

Note: Anne Fadiman, who called herself an autodidact, (self learner, a frequent library user), is the daughter of the great polymath Clifton Fadiman about whom I rhapsodized in This Week in Reading (May 13-19). Her earlier book, Ex Libris: confessions of a common reader is also a great read for any bibliophile.

Taz, the Blog Dog, was found today lying in this corner of the 800s with his paws over these three books.

Life Lessons from Your Dog: if drinking from the toilet is wrong, I don't want to be right by Anthony Rubino, Jr.

"Dogs live life with a joy and abandon most humans envy. This book of sayings and dog-isms will give you a glimpse into the canine psyche. It will amuse, and maybe inspire-no, probably just amuse readers. Rubino's illustrations are equally funny. A fool and his half a sandwich are soon parted. If you love something, set it free. If it comes back it's yours. If it doesn't come back, bark and bark and then bark and bark and just bark and bark and bark and bark and bark." (Book summary)

Life Lessons from Your Cat: we're so vain, we probably think this book is about us by Anthony Rubino, Jr.

"Cat lovers will enjoy this and cat haters will have all their fears confirmed - your cat is smarter than you, is better than you, and is plotting something sinister. Includes illustrations. People say, a thousand years ago cats were worshipped as gods. That implies this is no longer the case. Aren't people CUTE when they're in denial?" (Book summary)

Dog Spelled Backward: soulful writing by literary dog lovers edited by Mordecai Siegal

"Celebrating all things canine, a heartwarming anthology of writings about dogs draws from the best in English and American literature to include such works as The Call of the Wild by Jack London, "To Flush, My Dog" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Charles M. Schulz's "It Was a Dark and Stormy Night, Snoopy," and other works by Margaret Truman, O. Henry, and others." (Publisher's summary)

2007 Nobel Prize in Literature to Doris Lessing

Doris Lessing, born in what was then Kermanshah, Persia, of British parents, grew up in Rhodesia, (now Zimbabwe), author of the feminist classic The Golden Notebook in 1962, has been awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize for Literature.

Many of Lessing's works deal with the conflicts between politics and emotions, and more recently about global catastrophe, and are sonetimes realistic, sometimes fantasy, sometimes satirical, always thoughtful and ironic.

In announcing the award, the Swedish Academy called her "that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny." The BBC noted that "Lessing is only the 11th woman to win the prize, considered by many to be the world's highest accolade for writers, since it started in 1901."

According to an Associated Press story today, Lessing, 88 was "not impressed" by the award. However when a reporter suggested she might get new readers, she replied "I'm very pleased if I get some new readers ... Yes, that's very nice, I hadn't thought of that."

You can read more about Doris Lessing at Contemporary Authors via the Biography Resource Center database available with your library card at the Glendale Public Library Online Resources page.

TEMPTING TITLES - New Nonfiction (2 of 4)

Here are more new nonfiction books that have arrived or are coming to the Glendale Public Library. To get to the catalog record of any book where you can place an online hold click on the image or the book title.

Taz, the blog dog, is back. See below --

Dewey Decimal 400s (Language)

I Didn’t Know That: from “ants in the pants” to “wet behind the ears” - the unusual origins of things we say compiled and edited by Karlin Evins.

"A Tennessee radio producer and on-air personality, Evins has been "collecting words, phrases, and expressions" for decades, and even self-published a version of this book nearly 15 years ago ... In clear, brief and tidy prose, Evins provides interesting, occasionally fascinating tidbits for one English idiom after another, making this a small treasure trove for word-junkies, crossword puzzlers and other armchair linguists." (Publisher's Weekly)

Word Origins: and how we know them; etymology for everyone by Anatoly Liberman

"Most popular books of etymology are essentially dictionaries of alphabetically organized common or colorful words and phrases as well as the entertaining histories behind them. Liberman's work, in contrast, is an amusing, scholarly stroll through the art, science, and detective work of etymology, illuminating the origins of hundreds of words along the way. For levity, he styles his chapter titles in the manner of 18th-century comic novels ("Chapter Eleven in which history pretends to raise its veil, or Coinages by Known Individuals"). (Library Journal)

And just for fun browsing, and not exactly new but all good, if you love looking up things as much as I do, here's a slew of recent Oxford books about words and sayings.

The Oxford Dictionary of Allusions

"Allusions form a colourful extension to the English language, drawing on literature, current affairs, mythology, and comic strips to give us a literary shorthand for describing people, places, and events. This book covers thousands of allusions. A browser's delight."-- (Book jacket)

The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms

Idioms are those words or phrases that are used without thinking by native speakers but to a foreign speaker make no sense when they first hear it used. What can someone new to English think when we say something has "gone to the dogs?"

