Check out this sneak preview of Matched by Ally Condie, coming in November!

Cassia lives in a perfect society of the future where everyone is content with their place in life. Oh yes, we all know that this means that deep dark secrets lurk just underneath the bright and shiny facade, and that the stage has been set so that it will all come crashing down by the end of the series. At the beginning of the novel, Cassia has been "matched" by the powers that be with her predetermined life partner, who by random luck happens to be her best friend. She is overjoyed, but when a computer glitch incorrectly flashes a different boy's face as her match, she begins to question everything. Why is there no record of the past aside from a few artifacts and works of art that were kept? Why are people not allowed to write? What are the mysterious pills that everyone is required to carry? And Cassia must face the tough truth: What if I realize I'm falling in love with someone who isn't my Match?

One of the many perks of being a librarian is that we sometimes get our hands on advance copies of books that haven't been published yet. I was fortunate to snag a copy of Matched at the American Library Association's annual conference last summer. This highly-anticipated Young Adult novel has been described as "The Hunger Games meets Twilight", and it likely won't disappoint those legions of fans.

Don't worry, we have many copies on order because we know that it will be a hit. Check the catalog and add yourself to the waiting list as soon as you can! We need something new to fill the void now that Mockingjay is already out, right?

Check out 2010's Teen Talent Show winner, Casey Rico!

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Kathryn Stockett was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi and writes about the civil rights movement in the South.

The Help is about a young white woman in the early 1960s in Mississippi who becomes interested in the plight of the African-American maids that every family has working for them. She writes about the mistreatment, abuse and heartbreaks of working for white families during this time.

I am enjoing One Fifth Avenue by Sex and the City author Candace Bushnell as read by Carrington MacDuffie. It is a multi-generational look at New York that is funny, provocative, and moving.

I hate Christmas haha hahahahahahhahah!!!!  The Grinch is here and what a great book for the Christmas season. Written by the famous Dr. Seuss, the hated but lovable character Mr. Grinch is always a family favorite during Christmas time. When I was a child it was one of my favorite books to read, the main reason being that it was out of the ordinary but also very fun to read.

Don't Blink by James Patterson

Summary:  The good New York's Lombardo's Steak House is famous for three reasons, the menu, the clientele, and now, the gruesome murder of an infamous mob lawyer. Effortlessly, the assassin slips through the police's fingers, and his absence sparks a blaze of accusations about who ordered the hit. The bad: Seated at a nearby table, reporter Nick Daniels is conducting a once-in-a-lifetime interview with a legendary baseball bad boy. In the chaos, he accidentally captures a key piece of evidence that lands him in the middle of an all-out war between Italian and Russian mafia forces. NYPD captains, district attorneys, mayoral candidates, media kingpins, and one shockingly beautiful magazine editor are all pushing their own agendas on both sides of the law. And the dead: Back off or die is the clear message Nick receives as he investigates for a story of his own. Heedless, and perhaps in love with his beautiful editor, Nick endures humiliation, threats, violence, and worse in a thriller that overturns every expectation and finishes with the kind of flourish only James Patterson knows.

A new CD, Speak Now, by award winning Country/Pop artist, Taylor Swift, was just released on Monday, Oct. 25, 2010. Coming soon to SJPL shelves!

Speak Now is Taylor Swift's third album. Her first album, self-titled, Taylor Swift, was released in Oct. 2006. Her second album, Fearless, was released in Nov. 2008.

Recently, I watched "How To Train Your Dragon" with my kids, and we all love it.

It is not only very entertaining for kids but also for adults. I haven't seen a kid's

movie that good for a long time. I gave it five stars!!! Also, I found out it is based on a

book by Cressida Cowell.

I’d like to promote the music of Vince Guaraldi, especially as the holidays are right around the corner. For those of you unfamiliar with his name, you might know his music as the sound of Peanuts. Remember Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, and, of course, Snoopy? Well, the music behind the animations was composed and performed by Bay Area pianist, Mr. Vince Guaraldi.

Not only can you get information about great library resources on our Website but now you can connect with us on other great interactive sites as well.  Visit our Facebook page and "Like" us to get all the latest information about what's going on at a system wide level.  Your local branch library also has a Facebook page that will allow you to find out about current event and services and allow you to interact directly with staff and members of your community.  If that is not enough follow us on Twitter and check out our "tweets." 

