RILEY LIBRARY TEEN

Book of the Month

Numbers by Rachel Ward

One of the best of 2010 as listed by the School
Library Journal: Whenever Jem meets someone
new, no matter who, a number pops into her head.
That number is a date: the date they will die.
Burdened with with such an awful awareness,
Jem avoids relationships. Until she meets Spider,
another outsider, and takes a chance.

RILEY LIBRARY ADULT

Book of the Month

Swamplandia!, by Karen Russell

An alligator theme park, a ghost lover, a Styx-like journey through an
Everglades mangrove jungle: Russell's first novel, about a girl's bold
effort to preserve her grieving family's way of life is suffused with humor
and gothic whimsey. But the real wonders here are the author's
exuberantly inventive language and her vivid portrait of a heroine who
is wise beyond her years.

Christine Bennett is one of the wonderfully talented artists currently showing in our Horst Art Exhibition at Louise Riley library running July 5 to Oct 30 2012. Stop by to see her detailed work up close!

Why horses?

I don't really have a great answer to this. I simply love horses, and everything about them. I think that it must have something to do with their spirit, grace and fine tradition in art.

What's your favourite medium to work in?

Coloured pencil. Many people think that coloured pencils are for children, but they are a rich medium that can achieve great effect through texture and layering colours. Next to that are pastels, and sometimes I combine the two.

Which artists do you find inspiring?

My two favourite artists are Frederic Remington and Franz Marc. They have such an emotional way of portraying horses, particularly Marc. Outside those two, there are often too many to name - El Greco, Tom Thomson, Emily Carr, David Hockney and Chris Cran are a few more. Usually any artist can offer inspiration in techniques, materials or subject matter. Of course, i have a number of favourite model horse artists, such as Sarah Rose.

What's your favourite section of the library?

Definitely 636.1! And the 740s for crafts.

What's your favourite colour right now?

My favourite colour will always be purple, now and forever!

Do you have any personal stories about horses?

It's unfortunate to say that I have mostly been and observer of horses my whole life, so personal stories are rather lacking!

How can we find you online?

My website is http://www.purple-pony.com and my blog is at http://purple-pony-art.blogspot.com I'm always online somewhere!

The Mysterious Mysterioso Sees AllI, The Mysterious Mysterioso, was deeply honored and humbled to be part of the Louise Riley Library's celebration of the one hundredth birthday of the Calgary Public Library. One hundred years is but a single grain of sand dropping in the cosmic hour glass - yet it is nothing to sneeze at! As I gaze into my crystal ball I see Calgarians using the Library for centuries to come - the oracles have decreed it!

It was deeply satisfying to look into the future of so many library patrons and see that they will continue to use the library to find books and e-books and, in the future, mind-meld-books. Opps! Perhaps you shouldn't know about those yet. Forget I mentioned "mind-meld-books". Ha, ha! Mysterioso is such a kidder!...where was I? Oh, yes. For centuries to come Calgarians will use the CPL to access "materials" that will change their collective destiny!

"But, Mysterioso," you say, "how can I tell which book I am destined to read next? I have neither a crystal ball nor your astounding prognosticative talents!" Relax, my less gifted friend. The library has made it easy for anyone to find their Book of Destiny! Most of the staff at any of the eighteen branches possess impressive skills at matching readers with the books they were born to read, but if you can not make it into a branch to talk to one of these oracles you may find our new on-line catalogue will help tremendously. For example one of my personal favourite novels is "The Nostradamus Prophecies" by Mario Reading. When I look this book up in the catalogue of the CPL website, I can scroll down to "NoveList content" and see other titles and authors I might also like. I see that Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol" is a book I am likely to enjoy and that the author Sam Christer is recommended for "readers who enjoy action-packed, suspenseful stories for adults who enjoy books about secret societies." That sounds perfect for me! I love secret societies! I am in several of them myself, including one so secret I don't even know what it is called. If you look up some of your favourite books on the CPL catalogue you are sure to find lots of suggested books to explore. You will also notice a link to Goodreads reviews. Goodreads is the largest social network for books in the world and through the CPL catalogue you can see the ratings and reviews for any given book - very good things to know while searching for your next great read.

You may also avail yourself of databases such as NoveList Plus, which is in the CPL's "E-Library" under the suject area "Books, Authors and E-Books." Here you can find all sorts of books, both fiction and non-fiction, based on criteria as diverse as genre, story line, pace, writing style and setting. This is also an excellent resource for book clubs, as it has many book discussion guides as well.

So with resources like these, you don't need a fortune teller to find great books. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to place a few holds on my library card.

RILEY LIBRARY KID'S

Book of the Month

A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead
illustrated by Erin E. Stead

When an old man who visits the zoo animals
regularly becomes too sick to see them, the
animals make a visit to see him.

Winner of the Randolph Caldecott Medal. Check the
American Library Association website
for more awards and winners.

RILEY LIBRARY TEEN

Book of the Month

Fishtailing, by Wendy Phillips

In a novel in verse, four troubled students -- half-Japanese
Tricia, Miguel, a Latin American refugee, Natalie, a new
student with a painful past, and Kyle, a talented working-
class boy -- try to cope inspite of the responese of
their poetry teacher.

Winner of the Governor General's Award.

RILEY LIBRARY ADULT

Book of the Month

The Lonely Polygamist, by Brady Udall

When times get tense --and they often do--for Golden Richards, the title
patriarch of Brady Udall's The Lonely Polygamist, he turns to a soothing
chant of the names, in order, of his 28 children. (It's also practical, when he
needs to sort out just which toddler is showing him a scab, and which teen
is asking if he can come to her 4-H demo.) While Big Love seeks the inherent
soap opera in a man with many wives, Udall finds the slapstick: Golden's
houses are the sort of places where the dog is often wearing underwear and
a child or two likely isn't. But Udall doesn't settle just for jokes (though the
jokes are excellent). Golden may be hapless, distracted, and deceitful, but he
is large-hearted and so is his story. There's menace and more than a full share
of tragedy there, as well as unabashed redemption and a particular sympathy
for the loneliest members of this crowded family. With a fresh and faultless
ear for American vernacular, Udall's big tale of beset manhood effortlessly
earns its comparisons to tragicomic family classics from The Corrections to
John Irving.

----- Tom Nissley. Amazon.com Review
.