Friday, August 28, 2009

Addicted to the Royals

--by Hanje Richards

It all started innocently enough. I wanted some movies to watch over the weekend, so I went to the Copper Queen Library and checked out The Queen starring Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II. The action of the film takes place during the week following the death, on August 31, 1997 of Diana, Princess of Wales. One of its accomplishments is to remind viewers of the deep sadness that surrounded that event. It is also about the divergent and potentially ruinous ways the monarch and Prime Minister Tony Blair responded to the resulting torrent of national grief.

A few weeks later, I thought it would be interesting to watch Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth I, so I tried the film Elizabeth I. This film explores the intersection of the private and public life of Elizabeth I in the latter half of her reign, offering a personal look at her allies, her enemies, and her suitors as she struggles to survive in a male-dominated world.


I was hooked. I had to watch everything I could about the Royals. My journey took me next to Marie Antoinette. This movie tells the story of the 14-year-old ill-fated Archduchess of Austria and, later, Queen of France. Marie Antoinette has become one of the most misunderstood and abused women in history.
From there, it was the four-volume set which includes The Six Wives of Henry VIII (a six-part chronicle of England's early 16th century, recounting the turbulent life and times of King Henry VIII through the eyes and travails of his wives) and The Other Boleyn Girl (a modernized, dramatized retelling of Anne Boleyn’s marriage and life with Henry VIII, mixing traditional costuming and settings with contemporary language and idioms).

Next, I devoured Anne of the Thousand Days and Mary, Queen of Scots, which are packaged together in a two-DVD set. Anne of the Thousand Days follows King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn in one of history's most famous tragic love affairs in the Academy Award-winning masterpiece starring Richard Burton and Genevieve Bujold. In Mary, Queen of Scots, the battle between Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth, Queen of England comes alive in this epic film.

I followed these with The Duchess, which chronicles the life of 18th century aristocrat Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. She was reviled for her extravagant political and personal life. She was a vibrant beauty and celebrity of her time.




And, last – but certainly not least – I watched 20 episodes of the television series The Tudors in a week and a half. Tudors (Season 1) is a look at the early life of King Henry VIII, beginning after his assumption of the British throne at the age of 19.



In Tudors (Season 2), Henry -- after failing to have his marriage to Katherine annulled -- appoints himself the head of the Church of England. Anne Boleyn insists that Henry remove the Queen from the picture. A royal visit to France finally prompts Anne to consummate her relationship with Henry. After failed attempts to have his marriage annulled, Henry's patience finally wears out and he marries Anne in secret. The king and new queen are disappointed that their first child is a girl, whom they christen Elizabeth.

(Note: I must warn you that The Tudors is a Showtime television program, and there is explicit sex, language, and violence in rather great abundance.)

Okay, so you would think that would be enough of The Royals for one six-month period. But, for me it is not quite enough, so tonight I will be watching Lady Jane, the story of Lady Jane Grey, cousin to Henry VIII, who found herself Queen of England for nine days in 1553, at the age of 16.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Something Old, Something New...

...Something Recycled, and Something Green

--by Hanje Richards

I have some great, fun, and useful books to share with you which deal with a greener, healthier and more economical lifestyle.

If you want the straight scoop on how to live a greener and healthier life you will find Sara Snow’s Fresh Living: The Essential Room-by-Room Guide to a Greener, Healthier Family and Home very useful. Sara Snow, green-living expert and host of TV shows Living Fresh and Get Fresh with Sara Snow, has dozens of simple, affordable ways to create a healthy, environmentally friendly home.

I love this book because some of us are not ready or able to make all the changes at once, but we can pick and choose things we can do now, and then add more things to our green repertoires as we're able.

Fresh Living is filled with lists, tips, and tricks that will make you, your family, and your home healthier and greener. The room-by-room format is a useful organizational tool and helps to make it accessible to everyone. Fresh Living can now be found on the New Non-Fiction Shelf and will soon be shelved upstairs in Adult Non-Fiction (at 648.22 SNOW).

Perhaps scavenging is your thing. Or maybe it could be. Or will be. If so, you will want to take a look at The Scavenger’s Manifesto: A Guide to Freeing Yourself from the Endless Cycle of Buying More and More New (Though Not Necessarily Improved) Stuff, and Discovering How Salvaging, Swapping, Repurposing, Reusing and Recycling Can Save the Earth, Your Money and Your Soul (you may think I made that title up, but I absolutely did not!)

