Springfield Library Corner
August 14, 2003

ELEANOR'S BEST WEBSITES

Australian Wildlife at www.australianwildlife.com.au

Blue Ridge Parkway at www.blueridgeparkway.org

Every Rose – The Rose Reference Database at www.everyrose.com/everyrose/index.lasso

Illuminating the Renaissance at www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/flemish/home.html

Pennsylvania Travel and Tourism at www.experiencepa.com

Understanding Turbans at seattletimes.nwsource.com/news/lifestyles/links/turbans_27.html

BITS FROM THE IT MAN

Are you someone who likes to read up on a product before purchasing it? Do you find Consumer Reports helpful? You can exercise the same discretion when it comes to deciding who your elected officials will be and several Internet sites will help you.

Public Citizen, founded by consumer activist and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader at www.citizen.org lets you view voting records and take action on a variety of issues.

Congress.org at www.congress.org also shows you voting records, lets you send e-mails or even have letters hand-delivered to your representatives and senators. The League of Women Voters at www.lwv.org is also worth a visit.

What stand do your elected officials take on protecting the environment when it comes time to cast a vote? The League of Conservation Voters at www.lvc.org keeps close score.

If you live in Pennsylvania, check out the Committee of Seventy’s website at www.seventy.org and, if Philly politics is of interest to you, don’t pass go without visiting www.hallwatch.org.

If you are California dreaming, visit the website of the frontrunner in the gubernatorial recall election where, at the time of this writing, the only information is a form permitting you to contribute online but, please, no more than $21,200. This candidate’s voting record is secret since he has never held public office and, if he voted at all, voted as an ordinary citizen.

More information on this formidable contender who has achieved all three of his reputed lifetime goals- move to the US, become an actor, and marry a Kennedy - is available on the Internet Movie Database at us.imdb.com

Don’t forget to register by October 6 to vote in the November 4 election by picking up a form at the library or downloading one from the library’s website at fls.mclinc.org/pennsylvania_register_vote.pdf


JOY'S PICKS

Aerobatics is not for wimps. An aerobatic pilot is a risk taker who becomes one with his plane to accomplish seemingly impossible stunts. Joshua Cooper Ramo’s “No Visible Horizon” is the story of pilots and planes and fearlessly driven individuals. If you’re a thrill seeker you’ll love this book!

Are you a bargain hunter? “Free Stuff & Good Deals for Folks Over 50” by Linda Bowman is chock full of ways to save money. According to the author you can have the “time of your life in the prime of your life!”

American Sign Language (ASL) is the third most common language in North America. “Talking With Your Hands, Listening with Your Eyes” by Gabriel Grayson is a wonderfully comprehensive introduction to this totally visual means of communication. The author covers the basics as well as “etiquette” tips to give the signer confidence in any situation.

Overweight, neurotic and totally self absorbed author Jane Stern embarks on life as an EMT after selflessly coming to the aid of a stranger on a grounded airplane. “Ambulance Girl” is her humorous account of how she accomplished the seemingly impossible. This is the story of a middle aged woman in crisis who saves herself by learning to save others.

A fresh coat of paint will brighten the dreariest room. Today’s paints and painting techniques are as varied as an artist’s palette. “The Complete Book of Paint” by David Carter is an all-inclusive guide that will show you the total picture before you even pick up a brush. So check out this book and surprise yourself with your creativity!

LIBRARIAN'S PICKS

Librarian’s Pick of the Week: “Haunted Ground” by Erin Hart.

Hart’s first book is deeply engrossing, part novel, part mystery, as Irish archaeologist Cormac Maguire is asked to investigate the remains of a woman found in a peat bog by turf-cutters. Peat bogs prevent decay, so the head, the only part that appears to have been buried, is amazingly well-preserved.

Joining the dig is an unexpected variety of people: the peat cutter, Brendan McGann, whose surly demeanor hides a secret from his family, Nora Gavin, an American pathologist, whose job it is to assist Cormac with the examination of the remains, Hugh Osborne, whose wife and son disappeared mysteriously two years earlier, and Garrett Devaney, a policeman, whose presence at the site indicates his drive to solve the mystery of Mina and Chris Osborne’s disappearance and redeem himself before he is ordered off the case.

There is a lovely Irish ambiance about this scenario, a mixing of past and present that allows the reader to understand the pull of the old ways and the fascination of the new. Who is the mysterious red-haired girl from the bog? More importantly, who are these people surrounding her? Hart’s story will draw you in.

Also new and recommended: “The Marrying Game” by Kate Saunders; “Theater of the Stars” by N.M. Kelby; “Cypress Grove” by James Sallis; “A Bloodhound to Die For” by Virginia Lanier; “Bubbles Ablaze” by Sarah Stohmeyer; :One Knight Only” by Peter David; “Breaking Her Fall” by Stephen Goodwin; “Last Things” by Ralph McInerny; “Mortals” by Norman Rush; “The Druid King” by Norman Spinrad; “Dead for Life” by Ethan Black; “Suspicious Origin” by Patricia MacDonald; “Power on her Own” by Judith Cutler; and “Isabelle’s Daughter” by Judith Hendricks.

New nonfiction: “Children Who Kill” by Carol Anne Davis; “Origami Ornaments” by Lew Rozelle; “The Peanut Allergy Answer Book” by Michael Young; “The New Reality of Wall Street; “Somewhere In Ireland A Village is Missing An Idiot” by David Feherty; “Planet of the Umps” by Ken Kaiser; “The Secret Life of a Schoolgirl” by Rosemary Kingsland; “The New Killer Diseases” by Elinor Levy; and “The Book of Runes” by Francis Neville.

For the kids: “Josephina Hates Her Name” by Diana Engel; “Horrible Harry and the Mud Gremlins” by Suzy Kline; “The Great God Pan” by Donna Jo Napoli; “The 7th Knot” by Kathleen Karr; “Teenage Mermaid” by Ellen Schreiber; and “The Case of the Burrowing Robot” by John Erickson.