Join the Oxmoor Page Turners on Tuesday, July 10th

Join the Oxmoor Page Turners on Tuesday, July 10th as we discuss Birmingham's very own Gin Phillips and her new novel, Come In and Cover Me. 

Light refreshments will be served. 

For more information please call 205-332-6601 or email Judith Wright.

Here is a little more information about Come In and Cover Me from the publisher.

When Ren was only twelve years old, she lost her older brother, Scott, to a car crash. Since then, Scott has been a presence in her life, appearing as a snatch of song or a reflection in the moonlight. Now, twenty-five years later, her talent for connecting with the ghosts around her has made her especially sensitive as an archaeologist. More than just understanding the bare outline of how our ancestors lived, Ren is dedicated to re-creating lives and stories, to breathing life into those who occupied this world long before us. Now she is on the cusp of the most important discovery of her career, and it is ghosts who are guiding her way. But what do two long-dead Mimbres women have to tell Ren about herself? And what message do they have about her developing relationship with a fellow archaeologist, the first man to really know her since her brother's death? Come In and Cover Me is the moving story of a woman learning to let go of the past in order to move forward with her own future.
Written with the same warmth and depth of feeling that drew readers to The Well and the Mine, Phillips's debut, Come In and Cover Me is a haunting and engrossing new novel.

Jeneration X by Jen Lancaster

Who doesn’t love staying up till 4 AM watching your favorite reality show? Or maybe your guilty vice is rifling through your neighbors’ trash looking for details on their sordid life. Not your cup of tea? What about froot loops for dinner?

No one wants to grow up, but we all have to. Even Jen Lancaster. The hilarious writer and blogger came to the conclusion that it was finally time to face facts and realize what she had become: an adult. In her new memoir, Jeneration X; One Reluctant Adult's Attempt to Unarrest Her Arrested Development; Or, Why It's Never Too Late for Her Dumb Ass to Learn Why Froot Loops Are Not for Dinner, Lancaster embraces adulthood and tackles tough life lessons no one wants to learn. Each chapter will have you laughing your pants off, especially when you realizes you have been guilty of the same situations (well, maybe not digging through your neighbors’ trash.) 

If you haven’t ever read anything by Jen Lancaster you might want to start out with her first memoir, Bitter is the New Black: Confessions of a Condescending, Egomanical, Self-Centered, Smartass, or Why You Should Never Carry a Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office. In Bitter is the New Black, Lancaster sets the stage for how she thought her life was going to be and how it turned out after being laid off from her high paying corporate job.  

You can also check out her blog where she sometimes posts chapters from her upcoming books, giveaways, and any other comical situations involving her husband or three misfit rescue dogs that will crack you up

Sidewalk Chalk Art Show to Benefit the JCLC July 3rd

The Homewood Library Supports the Jefferson County Library Cooperative

The Jefferson County Library Cooperative(JCLC)is a non-profit umbrella organization that serves as the link for all 40 public libraries countywide. In the past three years, the JCLC has lost all funding from the Jefferson County Commission which has left a large hole in the budget.

The services funded by the JCLC that benefit 40 Jefferson County public libraries include:

• Daily delivery service that transports materials from library to library guaranteeing easy access to all library materials to citizens countywide
• The popular online materials reservation system and online catalog
• Access to 2 million items including new and popular materials hot off the press
• Internet access for 40 libraries
• Popular databases - JCLC has already had to discontinue some databases because of budget cuts

During the Sidewalk Chalk Art Show program 10:30 A.M., July 3rd, the Homewood Library will support Public Libraries of Jefferson County by selling delicious Hawaiian Shaved Ice. All proceeds will go to the Jefferson County Library Cooperative. We will also be accepting tax deductible donations to help JCLC continue to provide the services we all enjoy.

Please join us on July 3rd in support of JCLC. Wear your sidewalk art clothes, bring a dollar for shaved ice ($0.25 for an additional flavor), and have fun!

Better Than Therapy Book Club (Fiction) meets June 27!

Join us as we explore Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan. It is the final summer in Maine for the Kelleher family, and its four strong-willed women are dreaming of bare feet, cocktails at sunset, and that magical ocean air. Over the course of this summer, long-held secrets are revealed, embarrassing crushes bloom, and gallons of vodka are consumed. Long buried tragedies bubble to the surface, life decisions must be made, fears are faced, as the women scramble to try to maintain the image of a perfect family.