Authors Anneli Rufus and Kristan Lawson invite readers to discover one of the most gratifying (and thrifty) ways to go green -- scavenging. The first chapter of the book is "Free Your Minds: The Philosophy of Scavenging." Chapter two is "In The Beginning: The Evolution of Scavenging," and the final chapter is "The Scavenger Code of Ethics: The Twelve Commandments of Scavenging."

I am not sure if I am ready for full-time scavenging, but this book is very interesting and has some excellent ideas. This book is currently shelved on the New Adult Non-Fiction Shelf and will soon be shelved upstairs in Adult Non-Fiction (at 640 RUFUS).

Finally, and possibly most intriguing of my three eco-friendly picks, is Sleeping Naked Is Green: How an Eco-Cynic Unplugged Her Fridge, Sold Her Car and Found Love in 366 Days (another great title!)

Author Vanessa Farquharson takes the reader along with her on an intense personal journey of making one green change to her lifestyle every day for a year. In twelve chapters, covering the twelve months of Farquharson’s life-changing year, we watch this woman transform her life, one day at a time. In the end she decides which of these changes she can maintain.

Great fun and very thought provoking. I wonder which of these changes I could make in my life on a permanent basis...

By the way, don’t forget that using your library is a green choice!

Monday, August 24, 2009

Fun For Foodies

--by Hanje Richards

One of the joys of my job is seeing the new books as they come into the library. I love to see the new cookbooks as they arrive. One that caught my eye this spring is The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life by Ellie Krieger.

The cover flap explains that “it’s the food you crave—in a healthier way!” So who can argue with that! It goes without saying that we all have various dietary restrictions, self-imposed or medically determined, so every item is not going to work for every person, but there is enough selection in this beautiful book that you might find some morsels that you can enjoy in a healthier way.

One of the best things about a good cookbook is the food photographs. This one is excellent. I mean seriously, if you can get me to look twice at something called “Macaroni and Four Cheeses,” imagine what the “Steak Tacos with Cucumber-Avocado Salsa” and “Caesar Salad with Lemon Pepper Shrimp” look like!

Each recipe has the serving size, the nutritional breakdown, and the things that it supplies in abundance. For example, The “Arugula Salad with Pesto Vinaigrette” makes four servings, and each serving is 60 calories, 4 grams of fat, 3 grams of protein, 4 grams of carbohydrates, 1.5 grams of fiber, 2.5 mg cholesterol, and 73 mg of sodium. It also lets me know that it is an excellent source of Vitamin A, C, and K and a good source of folate and manganese.

Throughout the book there are tips for eating well, information on various ingredients, and very complete instructions for preparation of each dish.

Enjoy the pictures, the recipes, and the healthy eating! This book is currently on the New Non-Fiction shelf and will soon be shelved (with other cookbooks) upstairs in Adult Non-Fiction under 641.5 KREIGER.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Homage to Meryl Streep

--by Hanje Richards

I always think I don’t like Meryl Streep, and in fact after watching two of her movies on two consecutive nights this week, my husband reminded me, “But, you don’t like Meryl Streep!”

And, yet, there is something about her. She is good. And I do like her, secretly. She seems to become each character she plays, so if I don’t like her, I suspect it is actually the characters she is portraying that I am not so fond of.

Last night I watched One True Thing which stars Meryl Streep, Renee Zellweger and William Hurt. It is based on the novel by Anna Quindlen (available at the Copper Queen Library in print and in audiobook format). I thought that the entire cast was excellent, and the movie dealt with some very difficult family issues, including love, loss, loss of innocence, and more.

If you are a Meryl Streep fan, or are a secret fan, like I am, you might be interested in knowing what other Streep films are available at the Copper Queen Library on DVD. Here is a listing of just some of the DVDs that we have (to find more, just search the catalog for her by name):

Cry In The Dark: Lindy lives the nightmare of seeing a wild dog carry off her infant, then endures a travesty of a trial by the courts and media.


Doubt: 1964, St. Nicholas in the Bronx. Father Flynn is a charismatic priest who is trying to upend the schools' strict customs, which have long been fiercely guarded by Sister Aloysius Beauvier.. This threatens to tear apart the community with its irrevocable consequence.

The Devil Wears Prada: Miranda is the editor of Runway magazine. She is a terror to everyone who is around. When Miranda demands that she obtain the next unpublished Harry Potter manuscript, it forces her assistant Andy to dig it up in order to please her boss. As she is whisked away to Paris with Miranda, Andy faces all of the glamour that could be hers and is forced to make a decision about what she wants from life.

