Monday, December 31, 2012

Library Closures - New Year's

All four Chandler Public libraries will close at 5:00 pm on Monday, December 31. They will remain closed on Tuesday, January 1 and reopen with normal hours on Wednesday, January 2. (Hamilton and Basha libraries open at 9:00 am during the school intersession.)

Before 2012 is over, take a last look back at the most popular items of the year! ** 



Nonfiction
Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Fiction 
Fifty Shades series

Youth/Teen Fiction
The Hunger Games series
Divergent series
Freebooter's Paradise

DVD
Descendants
War Horse
Downton Abbey

Children's DVD
Hugo
We Bought a Zoo
Adventures of Tintin

Teen DVD
Hunger Games
Breaking Dawn
The Avengers

** Popularity determined by number of holds placed in 2012. Some items were published in previous years.

Monday, December 24, 2012

Library Closures - Christmas

All four Chandler Public libraries will close at 5:00 pm on Monday, December 24. They will remain closed on Tuesday, December 25 and reopen with normal hours on Wednesday, December 26. (Hamilton and Basha libraries open at 9:00 am during the school intersession.)


What to do when the kids are done opening presents? Give them something to read! TumbleBook Library features interactive books - words, pictures, audio and animation - that kids can read along to. There are picture books, chapter books, even nonfiction books such as facts about animals and learning different languages. Read them online, no need for an ebook reader or any software to download. Just use your library card and PIN numbers to log in from home.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Basha Library staff picks



Check out December's suggestions from Basha Library staff!

Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Books Can Be Deceiving by Jenn McKinlay
Stories edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio
Marni by Marni Bates
Tiny Homes: Simple Shelter by Lloyd Kahn
Undeadly by Michele Vail
The Color of Water by James McBride
Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Barefoot Contessa: Foolproof by Ina Garten
Trial By Fire by J.A. Jance
An Invisible Thread by Laura Schroff and Alex Tresniowski

Monday, December 10, 2012

Book Review: Hole in My Life

When award-winning children's book author Jack Gantos was a teenager, all he wanted to was to write, but he didn't know how to start. He didn't think his life was interesting enough, and worse, he was living with his father in the riot-torn Virgin Islands, building crates for people who wanted to move away to safety and not making any money for college. So when a drug smuggler offered him a deal - ten thousand dollars to help sail a boat filled with two thousand pounds of hash to New York - Gantos thought it was his ticket out of misery.

Hole in My Life is Gantos' memoir of the worst mistakes he ever made, his badly spent youth, his decision to smuggle the drugs, his time spent in federal prison. But the biggest mistake might have been his own self-doubt and lack of confidence as a writer, and prison time is the only thing that helps him conquer it. Gantos doesn't shy away from the darkest facts, writing with a clear and surprisingly humorous voice that makes this memoir a fascinating read. Gantos is best known for the Rotten Ralph and Joey Pigza books, as well as the Newbery winner Dead End in Norvelt. -Michelle (Sunset)

Monday, December 3, 2012

Book Review: Friendkeeping

Journalist and memoir writer Julie Klam describes herself as "a middle-aged person who uses the term 'BFF' without irony," and is baffled by her mother's lack of best friends. But whether you fall into Klam's camp or her mother's, you'll find something to smile about in Friendkeeping, a collection of anecdotes about friends. From childhood friends to those she met on Facebook, sensible friends to crazy ones, successful friends (whom she can't help being jealous of) to the odd hierarchy of play-group parents (arranged by the developmental milestones their kids have hit), you'll recognize someone in Klam's stories. Some stories carry a lesson about how to keep friendships alive, some are just laugh-out-loud funny, but all of them will make you appreciate the friends you have. - Michelle (Sunset)