Super Freaky!

Statistically minded? Intrigued by patterns, numbers, and facts? Like to sprinkle peculiar trivia into your conversation? SuperFreakonomics and its predecessor Freakonomics will probably appeal to you.

I don't mean to trivialize it-- many of the topics taken on by economics professor Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, a former writer and editor for The New York Times Magazine are not trivial at all. Prostitution, emergency medicine, the effects of terrorism and global warming are only a few of the dozens of concepts scrutinized through an economic lens in SuperFreakonomics. Many of the conclusions drawn will surprise you, and the outlay of facts may sway your opinion about things you thought you already understood-- or just make you laugh. Events are translated from the anecdotal to the statistical, revealing surprising connections, causes and effects. Every study, statistic, and quote is backed up with sources in the "Notes" section of the book, for those who want some proof these guys aren't just blowing smoke.


The books are a lot of fun, filled with the breadth of information and perspective I always wish could be found in the newspaper. As a matter of fact, it now can be; the authors now have a weekly blog in the New York Times at http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/.

A little night reading

Halloween is almost here, so I made a bibliography of the library's horror fiction. A bibliography is just a list, a printed guide to help people find things; the new horror bibliography is, obviously, a guide to the library's scary books.

The list includes chilling old favorites, like Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House and Henry James's The Turn of the Screw, but I also wanted to make sure the list included the latest offerings in the genre.

There are books that revisit the Frankenstein story, including Dean Koontz' grisly modern three-volume retelling (start with the first book), and Peter Ackroyd's The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein. Then there are the werewolf stories, like High Bloods by John Farris and Frostbite by David Wellington.

Sarah Waters' The Little Stranger, Thomas Tessier's Fog Heart, and Joe Hill's Heart Shaped Box are all ghost stories. Zombie by Joyce Carol Oats is a serial killer tale, as is Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. Then there are the books about the way society falls apart in an epidemic or after a disaster, like The Quake by Richard Laymon, or The Strain by Guillermo del Toro.

And then there are things that are a little harder to put into categories, Like Dust, by Charles Pellegrino, in which a shrieking scientist is devoured alive by a swarm of voracious mites. (Actually, I could probably put that into a category. I just wanted to write that sentence about the mites.)

If you're in the mood for some delightfully creepy fall reading, come on in to the library to get the whole list. Don't forget that we have horror movies on DVD, too.

A Jihad For Love

The word "Jihad" in Arabic means "struggle," and in the DVD A Jihad For Love the struggle of gay, lesbian and transgendered Muslims might seem a daunting one indeed. This 2007 documentary, however, is less a film about sexual orientation than about Islam itself. It tells the story of how Islam is struggling to come to terms with a growing number of LGBT believers who insist on remaining true to their religion as well as living their lives as honestly and openly as they dare.



A Jihad For Love portrays the lives of gay, lesbian and transgender Muslims in nine countries, including South Africa, Iran, India, Turkey and Egypt. While a few of the film’s subjects live the closeted existences one might expect in these countries, a surprising number not only live openly, but also actively challenge their religious leaders in public debate on the question of Islam and homosexuality. Many of these leaders, unfortunately, seem all too antagonistic, no matter how finely their challengers parse relevant passages in the Koran.

And ultimately, that is the strength of A Jihad For Love. In the final analysis, it might not be what ancient religious texts have to say about same-sex love, but what today’s believers who make up the umma (or Muslim community) have to say, that really makes the difference and might bring about change and gradual acceptance. A Jihad For Love is a timely look at some brave souls searching for a way both to live within their culture, and to live with themselves: an admirable lesson for us all.

Click HERE to reserve "A Jihad For Love."

Unflinching, Grisly, Savage, Slaughter

Unflinching, grisly, savage, slaughter, gritty, combat, sieges, soldier's-eye-view, characters you care about, bloodbath, crossbows, swords, battle strategy and military adventure, historic details and realistic battle scenes.

I don't know about you, but when I see descriptive tags like these I want to get a copy of the book in my hands right away. For me a good blood and guts war novel makes for great reading on a cold, rainy Saturday afternoon.

I've been reading war fiction for many years and still find myself fascinated with this genre. I like the "you are there" feel of historical novels. I become a companion with the characters of the novel. And because I come to care so much about them, I have a huge investment in the story as it proceeds. Who will live, who will die, who will triumph, who will fall? Then there are the battle strategies, the descriptions of arms and armor used by the combatants and a full description of the battleground and its surrounding geography.

A good war novel inflames my desire to learn more about what really happened at the time and place represented in the novel. I will frequently check out companion nonfiction titles on the subject of my reading just to round out my learning. And, I have to have maps when I'm reading historical fiction. Maps are a must. If the book doesn't have a map, I find one.

With all that in mind, here are two novels to get you started if you've never read historical fiction -- war fiction -- before. Both authors have an impressive body of war novels and I wholeheartedly recommend any of them.

1. Steven Pressfield -- The Gates of Fire. This is an epic novel of the Battle of Thermopylae, one of the world's greatest battles for freedom. Here, in 480 B.C., on a narrow mountain pass 300 Spartans and their allies faced the massive forces of the Persian army. From the beginning, you know every one of the Spartans will die, but learning about Spartan culture, politics and the demands placed upon young men coming of age in Sparta is enlightening. When Spartan battle strategy is explained -- the phallanx, an interlocking line of shields, the use of the short sword and the spear and the absolute conviction that dying in battle is honorable -- it makes for compelling reading. King Leonidas and his countrymen come alive, as do the horrors of close quarter combat with an overwhelming enemy.

