New Arrivals In Parent Teacher Section!

We have added several new titles to the Parent Teacher Section located downstairs across from the videos in the library.

Titles are listed alphabetically; call numbers are listed at the end of entry.

The Handy Biology Answer Book; PT/570/Han

The Geography Bee: A Complete Preparation Handbook; PT/910.797/Ros

The Handy Geography Answer Book; PT/910.76/Ros

The Handy History Answer Book; PT/909/FER

The Handy Math Answer Book; PT/510/Bar

The Handy Physics Answer Book; PT/530/Gun

The Handy Science Answer Book; PT/500/Clp

We hope you enjoy checking out these new titles!

New Arrivals In Various Sections

We have added new titles to several sections. This post will cover Easy Reader Fiction, DVD's, Young Adult Fiction, and CD's.

Easy Reader Fiction Titles--call number is located at the end as always!

Diary Of A Fly; by Doreen Cronin; E/Cro

Knuffle Bunny Too; by Mo Willems; E/Wil

Young Adult Fiction Title

The Courtship; by Gilbert Morris; YA/Fic/Mor

DVD Title

Transformers; DVD/335

CD Title

White Christmas; Bing Crosby; CD/130

We hope you'll stop in to check out these items!

Driving Lessons (2007)

This is the first DVD review for the blog, and I'm very excited! I'm reviewing the movie Driving Lessons (2007), starring Rupert Grint, Julia Walters, and Laura Linney.

This is a British film set in England and Scotland. Two neurotic women--Walters, a retired actress, and Linney, the boy's mother--quite literally fight for a boy's (Grint) soul one summer as he grows into adulthood. Both women admittedly each have a screw loose in their heads. The boy's mother wants him to remain a boy--someone over whom she has complete control, who is basically at her beck and call. While the actress depends upon the boy for friendship and companionship, ultimately she does indeed have his best interests at heart as she provides the encouragement and support for him to break from his mother and become a living, thinking being in his own right who will stand up for himself and his own best interests. Bizarre situations, neurotic dialogue, and hilarity ensue.

The driving lessons of the title refers to the fact that at the beginnning of the film, the boy is learning to drive and pass his driver's license exam, and this is, quite hilariously, going terribly for him. Over the course of the film, as he edges closer and closer to adulthood, he learns how to drive, and he eventually becomes a fairly decent driver by the end of the film. His triumph in his 'driving lessons' coincides with his excruciating, yet triumphant, emergence into manhood. Therefore, the driving lessons becomes a metaphor for coming of age in the film.

The film also has a wonderful soundtrack. Driving Lessons can be requested from the Annville Free Library for those wishing to check out this movie.

--reviewed by Ms. Angie

Nothing Left To Lose by Mat Kearney

This is our first review for a music CD. I've never written a review for music before, and during the course of writing this one, I've come to the realization that writing reviews for literature is much easier for me that reviewing music.

I am reviewing a CD called Nothing Left To Lose by the artist, Mat Kearney. This CD is not available in the county library system, but you might be able to request it through the Interlibrary Loan (ILL) system. You can also go to http://matkearney.com/ to listen to some of his songs, and if you do a search for him on http://youtube.com/ you can listen to his songs and view some of his music videos to sample his music.

Mat Kearney. Most of you will want to know--what genre does he sing? Is he country? No. Is he rock? No. Is he pop? Well. Yes and no. Is he rap? Well. Again: yes and no. Kearney wrote or co-wrote every song on this CD and co-produced the CD. He is an extremely talented songwriter and vocalist his style can best be described as a blending of pop and rap. For about half the songs on the CD he uses both rap and sung vocals. Each song is at least as good as the one before it.

There are some clear standouts, and here are my hi-lights--my favorites--from the CD.

"All I Need"-- My friend thinks this is a sweet song. Maybe so, but for me, it is a very sad song as it tells the story of a couple as they weather Hurricane Katrina, and they do not know how well, if at all, they'll survive the night as the storm rages and the waters rise. It is one of my most favorite tracks on the CD.

"Undeniable"-- This is the opening track on the CD; it seamlessly blends rap and sung vocals for a unique song delivery.

"Breathe In Breathe Out" -- This is a bonus track on the CD, and it's the theme for the current season of the ABC show, Grey's Anatomy. It reminds me of some of Coldplay's songs.

I highly recommend this CD to anyone who enjoys listening to different types of music, such as pop, rock, rap, or country. If you are a hardcore country fan, for example, and you refuse to listen to anything except for country music like one person I know, you may not enjoy it, although you should still give it a try.

--Reviewed by Ms. Angie

From Paperbacks To Pumpkins!

