I love Christmas, but usually, by this time of the year, I’m done with all the cute and cuddly stuff. Or at least that’s my excuse for why most of my favorite Christmas movies are spooky. If you’re looking for a festive movie that’s lower in sugary sweetness, give these a shot.
From the opening montage alone, Krampus won my heart. Seeing people deck each over a toy during Black Friday sets the tone of Krampus. This is a movie that borrows the moralistic slasher rules of older horror movies, like Friday the 13th, and applies that framework to Christmas. Being greedy and only wanting presents? Watch out for Krampus. Bullying your cousin? Watch out for Krampus. It’s refreshing to have a Christmas movie that brings up that the holiday isn’t very jolly anymore and gives us a better reason than coal to be good.
Last month, I gave recommendations of graphic novels for early readers. This month, I have graphic novel recommendations with more complex storylines that are best suited for kids ages 8-12 years old. Though they are certainly not limited to these ages – teens and adults may enjoy them too! Fluency and reading stamina are more established for this age group. While these readers may be at a higher reading level, some may still be reluctant to read traditional chapter books – or they may simply enjoy the visual appeal of graphic novels. In either case, graphic novels are a great option! The full-length stories in the following graphic novels are longer and have more challenging vocabulary, but still have sequenced pictures paired with the text to allow readers to easily follow the plot of the story.
This fast paced and engaging sci-fi/fantasy story, with beautiful illustrations is the first book in the series. War erupts and Oona Lee – a clumsy sand dancer, with the aid of an athlete, and a boy from the slums team up on a quest to save their world. Oona learns a lot about herself during their quest and gains control over her powers, leading to victory…for now.
The Boy Who Crashed to Earth is the first book in the science fiction Hilo series. DJ comes from a family of high-achievers, while he feels like he isn’t good at anything. His life changes when he meets Hilo, the loveable robot from an unknown origin, who falls to Earth. DJ and his friend Gina must help Hilo figure out his identity and save the world in this funny and action-packed story.
The Stonekeeper is the first book in the sci-fi/fantasy Amulet series. This story is a bit dark and intense at times, but exciting and fast-paced. Emily and Navin lose their father in a tragic accident, and then a while later they move with their mother to their great-grandfather’s abandoned house for a fresh start. Things take a strange turn pretty quickly when their mother disappears. The children track her down in an underground world full of strange creatures. An epic adventure ensues as they bravely battle to rescue their mother.
Phoebe releases the unicorn, Marigold Heavenly Nostrils, from a magic spell and is granted one wish. She wishes to become best friends! Readers will enjoy this witty story of the friendship between an awkward girl and an arrogant unicorn. This book has simple but expressive illustrations and is the first book in this lighthearted series.
Astrid has always done everything with her best friend Nicole, until Astrid decides to sign up for roller derby camp and Nicole signs up for dance camp instead. Astrid has to learn how to be strong on her own, and push through insecurities and self-doubt. This is a great story about perseverance, changing friendships, and becoming your own person at a vulnerable point in life.
Did you know that Mead Public Library subscribes to a service that can give you book recommendations? It’s called Novelist, and it will let you enter the title of a book and then suggest “read-alikes” for that book! To give you an idea of what it can do for you, I’ve put a list of the current Top 5 Books in the Monarch System!
These are the five books with the longest waitlists in our library system. Under each one, you can see five more books that Novelist recommends. So get on these waitlists now – and then check out those other books while you wait!
It’s also always a good idea to check out our Lucky Day display when you stop by the library – we have special non-waitlist copies of new books and DVDs that are set aside for this display, so you might be able to skip the line if you’re lucky! (But read or watch it fast – they also can’t be renewed.)
I consider myself a movie fan, but there are just so many movies released every year! There are quite a few movies that I keep meaning to watch, but I just haven’t gotten around to them. Here are the top five I feel the guiltiest about not having seen.
With the new Terminator movie coming out, I felt it would be appropriate to mention how I haven’t seen the original Terminator. It sounds like a sci-fi action movie that I would like, but I tend to not rush after time travel movies. I have seen Terminator 2 and Terminator Genisys, though. I’m aware one of those is way better than the other. The 11th Doctor deserved better than that movie.
