Mr. Hollywood Speaks

Laugh in the new year with these great comedy recommendations available on DVD!

First, we have Son of Rambow, an off-beat British comedy in which two school-boy buddies set out to make their own epic version of 'Rambo: First Blood'. Armed with a videocamera and their overactive immagination, pretty soon their homemade movie takes on a life of its own.

Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman star in The Savages, a black comedy about two distint siblings who come back into each others' lives to care for their ailing father. This award-winning movie comes highly praised and with plenty of levity.

You can never go wrong with a Disney Pixar movie, so check out Ratatouille, which follows the hilarious adventures of Remy, the rat with a dream to be a chef. Fleeing the French countryside, Remy ends up in a Pariasan restaurant with a chance to fufill his dream along with a little help from a bumbling low level worker.

And don't forget to check out our comedy book and movie selection on display now!

Local History Book Stop

Chartered in 1834, the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) is the oldest American railway still operating under its original name. There are a number of pictorial histories of the LIRR, but Long Island Rail Road by Stan Fischler combines classic and modern photos with a sweeping written history of this legendary line.

The Long Island Rail Road: A Comprehensive History by Vincent F. Seyfried is a well-researched book highlighting the age of expansion of the railroad from 1863 to 1880. In addition, it contains some rare archival photographs.

For pictorial works, try Long Island Rail Road by Fred Kramer. This series of photographs captures the steam-to-diesel transition east of Jamaica. From Arcadia Publishing comes Revisiting the Long Island Rail Road 1925-1975 by David Keller and Steven Lynch and Long Island Rail Road Stations by David D. Morrison and Valerie Pakaluk. Both books present a collection of photos with detailed captions.

Authors Ron Ziel and George H. Foster researched the LIRR firsthand, walking the right-of-ways and riding the trains, from switch engines to parlor cars. For their book Steel Rails to the Sunrise: The Long Island Railroad, they searched every town on the railroad lines. With the help of active and retired railroaders, they unearthed rare photographs and fascinating anecdotes that are a vital part of the history and romance of this unique railroad.

Blue Ribbon Book Stop

Snow might be in the forecast, so to keep your cabin fever in check try checking-out one of these highly recommended new mystery novels. These are not your traditional mystery series novels though and they will keep you guessing till the very end.

Winner of the 2008 Edgar Award for mystery novels, Down River by John Hart tells the story of Adam Chase, newly acquitted from a New York City murder trial and heading home to North Carolina. But home only brings more trouble, as the people around him start to die Adam once again finds himself the prime suspect.

Touted by the New York Times as one of the top crime novels of 2008, The Genius by Jesse Kellerman is an enthralling murder mystery set in the art world. Art gallery owner Ethan Muller exhibits a collection of drawings that unknowingly contain the portraits of four children from a decades old murder case. This sets off a dramatic series of events that leads Ethan and a detective on the hunt for the killer.

Another Edgar Mystery Award, this time for 2007, Jason Goodwin's The Janissary Tree takes a historical fiction approach to the murder mystery novel. Set in the Ottoman Empire in 1836, a eunuch intelligence agent is searching for the culprit of a string of political murders that threatens to topple the sultan's delicate balance of power.

If you breeze through these recommendations we have plenty of more books in our mystery section that will keep you going through the winter.

Born To Be Wild

Tis' the season to be active! Check out some of these books on winter sports.
There are many things to get you out of the house this winter. Read about some of the festivities you may enjoy to get your blood pumping like snowboarding, skiing, hockey, ice fishing or hunting.

Snowboarding Skills : The Back-To-Basics Essentials For All Levels by CindyKleh covers everything you need to know about this exiting sport. Whether you are a novice or an experienced snowboarder, there's lots here to help you enjoy boarding even more.

Anyone Can Be An Expert Skier 1 :The New Way To Ski by Harald Harb

All it takes to be an expert skier are the correct movements and the right equipment. Anyone Can Be An Expert Skier 1 helps you learn these movements, and to pick the equipment that's right for you.

