Enchantment Emporium

So- I came across a booklist called: Calgary Reads - Fiction Set in Calgary that someone had kindly put together and there was one fantasy/science fiction title on it; “The Enchantment Emporium” by Canadian author Tanya Huff.

I thought ‘Nice! My patriotic book duty will soon be fulfilled.’ I tend (for no good reason) not to read Canadian books by Canadian authors, unless they have fantasy or faery content, for example: I can’t get enough of Charles de Lint and his urban faery tales. In his books it’s so easy to step between worlds and something about that really catches my interest. I have to know more! They make me want to make travel plans to walk down the same streets as the characters and see if the café that they ate at has the same feeling as was emoted in the book.

Yep, bit of a nerd that way. :D

Anyways, I’ve read Tanya Huffs’ “Blood” novels and really enjoyed them, (what a thrill to see colourful Canadian money in her “Blood Ties” TV series!) and I thought it would be interesting to try out this recommendation. A fantasy book set in Calgary! I picked up the MP3 audio version so I could listen to it in my car and by the time the main character had reached Calgary and was on a whirlwind taxi ride through the downtown core headed towards the antique/junk shop in Inglewood that she had inherited from her grandmother, I was hooked. I haven’t finished the MP3 yet but I’m really enjoying its quirkiness - also, today while unpacking brand new paperbacks – I noticed that its sequel “The Wild Ways” has just been published! More magic in Calgary!

So - time to plan a trip to the antique shops in Inglewood, a walk down Atlantic Ave S.E. in search of a good cup of coffee from a fellow named Kenny and check in at Fort Calgary, just to make sure there aren't any stray portals into the faery realms... You never know :)

On a hunt for magic!

Review of The Cloud Atlas movie

The Cloud Atlas comes at you from every angle. Based on David Mitchell’s 2004 novel, it is a very ambitious film. Not only does it veer between epochs, it also manages to veer between character’s stories in a very convincing way. That is to characters appear and disappear, themselves somehow intact but in a different epoch, with different families and sometimes *gulp* in different bodies. How are we to discern who’s who? A tattoo, for one thing; there is a small comet with a trail that is etched on one character so that we can recognize him in different bodies and even at times in different genders. Whaaat?

This is a mind-bender of a "what would happen if" movie. Science fiction based on the concept of karma; if you do this in this lifetime, then something like this will happen to you next time. That you are not dead and over with is patently clear when characters return to reenact their problems with different settings...and what settings! Seoul Korea 2144 to the South Pacific 1849 to San Francisco 1973. Each time we are treated to an entirely different story with a different cast - except that these people have known one another in different lives. It gets a little tiring as the movie is around 3 hours long and we are treated at the end to a post apocalyptic scene in the Hawaiian Islands with Tom Hanks channeling Laurence Olivier using patois. I liked it for the same reason I hated it; Too ambitious, too long and too much information. Sounds a little like 2012 to me.

-Laurie Schut

Susan Fae and Cathrine Greene are both currently showing their lovely art at Louise Riley Library until the end of December - you'll want to make sure you pop by to have a peek so you don't miss their beautiful imagery!

Get into the spirit of the season by taking in the soft drawings and seasonal prints of Cathrine and Susan in the children's area, and if the winter white and cold outside is starting to get you down, come into our cozy branch, curl up with a book or magazine and enjoy the bright, summery floral paintings from Susan hanging on the walls!

If you enjoy the linocut prints of Susan’s that you see on our walls, you might want to check out her “Dogs & their Walkers” on display at Thornhill Library for the month of December. If her art has sparked your interest in how it’s made check out her website www.thearttree.biz for more details or look into her classes on Linocut & Printmaking in February, 22, 23 & 24, 2013.

Check out "Mighty Uke" a Canadian documentary“Shhhhh! - Don’t you know this is a library?” - aren’t really words you have to worry about anymore. Especially when you know that the librarians have a secret ukulele club.

Whoops.

People keep telling me that the first rule of ukulele club should be “don’t talk about ukulele club,” and the second rule should be, “why are you talking about ukulele club?!” I totally don’t agree! Ukuleles are too awesome to not talk about. They are small simple unassuming instruments that you can take anywhere. Children are fascinated with them because they are ‘just the right size’ and they make adults giggle, grin and sometimes groan – but it’s usually in good humour!

We’re all still pretty new at this and getting to know our ukes, but – we’ve pretty much mastered ‘London Bridge is Falling Down’ (new achievement unlocked!) which coincidentally has the exact same chords as two other songs (Woo! Three with one blow! We’re doing awesome!) Now we’re working on ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’ and there’s a few more chords in it (five instead of two) and singing, strumming and counting is sure tough to do at the same time, but what a lot of fun!

So now some nights, after dark, when the library should be quiet and calm, if you hear the odd strumming and buzzing of strings and a few stray stanzas being caterwauled… don’t be alarmed, it’s just your local librarians ‘rocking out’ on their ukes. AWESOME.

We still need a little encouragement though; we’d love to know,

Who else is out there in a secret ukulele club?

What was the first song that you learned and

What do you think we should we tackle next?

RILEY LIBRARY TEEN

Book of the Month

Across the Universe, by Beth Revis

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship
Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years
in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber
would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be
thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction.
Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her.
And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder
suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship
and the love she could never have seen coming.

The Lazy Reader claims to ski. She gets up and goes to the slopes, but secretly there is a novel in that backpack hiding under the goggles and mitts. After 10 runs, the lazy reader can be found curled up drinking tea and reading in the ski lounge.

The Hotlist is a list of upcoming bestsellers. You can take a look at it on the top of the Readers' Nooks stand at Riley, right beside the Lazy reader recommendations. Here are some holds to place now before the queue builds!

Alan Bradley has a new Flavia de Luce mystery called Speaking From Among the Bones. (Feb. 2013)

Tracy Chevalier, who wrote The Girl With the Pearl Earring, has written The Last Runaway about the Underground Railroad. (Jan. 2013)

Edward Rutherfurd, who writes big thick novels about the history of families over time in famous cities, has set his sights on Paris. (April 2013)

For non fiction, Anne Lamott has written Help Thanks Wow: The Three Essential Prayers, due in November 2012.

Michael Pollan, who wrote The Omnivore's Dilemma, is back in April 2013 with Cooked: Finding Ourselves in the Kitchen.

I'm also going to try Julia Sweeney's If It's Not One Thing, It's Your Mother about parenting, because I just finished Ali in Wonderland, and need another funny take on the balancing act of women.

Happy couch time!

RILEY LIBRARY CHILDREN'S

Book of the Month

Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs, by Mo Willems

Three Dinosaurs - Poppa Dinosaur, Momma Dinosaur, and
some other dinosaur who just happened to be visiting from
Norway - plan to trick a poorly supervised youngster
traipsing through the woods. Hilarity ensues!

Are you between thirteen and seventeen years old and are interested in writing? Do you already write and would like to learn more about the world of professional writers? If you have answered yes to either of these questions, then you should not miss this unique opportunity!

Teens: Write Now! will be held at the Louise Riley Library Program Centre on Sunday November 18th, from 1:00-4:00 p.m. Local authors will discuss the business of writing, specifically blogging and self-publishing. Authors include Aviva Bel'Harold, author of Chip and Blood Matters, and Clare Marshall, author of Within and Violet Fox. Also in attendance will teen bloggers who will share their tips and experiences and some snacks will be provided.

Registration is limited to ages 13 to 17. You can register on-line, in person at any library branch, or by calling 403-260-2620.