The 2019 Nobel Prize in Literature was announced recently – along with the 2018 prize, which was skipped last year. The 2019 winner is Peter Handke, and the 2018 winner is Olga Tokarczuk – clicking their names will take you to a list of their works in our catalog. There’s a great deal of controversy surrounding the prize, which you can read more about in the New York Times.
But this is Throwback Thursday, so we’re looking into the past. 70 years ago, the Nobel Prize in Literature was given to novelist William Faulkner “for his powerful and artistically unique contribution to the modern American novel.” And since the Nobel Prize is not given for a specific work, I thought I would highlight what would have been his most recent novel when he received the prize in 1949.
Graphic novels provide fun, visually stimulating reading options for children of all ages and reading abilities. They are an especially great option for reluctant readers and new readers. Graphic novels are full-length stories that pair a limited amount of text with sequenced pictures. This format helps new readers to more easily follow the plot of the story and to help build the reading stamina needed to read chapter books with more text. We have a large collection of graphic novels in our children’s library that cover a variety of genres. This month, I have some recommendations for early readers.
This is the second book in the early reader series about the friendship between Unicorn and Yeti. These two friends have different abilities and enjoy different activities, but find ways to modify their activities so they can both participate in the fun. Humorous text and bold illustrations add to the appeal of this collection of three short stories.
This is the first book in the Hello, Hedgehog early reader series. There are three humorous short stories about Hedgehog and his bike, and his friendship with Harry. The stories are relatable for young readers and show great examples of a supportive friendship.
It’s almost time for Halloween, which means there should probably be a post about horror books. But there’s a problem – I don’t really read horror books! (The last one I can remember reading is Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas, which I did enjoy… but it’s just not my genre.)
So instead, I decided to ask my coworker Aleah because she reads a lot of horror books! Below are five picks from her – books that she’s read and enjoyed, books that she thinks you should check out for a spooky, scary Halloween read.
“From a master of the short story, a collection that includes stories never before in print, never published in America, never collected and brand new- with the magnificent bones of interstitial autobiographical comments on when, why and how Stephen King came to write each story” – from the publisher
Why you should read it: Each story was different and had its own creepy twist to it. And it’s Stephen King! His short story books are always the best.
It’s finally October! Pumpkins are in stores. Pumpkin spice is in the coffee. The leaves are falling and it’s time to grab a horror movie to put in the DVD player. Horror movies are near and dear to my heart so here are five of my favorites.
Acts of kindness sometimes feel like they are in short supply when we as a society are so often bombarded by negative stories. But if you look for it, you will see that kindness can be found in many places. Children don’t always know how to show kindness, but they can learn through our examples. It’s important to model kind behavior and to be mindful of what we say to and about others. Setting examples of how to show gratitude and sharing encouraging words, as well as modeling how to feel empathy for others are wonderful ways to teach kind behavior. Sharing picture books with children about kindness is also a great way to provide different perspectives and methods of showing kindness. Through these stories, children will see how even small gestures of kindness can leave a lasting impression on others and how kind acts often multiply as the kindness is paid forward. There are many fantastic books about kindness in our library, that when shared with children, can lead to wonderful discussions on how we can choose to act with kindness in our own lives. The following are some of my favorite picture books about kindness.
Tanisha spills juice on her outfit at school and gets laughed at by other children. One of her classmates feels bad when she sees that happen and wants to try to make her feel better. This leads her classmate to ponder what it means to be kind and to wonder how she can help. Readers are taken through a series of thoughts on ways to be kind in small ways, and then shown how those simple acts of kindness can have a ripple effect that touches even more lives.
Salman Rushdie’s latest novel, Quichotte, just came out last month. Inspired by Cervantes’ Don Quixote, it was a finalist for this year’s Booker Prize.
But twenty years ago, Salman Rushdie had a different novel on the New York Times best-seller list (and the Booker Prize list of finalists). And it’s fitting to look at it now, with Banned Books Week just behind us.
This book ended up banned in multiple countries; there were attacks against various translators (and possibly the stabbing death of its Japanese translator, Hitoshi Igarashi); a $6 million dollar bounty was placed on Salman Rushdie’s head. So just what was so controversial about this book?
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