Thursday, March 31, 2011

Word Woman


Welcome to another entertaining episode of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! As tomorrow is the first of April, also known as April Fool's Day, be on the lookout for pranks and tricks designed to trip you up. Speaking of which, here is a word which always tripped me up until I got a good grip on it:

Supine:

1. (a) lying on the back or with the face upward
(b) marked by supination

2. exhibiting indolent or apathetic inertia or passivity; especially : mentally or morally slack


3. (archaic) leaning or sloping backward

"supine", http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/supine?show=1&t=1300202264 , 3/15/2011.


Example: Bill's supine position on the couch was characteristic of his supine attitude toward life in general.





Thursday, March 24, 2011

Word Woman



Welcome to another fine and frolicsome episode of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! Are you thinking about Spring Break yet? It's not very far away. While you're busy making plans for a little getaway, why not treat your vocabulary to a vacation from ordinary, everyday words by learning a new one? Like the Word of the Week, for instance:


Mellifluous: having a smooth, rich flow


-- "mellifluous", http://www.merriam-webster.com/top-ten-lists/top-10-peoples-favorite-words/mellifluous.html , 3/9/2011.



Example: Did you know that James Earl Jones, the famous actor, developed his mellifluous voice through years of practice aimed at overcoming his childhood habit of stuttering?

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Gluten free? Options for you @ MPL

So you're gluten free, for what ever reason, and you've got the hankering for pizza. What to do? You have about three local options... or you can make a stop at the library and check out our selection of cookbooks on the topic, for example:
The gloriously gluten-free cookbook spicing up life with Italian, Asian, and Mexican recipes 641.5638 MALTIN
American Dietetic Association easy gluten-free 641.5638 THOMPSO
Gluten-free girl and the chef 641.5638 AHERN
You may notice a trend here of 641.5638 which is the call number for gluten free cookbooks. If you are interested in looking at information on gluten free diets check out the 613.25 section.
We also have electronic databases that have information on gluten free diets. For instance, a search in Infotrac for gluten free found a video on a gluten free pizza fest held in TX that was broadcast on 20 February 2011. We've got a great selection so come in and see what we have for you.
Think... more!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Susan Orlean

I just heard that Susan Orlean will be giving a craft lecture and nonfiction reading this Thursday, March 25th. Orlean is kind of like a big deal: she's a regular contributor to The New Yorker and the author of The Orchid Thief, among other books. Some of you cinephiles might recognize The Orchid Thief as the basis for Charlie Kaufman's screenplay for the movie Adaptation. Orlean's character was played by none other than Meryl Streep, so she has that going for her too. You can find Orlean's reaction to the movie, which strayed quite far from the book, here.

Her craft lecture will be from 12:10 to 1 pm at McGill Hall 210. The nonfiction reading will be in the Dell Brown Room of Turner Hall at 7 pm. Here's a campus map if you have no idea where those buildings are located.


Image courtesy of mtkr

Monday, March 21, 2011

Winter Reading Club a huge success!


Out three-month-longWinter Reading Club finished up last Tuesday, March 15. Judging from the number of book reviews we received, there were a lot of books read. We had 173 participants in the Club this year – 148 reader forms were turned in, which means that 444 books were read as part of the 2011 Winter Reading Club!
Those who penned book reviews were entered into a drawing for prizes at the end of the Winter Reading Club. The following people were winners in the drawing for Missoula Public Library, Big Sky Branch, the Frenchtown Branch , and Homebound participants:
MPL Mug & Tea – Lynn Weger
MPL Mug & hot cocoa – Jerry Hanowell
MPL Mug & hot Cocoa – Alain Burrese
F&F gift card – Kathy Jones
Shakespeare & Co – Lynn Weger
Downtown Association Gift Card – Debra Unruh
Downtown Association Gift Card -  Gloria Wahlin
Downtown Association Gift Card - Lynn Weger
Downtown Association Gift Card -  Anne Pfeiffer

Thank you for participating in the Winter Reading Club. We're already looking forward to next year!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Word Woman


Welcome to another fun-filled installment of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! Sure, and it's a fine St. Patrick's Day I'll be wishing you all out there, and may the luck of the Irish be with you today. Here's a Word of the Week in keeping with the spirit of the day:

Auspicious:

1. showing or suggesting that future success is likely; propitious

2. attended by
good fortune; prosperous

"auspicious", http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/auspicious , 3/3/2011.


Example: An auspicious start to the company's future was evident when the stocks rose sharply on the day the new president took charge.