The Hockey Handbook by Lloyd Percivval is the first book required by players or coaches at all levels of proficiency who are setting out to develop their own or their team's hockey skills. Newly redesigned and issued in an easy-to-use format, this book will serve as an inspiration and guide to future generations of players and coaches.

Fishing On Ice:A Complete Guide To Gear, Fish, And Fun by Noel Vick is like having your own personal ice fishing guide with a cover. Easy-to-understand tips from professional anglers will help all ice enthusiasts catch more fish. It's a must-read for anyone who desires to increase their ice fishing success.

The Complete Guide to Hunting by Don Oster will help you find tips and techniques for hunting big game, small game, upland birds, turkeys and waterfowl. With over 450 color illustrations, this book teaches you how to turn your time in the field into a memorable hunt.

In the News

India offers its share of prize-winning authors and books. The tragedy in Mumbai, or Bombay as some still call it, gives us a chance to reflect on this fascinating and culturally diverse country.

At the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, the sovereign nations of India and Pakistan were born. Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire by Alex von Tunzelmann richly portrays the end of an empire and the rise of Mohandas Gandhi.

First Darling of the Morning: Selected Memories of an Indian Childhood by Thrity Umrigar, bestselling author of The Space Between Us, is a story intimately and compassionately told against the sensuous background of everyday life in Bombay.

No selection of books about India would be complete without authors V.S. Naipaul, the first Booker Prize winner of Indian descent and a Nobel Prize winner, and controversial author Salman Rushdie, another Booker Prize winner. Naipaul's book India: A Million Mutinies Now is a vivid travelogue that encompasses the India of the 1990s. Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Rushdie is a timeless novel that effortlessly transcents political and religious squabbling and is great for children and adults.

The Alchemy of Desire by Tarun J. Tejpal is a novel that brings the reader to the top of the world and into the fabled Himalayan mountains. It celebrates the chaotic spirit of a country during a time of great change--at the turn of the millennium.

For another perspective, try noted American travel writer Paul Theroux's fictional account of today's India. The Elephanta Suite weaves three intertwined novellas of Westerners transformed by their sojourns in India.

There's a wealth of material to choose from. Visit the Reference Desk for more suggestions on this legendary nation.

Blue Ribbon Book Stop

Fantasy, fact, and fiction merge in some unusual Long Island stories. Bridging the past and the future, A Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin is a fanciful love story of a master thief and a white horse. Helprin begiles us with Baymen and billionaires and an ongoing search to stop time for the sake of love. This is the prefect tale to hunker down to on those cold winter nights.

The manipulation of time continues in The Montauk Project by Preston B. Nichols with Peter Moon. Part legend, and part conjecture, this chronicles one of the most amazing and secretive research projects in recorded history. Beginning in 1943, it culminates in bizarre experiments at Montauk Point.

Set in a small Long Island fishing community in 1947, Amagansett by Mark Mills is a dark and thoughtful story of a fisherman who finds his life transformed forever when he pulls up the body of a beautiful young woman in his fishing nets. This was previously a Long Island Reads book, part of a reading program for promoted by public libraries on Long Island.

For more fiction unique to Long Island, check with the Reference Desk.

Local History Book Stop

From 1640 to 1918, Long Island's inhabitants actively participated in the whaling industry. For Candlesticks & Corset Stays: Long Island's Yankee Whalers by Laurence Cone provides an historic look at whaling in and around Cold Spring Harbor. Mark Well the Whale! Long Island Ships to Distant Seas by Frederick P. Schmitt recreates the Golden Age of whaling in this area, while Whales and Whaling: Sag Harbor, New York, edited by George A. Finckenor, provides insight into the topic with documents from a whaling fleet.

Descendants of these formidable whaling clans, the bay fishermen, also play an important role in the historic fishing culture of Long Island. Men's Lives: The Surfmen and Baymen of the South Fork by Peter Matthiessen captures the lifestyle of this waning three hundred year old society of the commercial fishermen on the east end of Long Island. The hardcover version of the book contains black and white illustrations of another bygone era.