We have added a new video to our YouTube channel at http://youtube.com/matthewslibrary. The video features our fearless director, Ms. Sheila, demonstrating how to turn a paperback book into a pumpkin decoration. It also features a clip of the very dark and scary basement of the library where we store all the books for the annual book sale. It's a must see for all you crafters out there!




Enjoy the video! Post a comment to let us know what you think of the craft project!

New Arrivals In Young Adult Fiction!

We have added several titles to the Young Adult Fiction section that is located along the back wall of the library downstairs.

Titles are listed alphabetically by author last name because we have added more than one title belonging to the same author; call numbers are listed at the end.

Karen Kingsbury: On Every Side, Summer, Sunrise, and Just Beyond The Clouds; all located at YA/Fic/Kin

Beverly Lewis: The Parting; YA/Fic/Lew

Gilbert Morris: The Homeplace, The Dream, and The Miracle; all located at YA/Fic/Mor

Stop in and check out these titles tomorrow!

New Arrivals In Juvenile Fiction!

We've added new titles to Juvenile Fiction, which is located downstairs at the library.

Titles are listed alphabetically; call number is listed at the end.

Disney Girls: Adventure At Walt Disney World; by Gabrielle Charbonnet; J/Fic/Cha

George Washington's Breakfast; by Jean Fritz; J/Fic/Fri

The Katie Lynn Cookie Company: The Battle of the Bakers;by G.E. Stanley; J/Fic/Sta

Star Wars: Clone Wars; by Jeremy Barlowe; J/Fic/Sta

Check out these new titles sometime when you're at the library!

New Arrivals in Juvenile Non-fiction!

We have added several new titles to our Juvenile Non-fiction section; this section is located downstairs in the library.

Here are the titles in alphabetical order; call numbers are listed at the end.

The Abortion Controversy [Current Controversies series]; Ed. Lucinda Almond; J/363.43/Abo

Che Guevara: In Search of Revolution; by Calvin Craig Miller; J/980.035/Mil

Cleopatra: Ruler of Egypt; by Kerrily Sapet; J/932.021/Sap

Deep Woods: The Story of Robert Frost; by Peggy Caravantes; J/811.52/Car

England's Jane: The Story of Jane Austen; by Juliane Locke; J/823.7/Loc

Fearless Captain: The Adventures of John Smith; by Aleck Loker; J/973.21/Lok

Fidel Castro and The Cuban Revolution; by Rose Blue and Corinne J. Naden; J/972.91/Nad

Human Papillomavirus (HPV); by Don Nardo; J/616.911/Nar

Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union; by Kevin Cunningham; J/947.084/Cun

Mary, Queen of Scots; by Nancy Lotz and Carlene Phillips; J/941.105/Lot

Rosalind Franklin and the Structure of Life; by Jane Polcovar; J/572.829/Pol

Savage Satire: The Story of Jonathan Swift; by Clarissa Aykroyd; J/828.509/Ayk


We hope you'll check out these new titles!

New Arrivals In Videos!

We have added new titles to the video section! There are almost 20 new titles, and because there are so many, I won't be listing all the titles here on the blog. These new videos start at VC/851 and go through VC/868 in the video section located downstairs.

We hope you'll take the time to peruse these new titles to see if there are any you're interested in borrowing!

Contest! Contest! Happy Autumn!

We have a winner of the contest video that we uploaded, and therefore, we have notified the winner and taken down the video. The contest is now closed. Thank you to all who viewed the video and/or entered the contest!

Around The Time Of The Autumnal Equinox

We have posted a new video on YouTube entitled "Around The Time Of The Autumnal Equinox." It's a nature film by our director. We hope you'll check it out.




You can visit our page on YouTube here http://youtube.com/matthewslibrary.

New Arrivals In DVD's!

The library has added several new titles to its DVD collection. The DVD section is located downstairs between the puzzles and the CD collection. We hope you'll check out these new titles!

Titles are followed by call number.

The Civil War [Six volume set]; DVD/315/Civ/Disc 1 - DVD/320/Civ/Disc 6
The Great Masters Of The Italian Renaissance; DVD/321
The Rembrandt Collection; DVD/322
The Hurricane of '38; DVD/323
The Most Dangerous Hurricanes; DVD/324
Rehab Your Body At Home; DVD/325
The Dark Ages; DVD/326
The 13th Warrior; DVD/327
George and the Dragon; DVD/328
The Derby Stallion; DVD/329
Kenny the Shark Feeding Frenzy; DVD/330
Harold and The Purple Crayon--New World To Explore; DVD/331
Harold and The Purple Crayon--Let Your Imagination Soar; DVD/332
Bob the Builder: X-treme Adventures!; DVD/333


The library now has over 300 titles in its DVD collection, and it will continue to grow! Are there any titles you'd like to recommend for addition to the collection? Do you have a favorite movie? Tell us about it in the comments!