Friday, March 11, 2011

The Complicated Machinery to Make a Sentence


I love to hear how writers work: what their habits are like, what time of day they write, even what type of pen they use. (True story: when I found out Harold Bloom wrote on yellow legal pads with Pentel Rolling Writers, I went down to Office Depot and ordered a few years' supply of each--only to abandon them a couple months later.) Basically, I want to know the nitty gritty of how a writer bridges that gap between the dream inside the mind and the actual words on the page. Maybe I'm hoping that if I could just figure out the right process, then I too might become a successful writer. But that hope is probably illusory. There's no magic key, and no amount of aping another's compositional methods will open the door to good writing. But, still, it can be fun to hear how others do it.

http://www.onfiction.ca/2009/02/art-of-prose-fiction-i-flaubert.html

With that in mind, I share with you a fellow blogger's post from 2009 on the compositional methods of Gustave Flaubert. The author of Madame Bovary would spend long hours at his desk, writing and re-writing his sentences in search of just the right word (le mot juste). He once admitted in a letter to spending five days (five!) on a single page. His methods, exhaustive and exhausting, are certainly not for everyone, but if you're engaged in that sometimes lonesome process of making sentences, there's nothing like turning to a master for a little company and instruction.

And don't forget: you can share your methods and your writing with our adult writer's group here at the public library. It meets on the first Saturday of each month at 10 a.m. in the Boardroom.

Image courtesy of Curtis E. Oso

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Word Woman


Welcome to another wild and wonderful episode of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! A mind is a terrible thing to waste, so keep yours firing on all cylinders with life-long learning. Here's the Word of the Week to get you started:

Myriad: (noun)

1. Ten thousand

2. A great number

"myriad", http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/myriad , 3/1/2011.

Example: Such a myriad of people arrived before opening on the day of the big sale that the employees feared that the security gate would not hold long enough for them to open the store.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Tournament of Books



http://www.themorningnews.org/tob/

In case you didn't know, the annual Morning News Tournament of Books starts today. It's like March Madness for reading, where judges (culled from the publishing and lit-blog worlds) pit sixteen books against each other in head-to-head match-ups, with a champion chosen by month's end. The method is totally subjective, and more often than not your favorites will lose to books you've never heard of or even dislike. That's okay because it's more about the discussions that follow than it is about any assumed winner. And likely--and this is what's great about it--you'll find a gem of a book that you might not have heard about otherwise.

Artwork by Jean-Leon Gerome, whose incredible paintings can be viewed here.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Word Woman


Welcome to another astonishing installment of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! Spring is just around the corner, and now is a great time to sweep all of those winter cobwebs out of your head by learning new words. Here's the Word of the Week to get you started:
Redoubtable:
1. causing fear or alarm, formidable
2. illustrious, eminent; broadly: worthy of respect
Example: The redoubtable reference librarian ruled her department like a lioness and no matter how obscure the question posed to her, she was able to answer it.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Read Across America Day!

March 2 is the birthday of Theodor Geisel, known to generations of young readers as Dr. Seuss. In his honor, it has been declared Read Across America Day by the National Education Association. This is the 14th year that thousands of participating schools, libraries and community centers will celebrate the day by reading together. Geisel died in 1991.
Washington, D.C., will celebrate Read Across America Day with First Lady Michelle Obama reading "Green Eggs and Ham" at the Library of Congress at 11 a.m. She'll be joined by actress Jessica Alba, Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver, NEA President Dennis Van Roekel, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and others.
Dr. Seuss' works are central to the project, and publisher Random House has a package of special Read Across America Day materials available for educators at the website Seussville.com. The website on its own is pretty Seuss-er-ific.
The official Dr. Seuss app-maker is also celebrating. All week long, Dr. Seuss e-book apps are on sale, 25% to 75% off. The Dr. Seuss Happy Birthday to You Camera app is free.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Toni Morrison turns 80


For those that are fans of Toni Morrison, you may want to brush up on her accomplishments as we wish her a happy birthday. She was born in 1931 and made her debut as a novelist in 1970 with her first novel, The Bluest Eye. She has been awarded a long string of awards and prizes, including the Pulitzer Prize in 1988.

If you are a fan you might enjoy taking the quiz at http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/quiz/2011/feb/22/toni-morrison-80-quiz and see just how much you know about her.

You'll find her works in the library in the children's section in the Easy books and in the children's non-fiction section under 379.263, in the adult fiction section under MORRISO, and in the adult nonfiction section under 374.7326 as well as in the literature section under 808.8, 810.9803, 813.52 and 818.52.