What book do we all reach for before the holidays?  No, silly– not Martha Stewart, the DSM-IV,  (Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders) .

Do you get stressed just thinking about seeing your smarty-pants brother-in-law, your know-it-all sister with her great job in the capital, your annoying parents, the second and third spouses, politically incorrect in-laws, horrible children, maybe even their dogs. I could go on, but the important part of the holidays is to enjoy your extended family, and I’ve found the DSM-IV is a big help.  You’ll feel better quietly diagnosing their neurosis masquerading as snobbery. Awful table manners could be caused by a personality disorder.  Unpleasantness may be a result of many serious mental conditions…

We have lots of more traditional books for the holidays of course, but I like to get ready by going through the mental health section. It’s amazingly interesting…. hmmm…. maybe I’ll just glance through  some of those books on “how to calm down and enjoy life”.  “Unstuck” by James S. Gordon looks really good….

Filed under: Books, Movies, Music> Research> Staff Picks
Tags: books, holidays, thanksgiving
by Lisa on November 5, 2009
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Do you use the Michigan Electronic Library (MeL), or the services it provides like online databases or the Michigan Electronic Catalog (MeLCat)? MeL is looking for patron input on its services. Take a moment to take this online survey and share your thoughts.

Filed under: News

by Kristen on November 4, 2009
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In addition to Spanish language materials, which all of our branches offer, the Main branch also has books in Bosnian, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, and Vietnamese.  This past year we actively added to the Chinese,  French, German, Italian, Russian and Vietnamese collections (and, of course, Spanish).  A whole new collection is also available now–Arabic books!

Filed under: Research
Tags: collections, Research, world languages
by khawkins on November 4, 2009
1 Comment »

Do you like pizza? Do you like adventure? Do you like both at the same time? Then join the discussion on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 4pm of Caroline Cooney’s book Code Orange. Pick up a copy at the Main Library or check one out from any of our branch libraries.

Book Description: “In top, utterly terrifying form, Cooney leads a gregarious New York City teenager to a century-old sample of smallpox scabs. As dedicated to avoiding study as he is to getting closer to classmate Olivia, Mitty is oblivious to the danger he, she, and everyone else in the crowded city is in from his possible exposure to this hyper-contagious, utterly devastating disease–until he starts looking into smallpox for a school project. Drawing from several medical resources, which she lists at the end, Cooney lays out the illness’s history and symptoms in precise, gruesome detail as a horrified Mitty writhes on the horns of a dilemma: Is the virus still active? Can he find a way to prevent an epidemic if it is? Should he tell the authorities, and look like a total dork if it isn’t? Then, in a heartstopping twist, Mitty is kidnapped by terrorists intent on using him as a biological weapon. Readers won’t soon forget either the profoundly disturbing premise of this page-turner or its likable, ultimately heroic slacker protagonist.” (description from Amazon.com)

Where does the pizza come in? It will be available for consumption by program attendees.

Think the book sounds boring? Come anyway so you can give input on what you think should be read next.

Filed under: Books, Movies, Music> Event> Teens
Tags: Code Orange, teen book discussion group, Teens
by Julie on November 2, 2009
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Perhaps you don’t think of yourself as a caregiver but, according to the National Family Caregivers Association, “more than 50 million people provide care for a chronically ill, disabled or aged family member or friend during any given year.”

November is National Family Caregivers Month and the Grand Rapids Public Library has partnered with the Caregiver Resource Network to offer two programs to recognize and assist caregivers in their caregiving journey at the Main Library.

On Tuesday, November 10th, beginning at 4:00 p.m., join us for a busy and informational afternoon and evening as we welcome Joy Spahn, Regional Director of the West Michigan Region’s Alzheimer’s Association, who will be speaking at 4:30 on “Steps to Confident Caregiving for Persons with Dementia.” There will be a break from 5:30 to 6:30 where people may visit information tables and enjoy hors d’oeuvres.

Mary Ellen Geist, one of the 2009 Michigan Notable Book authors for her recent book, Measure of the Heart, will speak at 6:30 on “Creative Caregiving” while relating her family’s journey with her father’s Alzheimer’s.  Read Chapter One, Missing Moments, to get a flavor of the book.  Her family was also featured in the May 2009 HBO special, The Alzheimer’s Project.