The Oxford Dictionary of Slang

Books of slang are always fun to read, and this one is no exception. More of a thesaurus for its division into subject categories, this little reference gathers over 10,000 slang words from Great Britain, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. (Library Journal)

Dewey Decimal 500s (Sciences)

Avoid Boring People: lessons from a life in science, by James D. Watson.

"Now in his late 70s, [Nobel Prize–winning] Watson chronicles his life from birth through middle age. Vintage Watson: brash, bumptious, brilliant—and never boring." (Kirkus)

"There's much that is entertaining and historically revealing, and Watson still knows how to deliver a delicious skewering." (Publishers Weekly)

Apollo's Fire: a day on Earth in nature and imagination, by Richard Sims.

“’What could be more poetic than the bare facts of the cosmos?’ asks Sims, an acclaimed science writer with a flair for giving reality the luster of myth. Here he takes a single day and guides readers through the history of what we know, and what we've imagined, about sunrises, clouds and other natural phenomena. (Publishers Weekly)

"A walk with an erudite and entertaining docent through the most marvelous of museums." (Kirkus)

Dewey Decimal 600s (Medicine, technology, home economics, gardening, pets)

Merle's Door: lessons from a freethinking dog by Kerasote, Ted

"Wilderness writer Kerasote finds his place in the pack with the help of a sociable dog.While camping with friends along the San Juan River, the author was approached by an emaciated Labrador retriever-mix. Merle, as the stray would come to be named, "looked back to the shore, and let out a resigned sigh—I was to learn that he was a great sigher." Then he boarded Kerasote's raft. At journey's end, the author took Merle home to Kelly, Wyo., a half-mile square of private land nestled among Grand Teton National Park, the National Elk Refuge and the Gros Ventre Wilderness. In this idyllic corner of the West, the two find love (both human and canine) and friendship, forging a remarkable bond that endures until Merle's death. His passing—and the author's bereavement—are recorded with Kerasote's customary discernment. A thoughtful look at animal intelligence and the human-dog connection." (Kirkus)

"Four Woofs." - (Taz, the blog dog.)

Cat Women: female writers on their feline friends edited by Megan McMorris

'McMorris collects 29 well-crafted and enjoyable short essays that often focus on how the writer's cat (or cats) has affected her love life—both for better and worse. This collection will appeal to all those (especially women) already seduced by the enigmatic feline.' (Publishers Weekly)

"Well, if you have to ... three ecumenical woofs." (Taz, the blog dog.)

TEMPTING TITLES - New Nonfiction (1 of 4)

Here are more new nonfiction books that have arrived or are coming to the Glendale Public Library. To get to the catalog record of any book where you can place an online hold click on the image or the book title.

Glendale Central Library users - Streamlined service is here! Books and items you have on hold are now available for self pickup on shelves out in the middle of the main reading room, just behind the New Book shelves.

Look for your name in alphabetical order in large lettering on the wrapper that covers the books, tapes, or discs you have requested. You can even use the self check out machines to avoid any extra waiting.

If you call the library to have a librarian retrieve it for you please know that from now on those items will be held for you at the Circulation loan desk in the front of the buiilding. When requesting please give a last name and first initial.

Dewey Decimal 000s (Computers, generalities, news)

Creating Web Pages for Dummies by Bud E. Smith and Arthur Bebak [8th edition]

Sure, it's not new but have you created your web page yet? "Covers Web page publishing concepts including how to use HTML, using a text editor, creating a home page, adding links, placing graphics, adding multimedia, and Netiquette."... "The Web is an incredibly easy way to get your message - any message - out to anyone in the world who's interested in it. By putting up a Web page, you can stay in touch with friends and family, entertain people, help yourself get a job, or help yourself do your job. You can start a business, grow a business, or just have fun expressing yourself." (Book summary and introduction.)

Dewey Decimal 100s (Psychology, philosophy)

Thanks!: how the new science of gratitude can make you happier by Robert A . Emmons

"Writing for general readers, Emmons (psychology, Univ. of California, Davis; editor in chief, Journal of Positive Psychology) summarizes the research he and others have conducted on the subject of gratitude and demonstrates how gratitude can be cultivated and become a significant feature of human happiness. … Emmons describes gratitude's role in mental and physical health and explores religious, theological, philosophical, cross-cultural, and historical perspectives." —(Library Journal)

The Power of Play: how spontaneous, imaginative activities lead to happier, healthier children by David Elkind

"Elkind (child development, Tufts Univ.; The Hurried Child: growing up too fast too soon ) has contributed a timely book on the importance of unstructured play in the academic preparation and development of children, dispelling myths about kids being left behind if they are not submersed at an early age in organized sports and other controlled pursuits. Elkind will connect with parents when he reveals that "Toys R Not Us" and argues that less is more; that children should use toys for inspiration, not distraction. He concludes by stating that the trinity of play, love, and work, which is successfully used in Montessori and Waldorf schools, should be the model for all education, not just early childhood programs. Highly recommended. - (Library Journal)