2. Bernard Cornwell -- Agincourt. "One of the most dramatic victories in British history, the battle of Agincourt--immortalized by Shakespeare in Henry V--pitted undermanned and overwhelmed English forces against a French army determined to keep their crown out of Henry's hands. Here Bernard Cornwell resurrects the legend of the battle and the "band of brothers" who fought it on October 25, 1415. An epic of redemption, Agincourt follows a commoner, a king, and a nation's entire army on an improbable mission to test the will of God and reclaim what is rightfully theirs. From the disasters at the siege of Harfleur to the horrors of the field of Agincourt, this exhilarating story of survival and slaughter is at once a brilliant work of history and a triumph of imagination." -- Amazon Review

Now, who wouldn't want to read that!

4 Tips on Getting the Most out of Library2Go

Library2Go is a terrific service-- free audiobooks! If you're a dedicated Book on CD listener, and always wishing we had more in stock, it may be time to add digital audiobooks to your repertoire. Even if it seems a little bit intimidating, the rewards are great. In the past 2 weeks, Library2Go has added 23 new fiction books, including Nevada Barr's 13 1/2, Debbie Macomber's 92 Pacific Boulevard, and Linwood Barclay's Fear the Worst. For me, it's been extremely worthwhile to use Library2Go, although I did initially find it frustrating because many popular books have a holds list, so there's not usually instant gratification.

How did I overcome that? I learned to work with the Library2Go System. Here are my tips:

1. Store as many books as possible on your player. Many reasonably priced players these days have 1 or 2 gigabytes of storage, and you are allowed to have 6 books checked out at a time. The books will expire from your hard drive in 7 or 14 days, depending on the checkout period you select. Personally, I can't listen to that many books in that amount of time-- they used to expire before I could get to them. Then I realized: the books will not expire from my MP3 player once they are transferred. If you have enough memory on your player, check the book out as soon as it's available, download it, and listen at your leisure.

2. Keep adding to your holds list. You may have 6 books on hold at a time, meaning you are waiting in line for each of those books. Your account will always tell you what number you are in the queue. You will see ridiculously high numbers sometimes, which is why you need to keep your list full, so that you are always approaching the front of the line for at least a couple of items.

3. Use your wish list. Whenever you receive a notice that something is available to check out, check it out and download it. It will disappear from your holds list. Immediately go to your wish list and move one of the items to the hold list. The wish list does not have a limit of items; fill it whenever you browse, and use it to keep your holds list full to the brim.

4. Browse every couple of weeks. (At least if you're a fiction fan. Once a month or so is probably adequate to check for new nonfiction, they seem to expanding that side of the collection more slowly.) Use the advanced search option, select Fiction, (or Mystery, or Thriller, or Fantasy, or whatever you'd like to limit your results to,) and then choose "within the last 14 days" in the "Date added to site" field. I do this because I feel fairly sure I've exhausted the backlog of books I'm actually interested in; you may choose to browse more generally. Anything you're interested in goes into your "Wish List".

*Note: Instant gratification is possible. If you absolutely need something to listen to on the car trip you're taking later today, choose a genre and then mark off the "Only show titles with copies available" box at the bottom of the page. Chances are, the bestselling Dan Brown book you wanted won't be there; but you might find an intriguing new book or an old favorite which doesn't have a holds list, either because no one knows how wonderful it is, or because Library2Go is allowed to loan many multiple copies at once on that book's particular licensing agreement.

We have "How to" sheets available at the library to help you with the technical side of starting out with Library2Go, and you can always call us or stop by the reference desk with questions as well. Library2Go is terrific entertainment at an unbeatable price-- well worth the effort.

Are You a "FAN" of Newport Public Library

If you're reading this, I assume you are not only a fan of Newport Public Library, but you are a fan of our blog, Salmagundi. But that doesn't make you a "FAN" of the Library. To become a true "FAN" of the Library you need to join us on facebook.

We started our facebook page a few months ago and have accumulated over 225 fans since that time. Being a fan means that all of our blog entries and all of our program announcements are sent automatically to your facebook page. That means that everytime you open your facebook page you will be able to see what's going on at the Library. This should save you time and clicks on the internet and it's a lot of fun getting automatic notification when new things are happening at the Library.

If you don't already have a facebook account, you can register for a free account here.

So why not join us?

As an added treat today, I've embedded a YouTube video that pretty much explains why I love reading. Enjoy!

The Best Book of 2009?

I know it's a little early, but in the final three months of 2009, I seriously doubt that I will find a better book than Simon Schama’s American Future: A History. Originally a companion to his BBC video series which aired just after the 2008 elections, American Future looks forward by looking back. Schama explores enduring themes of American culture: war, religion, the frontier, and the immigrant experience, with the curious intensity of an English academic and a stylish, if sometimes flamboyant, prose.

A slightly eccentric story, American Future never mentions the usual suspects in American history: the Founding Fathers or the Civil War, for example. Instead, Schama shows how relatively obscure names, places and events illuminate our uniquely American experience. And how that experience is constantly rejuvenated by an almost naive belief in our ability to start anew.

From four generations of a West Point family, to a timeless faith as practiced at an old-time church in the Appalachian Mountains, from one woman’s futile attempt to be heard at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, to a 19th century, one-armed explorer’s prescient warnings about the West and water, American Future explores the contours of American history from a perspective not often seen. Schama’s America might be discovered on roads less taken, but his America is recognizable, and perhaps made even more comprehensible because of his stirring journey.

I’d be curious to know what your favorite book for 2009 was: fiction, non-fiction, graphic. Leave a comment in the box below.

Click HERE to reserve American Future.