ALD November Events Promoting Authors & Readers

Happy Monday!! Here's a reminder for all you RAVALA participants: The first half of November is a huge ALD promotion for “Inside the Book”, a district wide celebration of authors and books and readers. What will be happening is as follows and you're encouraged to let all your patrons know about these great events (and plan to attend a few yourself!)

· Sat., Nov. 1 from 6-8 p.m.: Colorado author Margaret Coel’s reception & talk at Smoky Hill. Margaret Coel will sign and sell her books. There also will be Native American dancers and a Native American flute player.

· Sat., Nov. 1 from 9 a.m.-9 p.m: There will be an ALD Bookfair at the Barnes & Noble store at Southlands. Any purchases (other than gift cards) made that day will go toward ALD. Patrons need to say it’s for the library district.

· Sun., Nov. 9, from 2-4 Koelbel Authors Open House: Eighteen great Colorado authors of all genres will have tables throughout the main level and Barnes and Noble will be there to sell books. (Great for holiday giving.) There also will be a Book Lovers Reception in the meeting rooms with finger food and drinks for all!

· Smoky Hill Open House, Sat., Nov. 15 from 2-4: Teen authors will do a panel discussion from 2-2:45 in the meeting room, and then go to their tables in the courtyard. Children’s authors will be set up in the children’s room and storytime room. B&N will be selling books and this is also an opportunity to buy gift books signed by the author.

We really want to promote "Inside the Book", so please take every opportunity to remind and entice your patrons to attend any or all of these fun and supportive events!!

Thanks for reading! And - if you want to investigate Colorado Authors have a look at these webpages for information: http://www.rmfw.org/ (Rocky Mountain Fiction writers); http://www.coloradoauthors.org/ (Colorado Authors League); and http://www.coloradoromancewriters.org/ (self explanatory). These are just a few of what's out there for Colorado writers!

Susan C.

With apologies to Raymond Chandler...

I was sitting in the dark office, wondering how I was going to pay for another cheap bottle of whiskey, no less the rent on the dump, when I heard her heels clicking down the hall and saw her silhouette in the frosty glass of the door. She knocked and I said "Come in, the door's never locked." Through the smoke from my cigarette, she looked like an angel in the clouds... a classy blonde angel. She sat in the ragged leather chair by my desk, making the old chair look better than it had in years, and said "I need some help..." "That’s what I'm here for, doll" I replied, wishing I had a little of that cheap whiskey. "I need some help finding information on classic films" she breathed through glossy red lips, lips that should be sipping champagne but didn't belong in a dump like this. "Hmmm, what kind of information are you looking for?" I said, taking the last drag of my last cigarette. "You know... information about films from the Forties & Fifties, about gangsters and dames, about... I think they call it Film Noir." Her voice was like silk, well suited for those lips. "The library..." I stuttered, "I think you'll find what you need there. I'm a detective, not a librarian. If someone was missing, if you needed someone tailed, if someone needed some "convincing", I might be able to help you, sweetheart... but you need a librarian." She quickly stood and threw a couple crumpled dollars on my desk, her eyes glowing in the darkness, eyes that could stop a herd of wild horses. "Thanks for your help" she said as she spun and headed toward the door. "Need my card?" I asked hopefully. "No thanks, the only card I need is my library card" she replied as she glanced over her shoulder. "Maybe I could check out the library with you... after we get a drink" I said, but it was too late - her heels clicked out the door, down the hall and out of my life.

Yeah, that was the life changing incident that made me become a Librarian. If a classy dame comes in looking for information on Film Noir, I now know how to help her. ALD's Donna Keslin has started leading a film series on classic films, and is compiling information about classic films (including recommended films and books) that is located on the ALD website on the "Movies and Music" page under "Classic Film Series." Her series through December is devoted to American Film Noir and the list of resources will grow as Donna covers more movie genres in the program. Check it out!

If you have a classic film that’s your favorite (it can be any genre), we’d love to hear about it. If you've got a favorite hard-boiled detective novel, we'd love to hear about that too!

Bloggin' about blogs!

There is no shortage of blogs out there. A recent report from Technorati states that 26.4 million people in the U.S. have started a blog and 60.3 Americans are reading them (that's 77% of active internet users according to this report). Everyone's got an opinion, information to share, or a story to tell whether we want to hear it or not.

There are lots of good blogs out there, and a number of them relate to libraries and library advisory services. So this week's discussion topic is What blogs do you read on a regular basis that help with reader's/viewer's/listener's advisory? And if you are a regular blog reader, how do you keep track of new posts on your favorite blogs?

If you are looking for more library-related blogs (and I'm sure we all are) - there is a list of them on LSI Wiki at
http://liswiki.org/wiki/Weblogs. Give yourself some time, because it's a pretty big list. Wow, lots of librarians with opinions - who'd a thunk it?

Anyone Into Political Thrillers?

Hello to all out in RAVALA-land!

Since we are in the midst of an interesting and hotly-contested political campaign, I thought it would be fun to focus on the topic of politics - particularly "political thrillers". Wikipedia offers a pretty accurate definition of this subgenre: "A political thriller is a thriller that is set against the backdrop of political power struggle. These usually involve various plots, rarely legal, designed to give political power to someone, while his opponents try to stop him from getting it. They can involve national or international political scenarios. World War II is a favorite scenario, as are US presidential elections."



There are a lot of political thrillers out there, both in book and movie format. Do you have a favorite? If so, give us a brief synopsis. For example, one of my favorites is an oldie, "Absolute Power", by David Baldacci. The gist is a bad guy who becomes the prey of even badder guys after he stumbles on a murder that points directly to the involvement of the U.S. president. An action-packed page turner!


If you're interested, more titles in the political thriller subgenre can be found at http://sachem.suffolk.lib.ny.us/advisor/politcalthrillers.htm



Susan C