Dewey Decimal 200s (Religion)

Life's Healing Choices: freedom from your hurts, hang-ups, and habits by John Baker and Rick Warren

"Baker's eight steps to spiritual freedom (admitting need, getting help, letting go, coming clean, making changes, repairing relationships, maintaining momentum and recycling pain) promise to help [those who are] Christians overcome many kinds of addictive behaviors. Baker likens them to AA's 12-step program, ... Each chapter includes moving narratives of participants in Baker's program who express how its principles changed their lives." (Publishers Weekly)

Dewey Decimal 300s (Social Sciences)

Discover Your Inner Economist: use incentives to fall in love, survive your next meeting, and motivate your dentist by Tyler Cowen

"If you like Tyler Cowen’s writing on the best economics blog in the universe, you will love this book. Cowen combines an economist’s tools with a teenager’s recklessness, addressing problems like: how to keep meetings short, how to hire a tour guide in Marrakesh, and how to incentivize your kids to wash the dishes. His creativity is a gift."--Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, authors of Freakonomics - Book blurb)

Cocktail Economics: discovering investment truths from everyday conversations by Victor A, Canto

Canto (chairman and founder, La Jolla Economics, an economic consulting firm) provides investment advice to a non-specialist audience, employing a conversational tone and guiding anecdotes ("cocktail economics") in order to reduce complex economic theories to "common- sense basics." (Book News)

"Canto calls his brand of investment theory 'cocktail economics' because it is conversational and filled with entertaining anecdotes. But there is no mistaking the seriousness of his intent." -- (Kirkus Business & Personal Finance Newsletter)

Satan's Circus: murder , vice, police corruption, and New York's trial of the century by Mike Dash

"They called it Satan's Circus--a square mile of Midtown Manhattan where vice ruled, sin flourished, and depravity danced in every doorway. At the turn of the 20th century, ... The handsome lieutenant was a decorated hero, the renowned leader of New York's vice-busting Special Squad. Was he a bad cop leading a double life, or a pawn felled by the sinister rogues who ran Manhattan's underworld? This tale brings to life an almost-forgotten Gotham."-- (Publisher's description.)

"...Dash paints an irresistible tableau that both fascinates and repels. This is a juicy but ultimately tragic tale that effectively captures a bygone era of a great city." -- (Booklist)

This Week In Reading October 7 - 13

Would you believe three more Nobel prizewinners this week? Two of them were for Literature: Harold Pinter, who gave a controversial acceptance speech called Art, Truth and Politics, and Francois Mauriac of France. The other was given to South African Bishop Desmond Tutu when the Nobel committee called him the "unifying leader figure in the campaign to solve South Africa's apartheid problem by peaceful means."

One of the interesting things in making a list like this each week is to see how birth dates of writers can fall on the same day of different years, so it's fascinating to discover that two of our authors of quite widely disparate natures were born on exactly the same day in the same year. Can you get much further apart than the most ascerbic of political satirists, Lenny Bruce, and the most conservative of politicians, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who were both born on October 13, 1925?

This Week's Question: Which author born this week has won a Quill Award this year (2007) for a book in a category? Which category? What is a Quill Award?

Answer to Last Week's Question: The great booklover and wit, Groucho Marx, said it, of course.

Watching Ken Burns "The War" on PBS?

Ken Burns is at it again.

If you’re watching The War on PBS, or reading the book, The War: an Intimate History 1941 - 1945 by Geoffry Ward and want to explore the topic further, PBS has a great site, with suggestions for web sites, books, memoirs, vetrans organizations and other resources related to World War II.

Here’s a list of five of the books mentioned on the PBS site, as well as new books published this year, all available for request at the Glendale Public Library.

PBS Suggestions

Rick Atkinson, An Army at Dawn: The War in Africa, 1942-1943

John W. Dower, War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War

Max Hastings, Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945

Eric Larrabee, Commander in Chief: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, His Lieutenants, and Their War

Richard Overy, Why the Allies Won

Newly Published Books

Rick Atkinson, The Day of Battle : the War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944

Norman Davies, No Simple Victory : World War II in Europe 1939-1945

Michael D. Gordin, Five Days in August : How World War II Became a Nuclear War

Ian Kershaw, Fateful Choices : Ten Decisions that Changed the World, 1940-1941

Ben MacIntyre, Agent Zigzag : a True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal

One Book / One Glendale - Grandview Display

There is a new display at the Grandview Branch Library that ties into the One Book, One Glendale reading event. The display includes found objects, informational pieces, and various period artifacts including a vintage record player and albums from the 1940s that once belonged to an internee at Manzanar.

One Book/One Glendale

The Library's first One Book/One Glendale citywide reading event is in full swing. This popular program, which originated in Seattle in the 1990s and has spread nationwide, is designed to bring the community together to read the same book at the same time, talk about the book in book discussion groups throughout the city, and come together to meet the author.