While these two speakers focus on Alzheimer’s Disease (November is also National Alzheimer’s Awareness Month) these talks should appeal to any caregiver.  Catherine Behrendt, WZZM Programming and Community Director and Host of Take Five & Company, will be the MC of the afternoon and evening’s activities.  We’d love to have you come to the entire program but feel free to come for just part of the program. (more…)

Filed under: Books, Movies, Music> Event> News> Research
Tags: aging, caregivers, caregiving, health, older adults
by jdevries on November 2, 2009
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CJ Box was our Grand Finale speaker. What a genial man and a captivating  storyteller he is!  He told us how he became a writer.  You’ve heard people start out by saying, “Funny story…”  well, his was.  He told us how he had sent his first manuscript off to an agent in New York and waited. After a few impatient months he called the man who advised him to wait.  So Mr. Box waited and then he called.  His agent told him to stop calling and to stop worrying.  In the meantime, CJ Box’s wife noticed that there was going to be a convention for booksellers, writers, and librarians in Wyoming where they live and she advised him to go.  He did and as he was talking to another agent, telling him about long wait with the agent in NYC, the guy said to him, ” You know he’s dead? right?” No he didn’t.  The fact that his first agent was dead explained the extra long wait to get published and it cleared the path for CJ to book with this agent who has gotten CJ established as a prominent mystery writer.

His blog has a recent post from an avid fan who calls his writing “Wyoming Cocaine.”

http://www.cjbox.net/ is his website.  Check it out. You might get hooked. I am.

Filed under: Books, Movies, Music> Event> Staff Picks

by Kayne on October 28, 2009
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Do you just love this time of year? You may enjoy this slideshow of photos taken at Grand Rapids’ Oakhill Cemetery recently. The photos and the music  were both done by local artists. The scenery is beautiful at Oakhill, the monuments are fascinating and there are many familiar names. If you love local history, you may want to plan a walk through some nice day. Then you might want to visit the library’s local history section to learn about the folks you just “visited”. You never know just what you may dig up, figuratively speaking.

Filed under: Research

by jmorrison on October 28, 2009
2 Comments »

I like reading memoirs.   Recently I started to wonder about how the authors  decide to  organize their material, because sometimes there would be a character or situation that I wished they’d devoted more ink to.

For instance, one of my favorite books of the  year, Wade Rouse’s “America’s Boy: a Memoir“,  has a lot of interesting characters  that I wanted to hear more about, and I was imagining  how the author chose the particular episodes that he did.

Well! Luckily, other people have wondered the same thing, and Wade Rouse was here in 2007 at the Main Library illuminating this very subject in his talk, The Musings of a Memoirist: From the Slush Pile to a Life in Print, which is available right here:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Filed under: Books, Movies, Music> Staff Picks
Tags: Michigan authors, podcasts, Wade Rouse
by Lisa on October 26, 2009
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Handling your own common legal issues can save time and costly attorney’s fees, but it can also be an intimidating and confusing process. One way the GRPL can help is with the Gale Legal Forms Database. The database offers thousands of common forms covering an extensive variety of issues, including leases, real estate, contracts, bills of sale, copyrights and more. You can browse an alphabetical list of categories or use sample searches to find exactly what you need, from basic fill-in-the-blank forms to more complex contracts.  There is even a directory of attorneys and instructions for downloading forms.  Articles can be downloaded or printed and are available in HTML rich text or PDF format.  There are even sample forms and letters for many uses, such as drafting a will or requesting power of attorney.

While neither the database nor library staff can offer legal advice, the site is a great place to start when deciding whether to do it yourself or plan a legal consultation.

Filed under: Databases> Research
Tags: Databases, Research, technology
by Gayle on October 26, 2009
2 Comments »

A graphic novel style  memoir of growing up in Detroit  by the renowned illustrator of children’s books,  ( and  winner of the Caldecott, Christopher, and E.B. White awards),  David Small.

Nothing is extraneous in this bizarre, sad, and ultimately triumphant tale.  Small’s maternal grandmother was labeled a “white trash tramp” when she became pregnant. And when Small’s mother was born, barely alive, the doctor discovered that “her heart was over on the wrong side of her chest”.

Add to this a father who is a radiologist, treating his young son with massive amounts of radiation to cure his sinus condition, and well,  I don’t want to give any more away…

Stitches is a  must, must read!

Filed under: Books, Movies, Music> Staff Picks
Tags: books, graphic novels, memoirs
by Lisa on October 25, 2009
2 Comments »