The Better Than Therapy Book Club meets on the last Wednesday of every month at 2pm in the Boardroom. For more information contact Leslie West at lwest@bham.lib.al.us or call 205.332.6620.

This book is available in several different formats: large print, eBook, downloadable audiobook, and book-on-CD. Get one here!

See you then!

Just the Facts Book Club (Non-Fiction)

Join us as we discuss Manhunt by James L. Swanson on Thursday, June 28 at 6:30pm in the Lucretia Somers Boardroom.

The murder of Abraham Lincoln set off the greatest manhunt in American history. James L. Swanson's Manhunt is a fascinating tale of murder, intrigue, and betrayal. A gripping hour-by-hour account told through the eyes of the hunted and the hunters, this is history as you've never read it before.

Just the Facts Book Club meets on the last Thursday of every month at 6:30pm in the Boardroom. This is a non-fiction group. All are welcome!

For more information contact Leslie West at lwest@bham.lib.al.us or call 205.332.6620.

Reserve this book in the catalog.

The Wings of Morning by Murray Pura

Lyyndy Kurtz and Jude Whetstone had known each other from the time they were young.  When he learned to fly Lyyndy was excited and asked for a ride into the blue sky.  Others in their community of Amish folk were hesitant but watched in awe as Jude and Lyyndy flew higher and higher and then did some stunt flying.  Bishop Zook was interested in Jude's skills as a pilot, an unusual hobby for an Amish blacksmith.  Others had also noticed Jude as he gave a show to the community at picnics.  Then a group of young men from Paradise were  visited by the United States Army.  Though the Amish were exempt from serving in the war these young men were taken to a camp where they were treated as prisoners.  They were made to do physical labor in the Pennsylvania winter in inadequate clothing.  The food they were given was poor quality and not enough of it.  Verbal abuse by the soldiers was constant.  It seemed that soon some of the Amish would collapse or die.  People back in Paradise were shocked and puzzled when Jude enlisted in the Army to fly in combat and yet the rest of the group was released to return to Paradise.  It was a long time before Jude's family or Lyyndy got any word from him about what he was doing.  Then they still had many questions about why he had joined the war.  Had he lost his faith or had he just wanted so badly to fly that he decided to go to war?  The men who had been mistreated at the same time as Jude were not telling anyone what had really happened to them or Jude.  Before they got adequate answers to their questions the influenza epidemic reached the cities of Pennsylvania and even to Paradise.  Through all this Lyyndy continued to  believe that Jude must have a good reason for what he was doing.  And she also decided to do something to help during these years of World War I.
     
In this story we learn about early aviation, World War I, the influenza epidemic as well as life in an Amish community.  More than in many stories set in Amish communities we see how changes in American society can touch the people in a subculture.  And how everyone must grapple with how those changes make a difference in their lives.

You can find this book in the catalog.

~Beth H.

Got Tape? June 13, 2012

Got Tape? June 13, 2012, a set on Flickr.

A BIG success!

The Incredible Book Eating Boy...and girls.

The Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers is a favorite of mine. 

It is the story of a boy, Henry, who loves books and one day accidentally discovers they taste good too. The more books Henry 'enjoys' the more knowledge he gains until one day all that information he ingested by eating the books is just too much to digest. Henry has to find a new way to savor good books and absorb all that wonderful knowledge, and of course he does.

This summer as the books fly off the shelves here in the Homewood Public Library Children's Department, it kind of feels like our Summer Readers are devouring our books just like Henry! Reading logs are being sticker-ed, weekly treats being earned, check-out receipts being stamped for Bike slips, and of course hundreds of books being checked out in an attempt to win the the Nook Tablet that will be given away to one child this summer. It's as if they just can't get enough great books this summer!

Henry's discovery that books are 'delectable treats' make for a very silly tale, but the truth is books are a pretty satisfying way to spend a summer day... NO, NOT EATING BOOKS but curling up with one or two... or well lots and lots of them! Especially the red ones... but no teeth marks please!

You can place a hold on it here.

A Summer Slumber Party, Summer Reading 2012

A Summer Slumber Party, Summer Reading 2012, a set on Flickr.

Children brought their favorite pillow and sleeping bag, sang songs led by Ms. Dona, watched a movie and enjoyed homemade cookies and milk!