As soon as I got into this book, I said to myself, ”Have I ever even read A Wrinkle in Time?” I remember the act of reading it, but this graphic novel isn’t what I remember. I guess I just pictured it differently in my head. I enjoyed it, anyway. For me, graphic novels are like watching TV when I don’t want to watch TV – giving me the pictures along with the words takes all of the work out of reading. And there’s the fewer words to read, allowing me to get through these quickly. That said, I don’t read many graphic novels at all. I went through my manga phase (do those count?) several years ago, and since then, I’ve generally stuck to relatively picture-free books. There are, of course, exceptions. And hey, this one’s even a kids’ book. I don’t read too many of those, either.

I’m not going through the whole story because I assume you’re over the age of 10, and I’m pretty sure the gods don’t let you pass that age without reading A Wrinkle in Time. Or maybe they do these days: book literacy seems secondary to computer literacy. So it goes. Anyway, a guy who works on some secret project for the government disappears, and two of his kids and one of their friends search for him, befriending three old, time-traveling ladies on the way.  They end up in a dystopian world where everyone is exactly the same and there’s no free will. Then Things Happen.

I’d forgotten so much about this book. Like how super-Christian it is, Bible quotes and all. I guess that’s a product of the time in which it was written? And I remembered them getting to the dystopian city where everyone is the same, but I didn’t remember what came after that at all like Hope Larson depicted it. That’s not to say it wasn’t well done or that I didn’t like it, because I did. The artwork is really nicely done:

If you haven’t read the actual novel, check out a copy because it’s totally worth it. If you have, take a look at this graphic novel version. It’s fun and fast, and I, at least, was entertained the whole time.

I’ve been meaning to read Love in the Time of Cholera for a couple of years, ever since I read One Hundred Years of Solitude and declared it my Favorite Book Ever (or at least my favorite book of 2011). It’s my third completed Gabriel Garcia Marquez book of four attempts. I’ll somehow get through Autumn of the Patriarch one day and explain. Or you can try reading it. Believe me, you’ll understand.

So. Here we were with One Hundred Years of Solitude (have I mentioned it’s quite possibly my Favorite Book Ever?) and Chronicle of a Death Foretold, both of which I’ve written about in this blog. The former is better than the latter and the latter reminds me of the former and so on. I’ve talked about it before. Both are good and certainly worth a read. What all that means is that I had high expectations for Love in the Time of Cholera.

I’d put off reading it for a long time for various stupid reasons. First, when I’m trying to hit a goal of 50 books per year (as in 2011, the first part of 2012, and this year, I’ve tl;dr-ed most longer books. (Okay, there are huge examples of that being a lie, like Suttree, The Satanic Verses, and Crime and Punishment, to name only a few. I didn’t say that my tl;dr-ing wasn’t arbitrary). And Love in the Time of Cholera isn’t as long as any of those or as long as One Hundred Years of Solitude. But I digress. Anyway, Marquez isn’t exactly a fast, easy read – but he flows so smoothly.

Love in the Time of Cholera is about long-unrequited love. Florentino Ariza sees Fermina Daza when both of them are young, and he instantly falls in hopeless love. They exchange love letters for years, but she ends up marrying Juvenal Urbino, a more attractive, wealthy doctor from a “better” family. They live their separate lives, Florentino Ariza never giving up hope of winning Fermina Daza, until they meet again after Juvenal Urbino’s death. (I promise I’m not ruining everything – we learn about this at the beginning.) The point of view fluctuates (remaining third-person) from character to character throughout the novel, so we learned about the past and the present in very personal bits.

And now, the more I write about it, the more I like it. Though it’s not my favorite of Marquez’s novels, it’s very well-written. The way the perspectives interweave is amazing, and the language flows oh so smoothly (that is, of course, thanks, in part, to the translator, but hey). It’s not a fast read – no Marquez I’ve encountered is – but it’s a lovely one.

But here’s why I don’t like it as much as One Hundred Years of Solitude – or one of the reasons: I got annoyed with Florentino Ariza, his incessant romanticism of Fermina Daza, and his (sometimes gross) affairs with other women throughout his lifetime. I found him tiresome after a while. And I think I mentioned gross (you’ll know what I mean when you get to that part).

Check it out and read it. Curl up somewhere comfortable, and expect to spend several hours glued to this book. You won’t be sorry you did.

By now, most Americans have heard of Downton Abbey, featuring the razor sharp wit of Maggie Smith, but there are many other BBC shows that deserve some recognition. If you enjoy the glittering evening gowns and the lush landscapes of Downtown Abbey, the revival of Upstairs, Downstairs may be right up your ally. The original Upstairs, Downstairs ran five seasons, from 1971 to 1975. Like Downton, the series focuses on the lives of residents at 165 Eaton Place: the servants downstairs and the family, upstairs. If you aren’t quite ready to devote yourself to the entire 1970’s series, there is a new version of Upstairs, Downstairs that began in 2010 (Season One and Season Two) that incorporates elements of the old season, but can be viewed independently without causing the viewer any confusion. Personally, I started with the new Lyn Euros version and now want to go back and watch the original series. On a side note, if you really can’t get enough of the English aristocracy of Downton Abbey, try reading Snobs, written by Julian Fellowes, writer and creator of Downton.

