TitleTales

Blog: The Lineup: by Kim Stack

Adult post—11/27/09
Recently I’ve had several projects for which I have been doing assigned reading. This means that although I love reading and will read anything with print (bus transfers, cereal boxes, etc.), I occasionally find myself not honestly enjoying the material. This feeling is worsened when I’ve read something that I really, really enjoyed and nothing will compare. (I’ve just finished Kathryn Stocketts’ The Help as a librarian in Alabama encouraged me to do. Weighty issues about race relations at the onset of school integration in the 60s presented in a fine, storyteller’s style and well worth the read.) In the middle of slogging through books not of my choice, I often find myself totally distracted by a work with which I spend more time than I should. In this case, I discovered a terrific nonfiction read, The Lineup. This is a collection of essays or short stories about the detectives featured in mystery series Alex Delaware, Jack Reacher, Tess Monaghan and 19 others. The essays tell us the backstories of these characters and how the writers came to portray them. Edited by Otto Penzler, these will fascinate the mystery reader.

• Browse our Blog: The Lineup list

Early Learning DVDs: by Erin Stachowiak

A/V post—11/27/09
When I was younger I didn’t have a lot to choose from for educational programming. Grover was my favorite Sesame Street monster and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood was a great place to spend the afternoon, but kids nowadays have a lot more options. With shows like Barney, Yo Gabba Gabba! and Peep and the Big Wide World, educational television has become both a great source of knowledge and entertainment for children. It may be hard to choose, but the important topics are always covered. And don’t forget, Sesame Street is still sweeping the clouds away.

• Browse our DVD — Early Learning list

ABC Books: by Lori Fennel

Juvenile/YA’s post—11/27/09
The alphabet book may be one of the most common children’s book topics out there, but that doesn’t mean worthwhile ones aren’t produced every year. And of course, they can deliver much more information than just the 26 letters. I’ve found the most interesting of those recently published, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s beautiful large-format board book My First ABC to Parents’ Choice Silver Winner Alphabeasties and Other Amazing Types – along with all the classics I could find, from Alligators All Around to The Z Was Zapped. For extra fun, see if you can figure out in which book L stands for “Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch,” a train station in Wales. (I’ve marked it with a boxed note.)

• Browse our Blog: ABC Books list

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