take a look @ this historical fiction book with a sprinkle of fantasy..
Hand of Isis by Jo Graham

So summer officially started on the calendar last Monday, but for us here in the children's room, summer started with our Summer Reading Kickoff on June 17 with the Deedle Deedle Dees. Remember that you can log your books in online this summer. Try it! We are jam packed with events this summer, like Bubble Fun on July 6, Pop Art Extravaganza with Michael Albert on July 13 and our final show, Flow Circus on August 17. By September your children's librarians are going to be pooped.

Did anybody watch "The Gates" last sunday on ABC?
I did because I didn't go out....so....is this going to last?

The Daily Grommet is a very cool site with interesting and innovative products for kids and adults. They find up and coming designers and products and highlight their stories each day on the website. Usually there are pictures of the products along with very helpful videos. Here are some of the fun things they sell:

Join us for our 2nd Annual Adult Summer Reading Club - July 6th through August 27th

*Open to all RVC cardholders 18 and over
*Read books of your choice (audio books qualify)
*Submit review for each book read, electronically or paper, and receive a Mad Money dollar
*Redeem Mad Money for prizes (paper cubes, note pads, book lights, etc.) starting 7/6

For more information, see a librarian at the Adult Reference Desk.

what is going on with the SYFY channel? They just change their location on cable with no notice to the common viewer and the programing for this summer is kind of Lame. I am very disappointed with the channel as of late.....I'm really bored of ghost hunters! My judgement is epic fail.

Don't forget to join us on June 17 at 7:30 pm for our Summer Reading Kickoff with The Deedle Deedle Dees!

The woman who does so much for books and authors is still at it with her annual summer reading suggestions in June's O magazine ~~ lush historical novels, wise contemporary tales and crowd-pleasing beach reads ... Oprah's summer reading list.

To help you chose just the right book for your mood, try O's Book Finder.

The tradional idea of summer reading is usually of light, easy reads but summer books don't have to be mindless. NPR has put together a list of 16 book recommendations from three well respected independent book sellers. The Lonely Polygamist sounds good to me ...

Simon R. Green pens his latest book in the Nightside Series.....awesome!

I attended an amazing workshop this morning that was all about the importance of play in the development of children. It seems like a no-brainer that kids are always playing, but the truth is that kids only get about 16 minutes a day of creative play, meaning there's no toy doing the work for them. When you add up the commercial breaks during an hour-long TV show, guess what? It equals about 15 minutes.
Browse on over the Early Years Institute for more information and keep an eye on this blog where I'll be highlighting some of the interesting, scary, depressing and ultimately energizing things I learned.

If you are looking to read edgy and innovative young authors, this week's New Yorker has their annual 20 Authors Under 40 article. Past honorees have included Jhumpa Lahiri (The Namesake), Junot Díaz (The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao) , Michael Chabon (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay), Jeffrey Eugenides (Middlesex) and David Foster Wallace (Infinite Jest). Poor Dave Eggers -- he turned 40 this year and missed the list yet again.

Even though I'm in the 'book biz', I only knew seven of these talented people. Guess I have a lot of reading to catch up on!

The 1st 'unofficial weekend' of summer is behind us, it's less than 3 weeks till summer starts ~ time to think about what to read on those hazy days at the beach, pool or back yard.

The following is an eclectic list of suggestions of 'hot off the press' new releases from Janet Maslin of the NY Times:

BLOOD OATH by Christopher Farnsworth (Vampire Fiction)
THE NEAREST EXIT by Olen Steinhauer (Suspense Fiction)
I'LL MATURE WHEN I'M DEAD by Dave Barry (Wit & Humor)
STAR ISLAND by Carl Hiaasen (Fiction)
ME, THE MOB, AND THE MUSIC by Tommy James, with Martin Fitzpatrick (Biography-Musicians)
WHEN I STOP TALKING, YOU'LL KNOW I'M DEAD by Jerry Weintraub, with Rich Cohen (Biography-Celebrity)
SHE AIN'T HEAVY, SHE'S MY MOTHER by Bryan Batt (Biography-"Mad Men" star)
CHELSEA CHELSEA BANG BANG by Chelsea Handler (Biography-Comedian)
TELL-ALL by Chuck Palahniuk (Fiction-Romans a clef)
ARM CANDY by Jill Kargman (Chick lit)
SEVEN YEAR SWITCH by Claire Cook (Domestic Fiction)
HANNAH'S LIST by Debbie Macomber (Romance)

ATTN: we have an anime collection...or do we , considering they're flying off the shelves.