 Title: The Magic Door

Silver Arrow/Megaforce Records, September 2012

The Magic Door is the second release from The Chris Robinson Brotherhood. Formed in 2011, CRB consists of Chris Robinson (The Black Crowes), Neal Casal (Ryan Adams & The Cardinals), Adam MacDougall (The Black Crowes), George Sluppick, and Mark Dutton.

I have been a fan of The Black Crowes since their debut album, Shake Your Moneymaker, was released in 1990. As a matter of fact, their February 1993 concert at the Municipal Auditorium had a huge impact on me and strongly influenced my love of music. Needless to say, I was very excited to find this gem from CRB available at the library.

The Magic Door is a jam-heavy set of psychedelic/countrified roots music that I just can’t take out of my stereo. This album grabbed me from the opening cover of Hank Ballard and The Midnighters’ 1960 classic, “Let’s Go, Let’s Go, Let’s Go” through the closing Grateful Deadish “Wheel Don’t Roll”.

Admittedly, I do not listen to the music of The Black Crowes or the side projects of Chris Robinson as much as I used to. However, I’m glad to see one of my favorite musicians of all time making some of the most inventive and inspired music of his 20+ year career.  

The Magic Door is available at the Main, Hollywood/Union, and Mooretown locations of Shreve Memorial Library.

Fans of this album should also check out the following titles from the library:

• The Grateful Dead – Europe ’72 (available at Main)
• Ryan Adams – Easy Tiger (available at Hamilton/South Caddo and West Shreveport)
• The Allman Brothers Band – Live at the Atlanta International Pop Festival (available at Cedar Grove/Line Avenue)

 Enjoy!

Shreve Memorial Library offers popular new releases. All you need to do is go to our library catalog and click on "New Video Items". Here are some of our latest new releases!

Alex Cross

A homicide detective is pushed to the brink of his moral and physical limits as he tangles with a ferociously skilled serial killer who specializes in torture and pain.

Starring: Tyler Perry, Matthew Fox, Rachel Nichols

Please join us on Friday, February 22 at 10:30 AM to meet Clifford and hear some great Clifford the Big Red Dog stories! This program is presented by Shreve Memorial Library, in partnership with Barnes and Noble.

 For more information contact Jenifer French or Virginia Walker at (318) 674-8172.

North Shreveport Branch

4844 North Market St.

Shreveport, LA 71107

Did you know that the library opened in 1923 and was originally located around the corner on Edwards Street? Or that we once had a cat named Encyclopedia and named all of her kittens Britannica? Want to see who the very first people to sign up for library cards were? Or what now-forgotten books were popular in the 1950s? We've started our first digital collection with library scrapbooks!

For a start, we have three scrapbooks and the library's first register. One scrapbook includes photos and newspaper articles about the library's 50th anniversary celebration. The next mostly contains library-related newspaper articles from around 1925, including book reviews. The final one also has a lot of newspaper articles, but keep an eye out for several editions of a hilarious internal newsletter called Chop Suey. The register is a handwritten record of the first 2000 people to sign up for a library card, beginning with the mayor and the library board.

Take your time and look through this fascinating window into the past! It's online and available from anywhere: you don't have to be at the library! There are even links to share your favorite images to social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

This collection of scrapbooks is only the beginning of Shreve Memorial Library's Digital Collection! Check it out today, then keep coming back to watch it expand with all kinds of fascinating material!

The address is http://digital.shrevelibrary.org. Bookmark it!

Whether you’re love sick, or sick of love, hopefully you’ve had the pleasure of laughing, crying or sighing over some sappy sweet book, or some ridiculous tale of love and adventure. I’m the Teen Coordinator and also a veteran storyteller, so Valentine’s Day books have crossed my desk and most of them are so sappy that my appetite for chocolate leaves by page three.   The most successful books for Valentine’s Day stories, in my experience, are funny unpredictable and only a little sweet. Books that subversively or subliminally infuse self confidence in a young reader are my favorite. I won’t mention my favorite YA love story here…. Please consider the following books if you want to give your Valentine’s Day a twist this year.

This list is for pre-K through Elementary!

I Loathe You written and illustrated by David Slonim If you love the Sam McBratney classic Guess How Much I Love You, it will be easy to see the humor of this book. Big Monster loathes so much about Little Monster- more than chicken pox, mosquito bites, and fuzzy mold on cheese. And this is a good thing! Monsters loathe instead of love. All of these declarations are in a couplet rhyme scheme that encourages the listener to predict the next word. The water color illustrations are adorably expressive. It’s never been so good to be loathed. (Pre-K- First Grade)