The Hours: In 1929, under the care of doctors and family, Virginia Woolf is starting to write her novel, Mrs. Dalloway. In 1951, Laura Brown is planning for her husband's birthday but is preoccupied with reading Woolf's novel. In 2001, Clarrisa Vaughn is planning an award party for her friend, an author dying of AIDS. Taking place over one day, all three stories are inter-connected with the novel: one is writing it, one is reading it, and one is living it.

Kramer Vs. Kramer: When his wife walks out, Ted Kramer and his six-year-old son have a chance to really get to know each other. Then Ted's wife returns, and she wants her son back.

Mamma Mia!: After reading her mother's diary, Sophie discovers she has three possible fathers, so she secretly invites them all to her wedding at her mother's hotel on a Greek island.

Music of the Heart: A single mother with little more than talent and the determination to make a difference teaches violin to students in a tough inner-city neighborhood.

Postcards from the Edge: Suzanne Vale is a wise-cracking, vulnerable actress determined to jump start her failing career. Her mother, an aging movie star, is the definitive portrait of Hollywood's gutsy glamour queens and, of course, offers her daughter only razor sharp humor and searing honesty.

Prairie Home Companion: As if the result of some strange mass-media fluke, the popular radio program A Prairie Home Companion somehow managed to survive the television age to entertain its audience every Saturday night from the stage of the historic Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minn. There is still plenty of fun and mystery to be had at the old Fitzgerald before the final curtain falls.

If you're interested in borrowing any of these Streep films -- or other feature films -- they're filed alphabetically by title. Non-fiction (documentary) DVDs are filed using the Dewey Decimal Classification system. If you need help finding something, please feel free to ask at the Circulation Desk.

Friday, August 14, 2009

John Hodgman Makes Me Smile...

--by Hanje Richards

There is something about John Hodgman that makes me smile, giggle and, yes, even laugh out loud. I first noticed Hodgman on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart where he has appeared since 2005. He plays the “Resident Expert,” a nerdy egghead know-it-all. Later, I became aware of him in the "Get A Mac" series of advertisements for Apple Macintosh. He plays the “Personal Computer,” a nerdy, blow-hard, obese person who is constantly failing.

However, before all that minor TV celebrity, John Hodgman was already a writer. He has been a contributor at the New York Times Magazine and a frequent voice on This American Life on public radio as well as a plethora of other literary and comedy venues.

Two of his books are now available at the Copper Queen Library. The Areas of My Expertise and More Information Than You Require are both currently shelved in New Adult Non-Fiction on the main floor of the library. Soon, they'll be shelved upstairs in Non-Fiction at call number "818 Hodgman."

These books are crammed with craziness and filled with fun. They cover topics from “Information You Will Find Useful In The Present” to “There Is More Past Than You Thought,” to “The Presidents of the United States: Are They the New Hoboes?” to “Gambling: The Sport of the Asthmatic Man.”

Lots of tongue in cheek, lots of satire, lots of sarcasm, lots of fun. Maybe even a few giggles! Sound fun? Come on in and check them out!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

I Just Watched…

...Bruce Almighty starring Jim Carrey, Jennifer Aniston, and Morgan Freeman. I found it to be an enjoyable and entertaining movie.

Jim Carrey was funny and charming and alternately angry with, disappointed in, and pleased about the world and his lot in it as the movies progresses.

Jennifer Aniston plays his girlfriend and is as sweet and lovely and supportive as she can be... until she finally has had enough.

Morgan Freeman, in the role of God, is wise and wonderful, and that oh, so smooth voice calms and irritates Carrey as he tries his hand at “running the show.”


If you enjoy Jim Carrey’s performance, The Copper Queen Library also has The Truman Show on DVD, starring Jim Carrey as Truman. This movie pre-dated and predicted reality TV by several years.






Fans of Jennifer Aniston might be interested in borrowing Rob Reiner's Rumor Has It--, and Morgan Freeman fans will find Amistad, Dark Knight, Moll Flanders, Unfinished Life, and Million Dollar Baby, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Eddie "Scrap Iron" Dupris.

Why not come in, browse the collection, and enjoy a night at the movies -- at home!


--by Hanje Richards

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Author Neil Gaiman Wins Another Award!

