Thursday, December 30, 2010

Get the most out of technology

Interested in technology? Check out our new computer books and magazines.

In today's New York Times, Sam Grobart has written an interesting article: "Ten Ways to Get the Most Out of Technology."

Check out David Pogue's Best Tech Ideas of the Year, published in the New York Times.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Cut the clutter

Looking for ways to become more organized? Better Homes and Gardens magazine did a survey. 74.1% of their readers say cutting clutter at home would help make 2011 their best year. Come to the library for some ideas:

Storage
Live a better life with less (books on clutter control)
Built-Ins and Shelves/Cabinets
One year to an organized financial life



Tuesday, December 14, 2010

New York Times - Ten Best Books of 2010

On Sunday, December 12, 2010, the New York Times published their top ten book list for 2010.

Fiction:

Freedom / by Jonathan Franzen. Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
unabridged sound recording on CDs
large print edition

The New Yorker Stories. By Ann Beattie. Scribner.

Room. By Emma Donoghue. Little, Brown & Company.
unabridged sound recording on CDs

Selected Stories. By William Trevor. Viking.

A Visit from the Goon Squad. By Jennifer Egan. Alfred A. Knopf.


Nonfiction:

Apollo's Angels: A History of Ballet
. By Jennifer Homans. Random House.

Cleopatra: a life. By Stacy Schiff. Little, Brown & Company.
unabridged sound recording on CDs

The Emperor of all Maladies: a Biography of Cancer. By Siddhartha Mukherjee. Sribner.

Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981). With Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, and Anecdotes
. By Stephan Sondheim. Alfred A. Knopf.

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration. By Isabel Wilkerson. Random House.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

New and Improved Language Program!

Our online language instruction program, Mango, has just added 7 new languages to their service: Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Indonesian, Slovak, Tamil, and Ukranian. That brings the total to 29 Foreign languages, and English courses in 15 languages.
Foreign languages include: Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Croatian, Czech, Dari, Dutch, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Pashto, Portuguese (Brazilian), Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Tagalog, Tamil, Thai, Turkish, Ukranian, Urdu, and Vietnamese.
You can also find English-as-a-second-language (ESL) instruction from 15 languages: Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Russian, Spanish, Turkish and Vietnamese.
All languages include a basic and complete course. The basic level is perfect for a foreign language beginner, Mango Basic teaches everyday greetings, gratitudes, goodbyes and helpful phrases in a short period of time. If you're looking for something more advanced, Mango Complete offers a 100-lesson course that digs much deeper and is designed to provide a more complete understanding of the entire language and culture.

All you need is a Hamden Library card. Visit Mango and get started today!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Elizabeth Edwards 1949-2010

Elizabeth Edwards was born July 3, 1949 and died December 7, 2010 of cancer at the age of 61. She was an attorney and best-selling author.

Upon the death of her 16 year old son in a traffic accident, she retired from legal practice. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004. Her cancer returned in 2007.

In January 2010 she legally separated from her husband, John Edwards, the former US-Senator from North Carolina who was the 2004 United States Democratic vice-presidential nominee. She actively took part in John Edwards' 2008 presidential bid. Elizabeth Edwards is survived by her three other children: Catharine, Emma Claire and Jack.

Books by Elizabeth Edwards in our library

Obituary by Robert D. McFadden, published in the New York Times, Dec. 7, 2010

Monday, December 6, 2010

Spread Some Holiday Cheer to Those in Need

During the holiday season all three Hamden libraries are accepting donations of coats, gloves, and mittens for adults and children, as well as toys for children of all ages, which will be distributed through the Keefe Center and the Quinnipiac Bank & Trust Company’s Coat Drive. You can also donate non-perishable food for the Hamden Food Bank. All items can be dropped off at Miller Memorial Library, 2901 Dixwell Avenue where the annual “Mitten Tree” has become a tradition for library users. Also participating in this town-wide effort are Brundage Community Branch at 91 Circular Avenue and Whitneyville Branch at 125 Carleton Street. For further information contact the Miller Library Info Desk at 287-2680.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Thornton Wilder Writing Competition

It's time once again for the annual Thornton Wilder Writing Competition. Students from all Connecticut public, private, and parochial high schools students are invited to submit their one-act plays, short stories, essays, poetry, or selections from longer works for the chance to win a cash prize.

Learn more about the Competition>

Download Application

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Mark Twain - bestselling author

Mark Twain's Autobiography is the surprise best-seller of the season. It has gone back to press seven times. More than 350,000 copies of the four pound heavy book have been printed so far. Yet bookstores across the country are running out of copies and are having a hard time keeping up with demand.

Publisher's Weekly, December 6, 2010 reports that the printer of the book, Thomson-Shore located in Dexter, MI rehired employees they laid off in 2009 to fill all three printing shifts. Mark Twain's book is creating jobs!

It has reached the No. 5 spot on the New York Times hardcover nonfiction best-seller list.

Mark Twain's Autobiography Flying Off the Shelves article by Julie Bosman, published in the New York Times Nov. 19, 2010

The University of California Press has published a website for the book with audio, pictures and a timeline of Twain's life.

Visit the Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford with our museum pass.