The book selected for this program is When the Emperor Was Divine, an historical novel about the Japanese American internment during World War II written by Julie Otsuka.


Ms. Otsuka will be here at the library to speak about her book with author Denise Hamilton on Wednesday, November 7 and will participate in a panel discussion on the book's topic the following evening, Thursday, November 8. Both events are in the Glendale Central Library auditorium at 7 p.m..

Check the One Book website at www.glendalepubliclibrary.org/Onebook.asp for a schedule of upcoming events. Next week, book discussion groups will meet at:

Glendale Central Library Special Collections Room on Tuesday, October 9, at 7:00 p.m.

Borders Books & Music, 100 S. Brand Blvd. on Thursday, October 11, also at 7:00 p.m.

All events are free and open to the public. Check out a copy of the book from any Glendale branch library and join us to share your views. For further information please call 818-548-3752.

There is also a One Book / One Glendale book for younger readers: See the children's library blog Tales From the Treehouse.

It's Banned Books Week - Sept. 29 - Oct. 6

“Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.”—Benjamin Franklin

People who were aware of this idea made the United States put the following into its Constitution:

“Congress Shall Make No Law Respecting an Establishment of Religion, or Prohibiting the Free Exercise Thereof; or Abridging the Freedom of Speech, or of the Press; or the Right of the People Peaceably to Assemble, and To Petition the Government for a Redress of Grievances.”—First Amendment

The American Library Association and several other organizations annually celebrate Banned Books Week to remind people to keep speech free. Books have been banned by states, cities, and schools, which have offended the expected thought patterns of political, religious, and other institutions and sometimes the United States has joined them. Usually, however, thoughtful courts have reversed such bans but the balance is ever precarious.

As long as there have been public libraries in America there have been challenges to which books can be held in the library of any particular jurisdiction and which will not be there for people to read. Each year, the American Library Association records hundreds of attempts by individuals and groups to have books removed from libraries shelves and from classrooms.

The 10 most challenged books of the 21st Century (2000-2005) are:

1. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
2. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
3. Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
4. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
5. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
6. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
7. It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
8. Scary Stories series by Alvin Schwartz
9. Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey
10. Forever by Judy Blume

Top 100 Banned or Challenged Novels of the 20th Century (alphabetical by author):

It isn't only children's books that are deemed unworthy of public reading. According to ALA, at least 42 of the top 100 novels of the 20th Century have been the target of ban attempts:

Go Tell it on the Mountain, James Baldwin

A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess

Naked Lunch, William S. Burroughs

In Cold Blood, Truman Capote

Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad

An American Tragedy, Theodore Dreiser

Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison

As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Lord of the Flies, William Golding

Catch-22, Joseph Heller

A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway

For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway

The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway

Their Eyes were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston

Brave New World, Aldous Huxley

Ulysses, James Joyce

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey

A Separate Peace, John Knowles

Lady Chatterley's Lover, DH Lawrence

Sons and Lovers, DH Lawrence

Women in Love, DH Lawrence

To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

The Call of the Wild, Jack London

The Naked and the Dead, Norman Mailer

Tropic of Cancer, Henry Miller

Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell

Beloved, Toni Morrison

Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison

Lolita, Vladmir Nabokov

1984, George Orwell

Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie

The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger

The Jungle, Upton Sinclair

The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck

Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck

Rabbit, Run, John Updike

Cat's Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut

Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut

The Color Purple, Alice Walker

All the King's Men, Robert Penn Warren

Native Son, Richard Wright

“Books won't stay banned. They won't burn. Ideas won't go to jail. In the long run of history, the censor and the inquisitor have always lost. The only sure weapon against bad ideas is better ideas.”—Alfred Whitney Griswold, "Essays on Education"

This Week in Reading Sept 30 - Oct 6

Quite a week, indeed. There are more Nobel prizewinners this week, two presidents (of different countries), a couple of literary giants known as much for their erudition and charm as talk show guests as for their writing, some other literary giants, and some bestselling women authors.

It's also Banned Books Week this week and October is National Book Month and National Reading Group Month, as well. It's also the anniversary of the founding of the American Library Association and the international writers group, PEN. Among the authors born this week is the creator of the world's first major encyclopedia, so librarians are celebrating. It's even a chance to bring out the tried and true, but favorite, quotations about reading.

This week's question: This is Taz, the blog dog's, favorite quotation. Which author, born this week, said it? "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read."

Answer to last week's question: George and Ira Gershwin won the Pulitizer Prize for their 1931 musical "Of Thee I Sing." The show satirized presidential politics and included a poke about the Supreme Court with the question "What is more important - justice or corn muffins?" For more about the show see the Library of Congress web page about it, or better yet, read it. It's the month to do so.