--by Hanje Richards


My last blog post was about Neil Gaiman. Since that post was written, Neil Gaiman has won the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Novel for The Graveyard Book. This is the title for which he also won the Newbery Award this year.

The Hugo Awards are given every year for the best
science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories.

Hugo Awards have been presented every year since 1955.

Congratulations to Mr.Gaiman!

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Who in the World is Neil Gaiman?

--by Hanje Richards

I was late in hearing about Neil Gaiman, as I don’t read a lot of fantasy, horror, or science fiction, nor do I read much in the way of graphic novels or comics for adults. However, it is hard not to notice him this year, as his book Coraline has been made into a movie by Tim Burton, and he won the John Newbery Medal for the year’s most outstanding contribution to children’s literature for The Graveyard Book. Gaiman has also won numerous other awards including the Hugo, Nebula, and Bram Stoker awards.



Not for the faint at heart, The Graveyard Book is a story about a boy who is raised in a cemetery by ghosts after his family is killed in the opening pages of the novel.





Coraline also deals with the supernatural. When Coraline steps through a door in her family's new house, she finds another house strangely similar to her own (only better). At first, things seem marvelous. The food is better than at home, and the toy box is filled with fluttering wind-up angels and dinosaur skulls that crawl and rattle their teeth. But there's another mother and another father, and they want her to stay and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go. Coraline will have to fight with all her wit and all the tools she can find if she is to save herself and return to her ordinary life.


In addition to Coraline and The Graveyard Book, which are found in Young Adult Fiction and Juvenile Fiction, respectively, the Copper Queen Library also caries a couple of Easy books: Crazy Hair (which is a personal favorite) and Blueberry Girl.

In Science Fiction (and currently on the New Fiction shelf) is the novel Neverwhere, which has been made into a movie (which we also have available in our DVD collection).

Copies of Stardust are shelved both in Young Adult fiction and Adult Fiction and Anansi Boys can be found in Young Adult fiction.

If the title you are looking for is not currently available, we are happy to put a hold on it and contact you when it does become available.

Monday, August 03, 2009

Family DVD Night (Part 2)

--By Hanje Richards

At the Copper Queen Library, we have lots of animated films for families to enjoy. Our animated films on DVD span the years, from 70 year old Disney animations to very contemporary anime. Here are some of the classics, all now available on DVD. Can you guess which one of these featured films is 70 years old?


Bambi is a young deer hailed as the 'Prince of the Forest' at his birth. As Bambi grows, he makes friends with the other animals of the forest, in particular a rabbit named Thumper and a skunk named Flower. He learns the skills needed to survive, and he even finds love. One day, however, the human hunters come, and Bambi must learn to be as brave as his father if he is to lead the other deer to safety.

In Cinderella, a slighted beauty outshines her evil stepsisters at a royal ball, then returns to her grim existence before the handsome prince finds her again.



In Lady and the Tramp Lady, a pedigreed cocker spaniel, falls for the romance of Tramp, a carefree mongrel who helps her in her time of need.




In The Lion King, Simba begins life as an honored prince, son of the powerful King Mufasa. The cub's happy childhood turns tragic when his evil uncle Scar murders Mufasa and drives Simba away from the kingdom. In exile, the young lion befriends the comically bumbling pair Pumbaa, the warthog, and Timon, the meerkat, and lives a carefree jungle life. As he approaches adulthood, however, he is visited by the spirit of his father, who instructs him to defeat the nefarious Scar and reclaim his rightful throne.


Peter Pan, the boy who refuses to grow up and the hero of Wendy, John and Michael's bedtime stories, returns to the nursery and invites them on a magical journey to Never Land.




In Pinocchio, woodcarver Geppetto has just made a little wooden puppet called Pinocchio. Wishing upon a star before he goes to bed, Geppetto wishes that Pinocchio would become a real boy. As Geppetto sleeps, the Blue Fairy arrives and partially grants his wish: Pinocchio can come to life, but he must prove himself worthy before becoming a real boy. He will require some guidance, and Jiminy Cricket agrees to act as his conscience. After some unfortunate incidents, Pinocchio finds himself in real trouble. The Blue Fairy appears. Pinocchio lies to her and his nose grows. He is forgiven, but warned not to lie again.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a fairy tale story of Snow White and the adventures she has with the seven dwarfs, the prince, and the evil queen.

If you guessed that Pinocchio was 70 years old, you were correct!

Come check out all of our animated films on DVD!