Fall Rummage Sale 2007

We have added a new video to YouTube with footage from this year's rummage sale. We'd love to hear from you--leave us a comment.

You can view the video here or you can go to our Youtube page at http://youtube.com/matthewslibrary . We hope you'll check it out!

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

In nineteen minutes, you can mow the lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game...In nineteen minutes, you can order a pizza and get it delivered. You can read a story to a child...You can walk a mile... In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world...In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge.

From the opening lines of Nineteen Minutes

In nineteen minutes, you can read a chapter of a book, losing yourself in the world in which its characters live. In nineteen minutes, you can write a review for that book and publish it to this blog... Well. That last one is a stretch.

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult is the story of a boy and a community. The narrative can be divided into two parts that are effortlessly and skillfully interwoven by the author. One part tells of the aftermath of the nineteen minutes it took for the boy to shoot up his high school, and the other part tells the story of the events and experiences of the preceding seventeen years that led the boy to commit such an unspeakable act of violence.

Ultimately, it is a story about the daily cruelties children are capable of inflicting upon each other and the effect these cruelties wrought upon their recipients. It is also a story of the struggle students endure every day to fit in at their school, to maintain appearances, and to keep hidden deep inside that which makes them who they are for fear of it being used against them in the schoolyard. It is the story of the cost of keeping our true selves hidden and protected from friends and family for fear of being rebuffed and rejected.

Regular readers of Picoult's novels won't be disappointed, this story, like all of her stories, draws the reader into its pages, and it is deeply effecting. The pages keep turning because you know, instinctively, that appearances are deceiving, and all will not be revealed until the end. For those who have never read a Jodi Picoult novel, this is a good one to start with because it will make you stop and think about a lot.

For me, I have yet to find the Picoult novel that is as heart wrenching, effecting, and haunting as one of her earlier novels, My Sister's Keeper. Nineteen Minutes comes close. And at some point in a future blog entry, you will hear more about My Sister's Keeper.

Nineteen Minutes can be found at Fic/Pic in adult fiction, located upstairs in the library. I hope you'll check it out.

Jodi Picoult's official website can be found here http://www.jodipicoult.com/

--Reviewed by Ms. Angie

New Arrivals In Young Adult Fiction!

We have recently added several new titles to YA fiction. This section is located along the back wall of the library downstairs. We hope you'll check out these wonderful new titles!



Titles are listed alphabetically by author last name; call number is listed at the end.



Any Man Of Mine, Carolyne Aarsen; YA/LP/Fic/Aar

The Healing Heart, Rachel Druten; YA/LP/Fic/Dru

The Canopy, Angela Hunt; YA/LP/Fic/Hun

Halfway To Forever, Karen Kingsbury; YA/LP/Fic/Kin

Compassion's Charm, DiAnn Mills; YA/LP/Fic/Mil

The Elusive Mr. Perfect, Tamela Hancock Murray; YA/LP/Fic/Mur

White Chocolate Moments, Lori Wick; YA/LP/Fic/Wic




*Please note that titles with LP in the call number are Large Print editions. They do not have their own section; they are mixed in with the other YA titles and are arranged alphabetically by author last name.

New Additions to Parent/Teacher Section

Recently the library received a grant that made a donation of books and dvd's on the subject of autism and autism spectrum disorders possible. The grant was provided by the PA Parents and Caregivers Network's Mini Money Grant Program. The grant made it possible to obtain a selection of almost 20 titles of both books and dvd's. We here at the library would like to specially thank Diane Grumbine, who was instrumental in obtaining this grant.

The book titles can be found in the Parent/Teacher section that comprises books that have green dots on their spines. It is located near the Easy Non-Fiction section downstairs at the library. Ask the staff person on duty if you need further assistance locating it. The dvd titles are shelved with the dvd section.

Here are the call numbers for these titles:

PT/331.702
PT/362.916
PT/371.9
PT/616.898
PT/618.928
PT/649.62
DVD/310 - DVD/314

A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore

The library is proud to present its first (un)fortunate review vlog post for the title A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. The book was reviewed by a familiar face for some of you here at the library: former library assistant, Ms. Natalie. From time to time we may feature guest reviewers.

We hope you enjoy the vlog. I know we enjoyed making it.




Remember you can visit http://youtube.com/matthewslibrary directly anytime to view all of our videos. We hope you'll visit often, and leave us a message!