Samsung has created Galaxy, a new& tablet PC that has a smaller footprint than the Ipad. It runs Google's Android. Read the whole article from the Mercury News.

Did you know that you can use these tools to download the Library's ebooks?

If you are interested in learning a language visit our new online service: Mango Language Learning

It's free to you from home with your library card log-in!  Mango Language Learning is a great database for anyone to use. Its interface is very user friendly with similarities to a Rosetta Stone type learning system. With its detailed interface Mango can help you learn languages from all across the globe such as: Spanish, French, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, German, Mandarin Chinese, Greek, Italian, Russian and more. So if you are a novice attempting to learn the basics of a language or a intermediate to advanced speaker who just wants to brush up on some of your skills, Mango is great learning site for anyone.

Do you know that you don't have to go to the library to renew your materials? I have seen many people bring their materials to the library to extend more days.  

All you need to do is to go to San Jose Public Library website, go to 'my account,' then you can renew your materials there. It is just that easy.

Since April of 2010, we have started a new podcast of weekly Poems from our Vineland staff. Every week we post the recording, along with a picture and a link to the poets collection on our catalog. Our poems range from happy and short, to long and dramatic -- Including some Shakespeare sonnets and monologues. We would appreciate any feedback along with requests for future readings! To check us out go to San José Public Library's Podcasts - Vineland Poetry Friday. Come back every week for a new entry and a new poem read by our staff members at Vineland!

Need to write a term paper or going to a book discussion group and haven't read the book -- here's where you can find information to fake it in six easy steps. This works best for novels, but also works for other kinds of books.

1. In search box above type in the name of the book in quotation marks ("").

2. DON'T CLICK ON SEARCH -- first change button underneath the form from catalog to articles.

3. Now click on search.

4. Book reviews and other articles that you can read will appear.

5. Scroll down and look for plot summaries or Magill’s Literary Annual. Not exactly Cliffs Notes, but the next best thing. You'll get a cast of characters, synopsis, analysis, etc.

(You may need to log on with your library card# and PIN if you haven't already)

6. Read the articles, the summary or whatever. Now you'll know what it's all about.

Still stumped?

More places to look.

Try NovelistPlus, Literary Reference Center databases--both linked under the Books & Literature category of our online research resources.

Look up customer reviews in Amazon.com

Are you looking for some new recipes to spice up your holiday table?   If you don't have time to come in and check out our collection of fabulous cookbooks, you may want to resort to some online recipe gathering.  One source you may want to try is the always great Epicurious.

If anyone has any favorite recipe sites that they would like to point others to, please share below!

Do you like the show Sister Wives? Another version of the lives of polygamous families can be found in Shattered Dreams by Irene Spencer and The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall.

Mennonite in a little black dress : a memoir of going home  by Rhoda Janzen.

Don't let the title mislead you if you're wanting to learn about old order Mennonites -- the people who dress in plain clothes and use horse and buggies.  The writer hails from a California Central Valley community that includes academics and professional people who retain  some of the down-to-earth German and Eastern European folkways of  their ancestors who emigrated from Russia several generations ago. In this memoir of mid-life crises, an English professor goes home to recouperate from a debilitating accident and a stormy marriage and tries to fit in, though inevitably finds changes. Not only has she moved on from the nostalgia of  her sixties and seventies childhood, but so have her friends and relatives. Humorous, irreverent and at times raunchy, the author appears self-absorbed; the community, by contrast, is tolerant, though  perculiar. This book wasn't worth the 6 weeks hold -- I could have waited longer until it was freely available on the new book shelves.   If, like me, you get annoyed after the first few chapters, skip to  the last chapter and appendix.

Check out the Legal Information Reference Center for Nolo Press ebooks and forms.  It's a great source for business and employment issues, family affairs and divorce, renters' and tenants' rights, wills and estate planning, and lots of other everyday legal issues.  This website provides the full-text of Nolo publications which are easy to understand and are written for real people rather than attorneys.

Are you looking to start your business or maybe you want to expand an existing one? Business Source Complete can help. You can find industry/market research reports, news, and company profiles. This online subscription resource is available for free from the Research section of our website with a San José Public Library card. 

Want to break away from old ways of negative thinking? Do you want to live your life to the fullest with a fresh new perspective?

