SKCTC Middlesboro Library

 Have you ever read a book that you just couldn’t wait to tell people about — only to discover that no one else had read it yet?  We wanted to start a book club, so that anyone who had read our “book of the month” could attend our meeting and talk about it.  This month, our selection is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows. 

This book, written entirely in letters the characters send to each other, concerns the occupation of the island of Guernsey by German troops during World War II.  The book has been called “quirky,” “inspiring,” and “hysterically funny.” 

We will meet on Friday, October 9 at 1:00 pm in the conference room on the Middlesboro Campus to talk about the book.  The meeting will be very informal, so feel free to bring your lunch and discuss!  We will also decide future book selections.

Everyone is welcome, and we look forward to hearing your thoughts about the book!

I’d like to recommend some great books that we have in the library!  These are books that I’ve really enjoyed over the years, and I think they would make great stress-relievers as the semester moves along!

The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

This book, set in the African country of Botswana, is about Precious Ramotswe, who decides to use the money her Daddy left her to start the only detective agency run by women in her country (hence, it is “No. 1″).  A very warm, funny and feel-good story about a determined woman who uses her intelligence and compassion to solve the small mysteries of every day life.

All Creatures Great and Small by James HerriottThis book covers the adventures of a newly graduated veterinarian in Northern England in the 1930s.  He encounters spoiled dogs, shrieking pigs, mysteriously downed sheep and other assorted mysteries on his day-to-day rounds.  Add to this his eccentric boss Sigfried and you’ve got a recipe for some hilarious and heart-wrenching stories!

 
On Writing by Stephen KingSince Stephen King has sold a book or two in his time, I expected this book to be something of a guide for aspiring writers.  It turns out to be more of an autobiography.  He tells about his childhood, with a single mother who was often working to support the family, his shock at selling his first book for an enormous sum of money, his drug addiction, and the accident that nearly took his life.  It’s an amazing story by a truly engrossing writer . . . even if I didn’t find many tips on how to write my own best-seller!

 A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

This is a hilarious story, set in New Orleans, about Ignatius T. Reilly, a 32-year-old only child who still lives at home with his Momma.  To say that Ignatius is unambitious is bit of an understatement.  He is attempting to write a great work, but he keeps getting interrupted by his mother, who insists that it’s time he thinks about getting a job.  He does try . . . in his own way, but each job is a bigger disaster than the last one.  This book was published over a decade after it was written, after the suicide of the author.

Twilight by William GayIf you won’t take my word for it, Stephen King listed it as one of his favorite books of 2007.  It concerns two teenage siblings who become convinced that there is something not quite right with the local undertaker.  They determine to dig up their father’s grave to find out if their suspicions are correct.  Not surprisingly, the undertaker in question takes a dim view of their meddling, and things quickly go from bad to worse.  Creepy! 

Stiff by Mary RoachMary Roach has written several non-fiction books, all looking at an unusual topic.  In Stiff, she takes a look at what happens to dead bodies.  It would seem to be an especially morbid topic, but she deals with the subject with surprising sympathy and humor.  Did you know that “crash test dummies” are sometimes the bodies of the recently departed?  That and many other fascinating facts are covered in this intriguing book.

 
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

This book gives a new slant on the topic of success.  Just why did Bill Gates become the king of the computer industry?  Gladwell looks at factors that came together in unusual ways to create extraordinary opportunities for success.  There is also a local aspect to the book:  why is it that people in Harlan County, KY are so prone to feuding and fighting?  Gladwell has a theory . . .

All of these books are available for check out on the table just inside the library’s front door!

We’ve ordered close to 60 new books in recent days and they are starting to trickle in. They cover a wide range: health care, decision science, social networking, drugs and alcohol, criminal law, politics of gun control, a biography or two, and about a half-dozen novels. Below are a few of our new arrivals. Put your mouse over a book icon, or click on an icon, for more information.

The Criminal Law Handbook, by Paul Bergman

No Country for Old Men, by Cormac McCarthy

Drinking In America: A History, by Mark Edward Lender

Kaplan ACT 2009 Premier Program with CD-ROM

The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffennegger

Michael Jackson: The Magic, The Madness, The Whole Story, 1958-2009

Joker One: A Marine Platoon's Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood, by Donovan Campbell

Gun Control on Trial: Inside the Supreme Court Battle Over the Second Amendment, by Brian Doherty

The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World, by Niall Ferguson

On August 4, 2009, the Louisville Free Public Library suffered a disaster when their building flooded.  The library building sustained a great deal of damage, and the employees are still cleaning up the mess.  In order to raise awareness of the needs of the library and to raise funds to help them, librarians are celebrating “Why Libraries Rock!” blogathon today.