Mr. Hollywood Speaks

Looking for something otherworldly? Search no further! Here at the library we have a great collection of new and old science fiction flicks that will transport you to far away galaxies.

Starting with the not-so-ordinary, The Fountain is a smart and enthralling sci-fi story that is heartbreaking and intriguing all at once. Staring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz, this story of life, death, and love spans over a thousand years.

Zathura is the quasi-sequel to Jumangi, only this time a magical board game leads to an outer-space adventure. Thrilling and comical, this family movie comes highly recommended.


Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is a throwback film with the look and feel of vintage 1930s science fiction movies, like Metropolis and Buck Rogers. Joe "Sky Captain" Sullivan and beat reporter Polly Perkins are out to save the world from a mad scientist with city-crushing robots.

Last on the list is Tin Man, a new twist on the Wizard of Oz original, this sci-fi channel mini-series stars Zoe Daschanel as Dorthoy. The modern day update returns Dorothy back to the land of Oz and on the run from the evil sorceress Azkadellia.

Where the Fur Flies

Love Animals? Of course you do or you wouldn't be reading this blog. Human-animal relationships have become a popular topic. Therapy dogs, service animals, even wildlife viewing, have enhanced the lives of humans. We have great books by authors such as Jane Goodall, Caesar Millan, and Monty Roberts to further our appreciation of animals. The following selections will make you laugh and cry. Enjoy and please make comments! I love to hear from all you animal lovers.

Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched The World by Vicki Myron. As a kitten left in the book-drop bin, this special cat charmed his way into the lives of the people of Spencer, Iowa.

Chosen By A Horse: A Memoir by Susan Richards. A charming story of a women whose hurts from a difficult past are healed with the help of an abused horse rescued by the SPCA. This special relationship alters her life.

Dog Man: An Uncommon Life On A Faraway Mountain by Martha Sherrill. This gripping biography tells how one man saved the entire breed of Akita dogs during WWII.

Duma, starring Campbell Scott & Hope Davis, is a DVD. Watch the unbreakable bond of friendship between a young boy and a cheetah.

Book Discussion: Lost in the Forest

Wednesday, November 19
7 p.m.

Saturday, November 22
2 p.m.

Bestselling author Sue Miller sets this novel in the vineyards of Northern California where tragedy shatters a family's peace. With astonishing sensuality and immediacy, Lost in the Forest moves through the most intimate realms of domestic life from grief and sex to adolescence and marriage. Here is a rich tale of a family breaking apart and coming back together again.

Go to the Reference Desk to register for the book discussion and order a copy of this bestseller.

Local History Book Stop

For those who enjoy Halloween and a good scare or two, the library has some creepy new books just for you. Long Island ghost lecturer and author Kerriann Flanagan Brosky, with the help of paranormal investigator Joe Giaquinto, entertains and provides historic insights into Long Island's haunted history.

Brosky's first book, Ghosts of Long Island: Stories of the Paranormal, captures the real-life ghost stories surrounding Long Island homes and businesses, based on interviews with real people! Ghosts of Long Island II: More Stories of the Paranormal focuses on the spiritual aspect to a greater degree, according to Brosky, while providing an understanding of our Native American past.

Spooky Creepy Long Island by Scott Lerfebvre is somewhat lighter fare with thirty-five haunting tales of Long Island's supernatural history. From the infamous Amityville house to asylums, and creepy lighthouses, Lerfebvre provides a brief overview for the curious reader, or for those wishing to explore some actual haunted sites.

Visit our "thrilling, chilling, and terrifying..." display with the bat for more scary stories and strange phenomena. (On display through October 2008)

Listen Up!

Have you listened to a Playaway yet? It is the easiest way to listen to a book or music because the title is already loaded on a digital player. It weighs only 2 ounces, and there is no need for a separate CD or tape player. All you need is a battery and earphones and you are ready to go.

Feeling the need for some inner peace, how about listening to the Playaway, The Beginner's Guide to Meditation? The author Joan Z. Borysenko, Ph.D., leads you through three distinct forms of meditation: concentration, mindfulness, and a centering pray.

For peace of mind and body, listen to the Playaway 1 on 1 Yoga . O2 Yoga. The instructor, Mimi Loureiro, uses heat-generating sequences of postures and a mind-focusing breathing technique. The result is an invigorating and calming vinyasa yoga experience.

Feeling the need for some harmony? Give a listen to the Playaway Being in Balance. Author and lecturer Wayne W. Dyer shows you how to restore balance in your life by offering nine principles for realigning your thoughts so that they correspond to your highest desires.

Hermann Hesse's book Siddhartha, available on Playaway, is a sort of Buddhist guide to the unraveling of the tantalizing mysteries of Asian philosophy. Hesse's credo, "There is no duty, no duty whatever, for awakened humanity except the one duty to seek one's self, to become firm within oneself, to grope one's way forward, no matter where the road may lead." The Siddhartha is a story about a young man and his journey to find truth and balance in life.

Our Playaways are located by the books on CD and tape. Stop by the library and check one out.

Mr. Hollywood Speaks

Based on a true story... Whether its a gripping drama or an inspirational story this month's recommendations are all based on true events. With that in mind, we have a great line-up of films that are must-watches. And if you like what you see, be sure to ask at the Reference Desk for books on the same subject.

Glory Road, on DVD, is the inspiring true story of Coach Don Haskins and the Texas Western basketball team. This is the underdog story of history's first all African American lineup that went on to win the 1966 NCAA championship.

Football season is in full swing, so before the next big game check out Disney's Invincible: Inspired By a True Story on DVD. This chronicles the true story of Vince Papale, a 30-year-old part-time bartender who made it to the Philadelphia Eagles after they held open tryouts in 1976.

And finally we have the heartbreaking and riveting true story of Mariane Pearl, wife of the Daniel Pearl, the Washington Post reporter who was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in 2002. A Mighty Heart follows Mariane's story of the desperate search for her missing husband and her courage in the face of insurmountable odds.

Born to be Wild!

Our adventures will now take you to the extreme north and the extreme south. Available for your reading pleasure are a few Arctic and Antarctic exploration books from our collection that will let you feel the chill of winter a bit early. So set a fire in the fireplace, grab a blanket and one of our books, and enjoy!

A Fabulous Kingdom : The Exploration of the Arctic by Charles Officer and Jake Page. "Inconsistant and forbidding, the Arctic lured misguided voyagers into the cold for centuries--pushing them beyond the limits of their knowledge, technology, and stamina." This book charts these quests and the eventual race for the North Pole.

"The link to friends and family had been severed. Now there was no turning back. The only direction home was..." North to the Pole. North to the Pole by

Will Steger with Paul Schurke explains how in 1986 the Steger International Polar Expedition set out with no resupply of equipment or supplies to prove the heavily debated question of whether Robert Peary reached the Pole in 1909 in a similar manner.

Here we have another North Pole adventure: Across the Top of the World: To the North Pole by Sled, Balloon, Airplane and Nuclear Icebreaker. This one took place in 1991 aboard the Soviet nuclear-powered icebreaker Sovetskiy Soyuz. This adventure traces the routes of such explorers as Dr. Frederick Cook, Admiral Robert Peary, Admiral Byrd, Sir John Franklin, George Nares, and others who launched their own treacherous expeditions.

Sara Wheeler's book entitled Terra Incognita:Travels in Antarctica tells of how the author embarked on the same journey as the famous Ernest Shackleton. Eighty years after Shackleton, Wheeler weaves together her own experiences on the ice, linked with the grueling advetures of Antarctica's most mythic figures.

In Scott of the Antarctic: A Life of Courage and Tragedy by David Crane, Crane provides a portrait of the explorer that has not been seen in prior works. Also included are accounts of Scott's dramatic journeys that are the most compelling parts of his story. These are only slices of a larger narrative that includes remarkable scientific achievement and the challanges of a tumultuous private life.