Try reading this insightful book,  Excuses begone! : how to change lifelong, self-defeating thinking habits  by Dwayne W. Dyer.

Let it Be - Naked is an album for the purist. No orchestral background, no Phil Spector, nothing but pure & simple Beatles!

The Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose is a book about young man who transfers from Brown University, an elite Ivy League school, to Liberty Baptist University. He encounters a different mind set among the students at each university and learns about himself and his faith. He reconciles the competing views that are presented to him. Check it out!

Martha Doesn't Say Sorry!

by Samantha Berger

This is a cute story to help pre-schoolers to learn to say sorry. Under no circumstances would Martha apologize to her parents or her siblings. Through the course of the story, she learns the meaning and power of the word "sorry."

Berger's excellent followup to this book is Martha Doesn't Share! , which involves a selfish Martha and her baby brother.

Did you know that there are geocaches hidden at many of the San José Public Library branches?  Don't know what geocaches are?  Take a look at http://www.geocaching.com/ to learn more about this cool hobby that will bring your family together and show you a new way to learn about your world.  There's treasure hidden all around you!

It's that time of year when parents are looking for schools for their new kindergartners - but it their kindergartner really ready for school?  Many parents are opting to delay their child's entry into kindergarten by a year based on the recommendations of the teachers.  One of the most important of the skills and abilities that your child should have before they enter kindergarten for the first time is to be able to sit still for at least 5-10 minutes.  Bringing your child to storytime may serve as a useful gauge to see if they can cooperate with other children, can sit for longer than 5 minutes, can listen to a book, and can follow instructions - all of which are skills necessary for a successful time in kindergarten.

We highly recommend Going on 13, an eye-opening movie for concerned parents and teachers of adolescent girls. The movie deals with teen sexuality, race, immigration, the coming of age, and other issues regarding 4 Bay Area teenage girls. Tracing the story of the girls from 4th grade through the age of 13, the movie also has a website with more information and a trailer.

teensReach provides a key way for young adults to build their leadership skills by developing and participating in library activities, as well as becoming library advisors and advocates. Tully library's teensReach group meets the third Wednesday of every month. All teens ages 13-18 are invited to attend. For more information contact Chieu Nguyen at (408) 808-3030.

We are looking for teensReach participants between 13-17 years old to read to children on Thursdays from 4-5 PM.

Did you know that you can access free online professional homework tutors on all subjects via the Live Homework Help link from our Research Pages? Just click on the Research tab and then the link to "Chat with a Professional Tutor." Believe me, it's worth trying this out if you or your child needs a little boost with that algebra class or with a particularly challenging history assignment! 

The service is available for grades K-12 + the first two years of college.  You can chat with a tutor in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese.  Even better, it's free as long as you log in with you library card.  Go library!

Princess Academy
by Shannon Hale

Miri and her family live in a small village that is perched high on the slopes of Mount Eskel. Her father makes a meager living working long hours in the local quarry. Miri is fourteen and is quite small for her age (she is named after a tiny mountain flower that grows in her area). She wonders if it is her small stature that has kept her from working in the local rock quarry. Miri's life takes a dramatic turn when word gets out that her village has been selected to become the home of the future princess. The royal edict states that all eligible girls of the village must attend a special academy to prepare them for a royal competition … a competition that will help the prince choose his bride. At the academy, the girls face many challenges and unique situations as they seek to adapt to the cultured life of those living in the lowlands and the royal palace. When unexpected danger threatens to destroy the academy, it is Miri who must find a way to save her classmates and insure the future of her village and beloved family.

Other recommended titles by Shannon Hale:
 

Reviewed by a San José Public Library librarian

Compulsive Acts: a Psychiatrist's Tales of Ritual and Obsession
by Elias Aboujaoude

If you read only one non-fiction book this year, make it this brief but compelling tome. You will be richly rewarded by the heartrending portrayals of Dr. A’s patients in his obsessive-compulsive treatment clinic at Stanford. You may reconsider your opinion of kleptomaniacs, many of whom are successful candidates for effective medication and treatment. The other condition many of us have witnessed is internet addiction. ‘Nuff said, though you’ll be fascinated by Dr. A’s patient.

Reviewed by Biblioteca Latinoamericana Branch Library staff member Janice Garcia