In this age of dwindling resources, it’s amazing that you can get so much for free at your local library.  In addition to the obvious resources like books and audiovisuals, most libraries offer a wealth of online sources.  Here at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College Library, patrons have access to over 60 databases.   Topics covered in the databases range from health, business, literature, and current events.  We also have access to the back issues of our local newspaper, the Middlesboro Daily News, for the past 5 years.

Personally, I frequently make use of the library’s Interlibrary Loan function.  Because most libraries belong to a resource-sharing group, our library is able to get nearly any item sent to us for free from any library around the United States!  Since our library can’t afford to buy all the books I want to read and audio books I want to listen to, this is a wonderful service.

The Louisville Free Public Library has been incredibly generous over the years in sending us items that we requested through Interlibrary Loan.  Now that they are in need of our help.  A foundation has been set up to take donations to help the library recover.  If you would like to donate, you can find out more at the Louisville Free Public Library Foundation.

What are some ways that libraries ROCK your world?  Feel free to let us know!

One of the most popular types of fiction is the mystery.  People what to know “whodunnit” and to see that person caught.  The reader can follow along as the main character discovers clues, and perhaps even guess the villain before the detective does!  There are many reasons why people like to read mysteries.  One aspect of this is that there are different types of mysteries.   Some involve comedy, some are violent, and some even feature mystery-solving cats!  Whatever your tastes or interests, there is a mystery out there for you.

We have lots of mystery books available in the library.  Most of them are located in the PR (written by British authors) or the PS (American authors) section of the stacks.  Here are a few mysteries you might enjoy:

High Five by Janet Evanovich PS  3555 .V2126 H5 2000 Stephanie Plum isn’t a very good bounty hunter.  She is never remembers to take her gun out of the cookie jar, her assistant Lula is a plus-sized woman in a size 6 wardrobe, and her cars keep exploding.  She frequently has to take her grandmother to viewings at the nursing home to make sure Grandma Mazur doesn’t pry open the lids of the caskets.  The Stephanie Plum series is now up to number 15.  We have three of the books in the library.  You don’t have to start at the beginning to enjoy these funny and suspenseful novels!

The Ballad of Frankie Silver by Sharon McCrumb PS 3563 .C3527 B35 1999 Sharon McCrumb’s Appalachia-centered novels general involve two stories:  one taking place in the present day, and one taking place hundreds of years ago.  There is always a connection between the two, usually in the person of Nora Bonesteel, an old woman who knows when things are going to happen, and can communicate with ghosts.  The Ballad of Frankie Silver concerns the real life case of the first woman in North Carolina hanged for murder (in 1833).  While exploring the details from that crime, McCrumb weaves in a modern day mystery.

Catch as Cat Can by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown PS 3553 .R598 C44 2002 In this book, not only do cats solve the mystery, but a cat helped to write it, too!  Author Rita Mae Brown gives her striped cat Sneaky Pie equal writing credit on her mysteries set in the small town of Crozet, Va.  and featuring an animal sleuthing trio of cats Mrs. Murphy and Pewter and dog Tee Tucker.  The animals can talk to each other, and not surprisingly, generally have everything figured out well before the humans catch on!

Playing with Fire by Peter Robinson PR 6068 .O1964 P58 2004 The mystery novels of British author Peter Robinson feature music-loving detective Alan Banks and his assistant Annie Cabot.  Throughout the novels we get information about the lives of the characters as they attempt to solve the crimes presented in their latest adventure. In this novel, they attempt to determine if several arson cases are related.  Murders are involved and it is a race against time to stop the killer before he strikes again.

The topics of Forensic Science and Crime Scene Investigation have become very popular recently with the rise in television programs on the subject.  We have recently obtained some interesting books on the subject.  In order to make them easier to find, we have put some of these books on a display just inside the front desk of the library.  Some of the titles include:

Crime Scene: the Ultimate Guide to Forensic Science by Richard Platt

This book is published by DK Publishing.  The book is very interesting to thumb through, with many interesting photographs and graphics  illustrating various aspects of forensic science.  Some of the chapters in the book are:

At the Crime Scene
The Victim
Human Identification
Analysis of Evidence
Crimes without Corpses

There are plenty of case studies included to help to illustrate points.

Bodies We’ve Buried: Inside the National Forensic Academy, the World’s Top CSI Training School by Jarrett Hallcox and Amy Welch

The National Forensic Academy in Knoxville, TN is a training academy for law enforcement agents who learn how to work in the field of crime scene investigation.  This book details various aspects of what they are taught, including photography, burial recovery, postmortem fingerprinting, bloodstain pattern analysis, arson investigation and working with trace evidence.  Plenty of actual cases are discussed, and there are black and white photographs throughout the book.

Coroner’s Journal: Stalking Death in Louisiana by Louis Cataldie

Dr. