Looking for an uplifting read?

Flavorwire just released a list of uplifting books for lonely souls that contains some unexpected titles. Compiled by Kathleen Masara you may want to consider one of these titles for your next uplifting read whether your soul is lonely or not.
Still life with woodpecker by Tom Robbins on order
Vida by Patricia Engel call# ENGEL
High fidelity by Nick Hornby @ our partner libraries
The amazing adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon @ our partner libraries
A natural history of the senses by Diane Ackerman call# 612.8 ACKERMA
Me talk pretty one day by David Sedaris call# 814.54 SEDARIS
Bridget Jones' diary by Helen Fielding call# FIELDIN
Radio Free Dixie by Timothy B Tyson
The Alchemist by Paul Coelho call# COELHO
A people's history of the United States by Howard Zinn call# 973 ZINN
See the full article at flavorwire.com

April showers/May flowers

April is certainly finishing off with a few showers, so I think we're all looking forward to those May flowers. Get ready for gardening season even when the weather isn't complying by stopping at the library. You'll find some great gardening books on everything from vegetables to wild flowers to The Book of Weeds. Learn the tricks to ripen those tomatoes to a beautiful red glow, or to bring out the sunshine in gorgeous yellow daisies. We even have titles on low-maintenance gardening that lets you enjoy your garden and the rest of your life.

If you're looking forward to getting out to the garden, here's where you should look:

• Adult, children's or young adult non-fiction: 635s
• Check the 635s in our DVD collection in Entertainment Central - we have quite a few how-to videos there
• We even have Chicken Soup for the Gardener's Soul on CD
• And for fiction readers - search our catalog for "gardening and fiction" - I think you'll be amazed at what you see!

What to read next...

Stumped about what to read next? Try NextReads! Our newest addition to the library, NextReads offers newsletters suggesting the latest and greatest titles based on the genres you read the most. Do you like romance? Sign up for the romance list. Audiobooks? We have a list for that. Name pretty much any style book you like to read, and you'll find the perfect list to match. All you have to do is check off the newsletters you would like to receive and enter your email address for easy delivery. Your email will not be shared or used for any other purpose. See a sample newsletter before you commit - and unsubscribe anytime you wish. Just follow the link above, or find a link on our homepage too.

Never get caught without a book again!

Olympian Fever

The movie release of Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is just a week away and we're all excited. We must not be the only ones, because our copies of the book, and the other titles in the series, are flying off the shelves. Are you a Percy fan with nothing to read? Try these cool titles...

The Warrior Heir, by Cinda Williams Chima - After learning about his magical ancestry and his own warrior powers, 16-year-old Jack embarks on a training program to fight enemy wizards.

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer - When a 12-year-old genius tries to restore his family fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding a ransom in gold, the fairies fight back with magic, technology, and a particularly nasty troll.

Odysseus in the Serpent Maze by Jane Yolen and Robert Harris - 13-year-old Odysseus, who longs to be a hero, has many opportunities to prove himself during an adventure which involves pirates and satyrs, a trip to Crete's Labyrinth, and the two young girls, Penelope and Helen, who play a major role in his future life.

These are just a few samples of Recommended Reads for Lightning Thief fans you can find by searching in our NovelistPlus resource online.

And don't forget, if you're in grades 4-6 - we're celebrating the movie release of one of our favorite books with an Olympians Party Thursday, Feb. 11, 3:30-5 p.m. Play Olympian Jeopardy, be a god in Olypian Life-Size Monopoly, and eat the food of the gods. See you there!

Favorite Titles of 2009

It's time to take a look back and see what we read in 2009 - and "we" means everybody reading this!

What was good? What wasn't? Did you discover a new author? Break into a different genre? See what our staff has been reading on our Shelfari page if you're a member, or stop by our Staff Picks & Recommended Reads shelf here at the library.

Personally, I read a crazy amount of Young Adult books this year. My reflection? YA is full of series these days - everything is either already part of a series or the start of a new one. This makes it easy to keep reading - when you find a story you like, there will be more - but super frustrating when you're waiting for the next book (like I'm waiting anxiously for the third in the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins - not expected until next fall, yikes!).

So help me keep my sanity while I'm waiting. What have you read in 2009 that you think was a 'don't miss'?

Happily Ever After

I grew up on fairy tales - sitting in the tower with Rapunzel, wandering the woods with Hansel & Gretel, testing porridge with Little Red Riding Hood. At some point I decided I had outgrown fairy tales and it was time to start reading big-people-books. That's why I was so excited to discover some of these great fairy tales for adults:

In our fiction collection...
No One Noticed the Cat, by Anne McCaffrey
That Hideous Strength; a Modern Fairy-Tale for Grownups, by C.S. Lewis
The Cricket on the Hearth, A Fairy Tale of Home, by Charles Dickens
The True Story of Hansel and Gretel, by Louise Murphy
Polically Correct Bedtime Stories, by James Finn Garner

For the retelling of classics, visit our non-fiction collection at 398.21.

I haven't read all of these - yet - but I can't wait. And this is just a sample. We have a great list of Fairy Tales with a Twist in our Young Adult room for the teens, too. (Try Beastly by Alex Flinn for a little beauty and beast adventure as a start.) Happy reading!

April is about more than just poetry

By now we all know that April is National Poetry Month. Being a library it's only fitting that we spend a lot of time talking about it. But another non-fiction section rivals poetry this month. The 641s may well be our largest collection, and I'm sure my fellow librarians will call me to task if I'm way off base. I don't think I am. That leads me to April's other designation: National Grilled Cheese Month!

(Original photo by Flickr user faeryboots. Some Rights Reserved.)

Who knows how it got started? If I had to make up an explanation I would say that because "April is the cruelest month," someone decided we could all use some comfort food to get us through. And notice how I brought this post full circle by mentioning a poem. Clever, right?

If you don't have your grilled cheese recipe perfected yet, the library has you covered. Here are some resources for you to get started:

In the Library

Great grilled cheese : 50 innovative recipes for stovetop, grill, and sandwich maker by Laura Werlin. 641.84 WERLIN

Nancy Silverton's book of sandwiches : the best sandwiches ever from Thursday nights at Campanile by Nancy Silverton. 641.84 SILVERT

The Tillamook cheese cookbook : celebrating 100 years of excellence by Kathy Holstad. 641.373 HOLSTAD

On the Web

The Basic, with suggestions for additions, from Epicurious

Grilled Cheese Sandwich Competition

Maybe more about Grilled Cheese than you'll ever need from Squidoo

Now it's up to you, get out there and grill some comforting sandwiches. I know I've worked up my appetite. And if you live here in Missoula, today would be a perfect day to try out the recipe of your choice since it is so rainy and dreary out.

What Do I Read!!??

Did you make a New Year's resolution to read more this year but just can't figure out what to read next? Don't worry, we've got you covered.

First, check out Novelist Plus one of our e-databases. You'll have to enter your library card number to access this site. You can search for books you've already read and liked and get recommendations for other books and authors to try. This has saved my life on more than one occasion, since my wife regularly enlists me to pick out Chick Lit for her while I'm here at the library.

Also, try the shiny new WhichBook. WhichBook lets you choose elements of a story and then recommends books that match those elements. If you're looking for a happy, unpredictable, conventional story, or something like that, then this is the place for you.

If you're a little more old-fashioned, be sure to look at our staff-picks and themed power walls when you come into the library. You'll always find something new and interesting there.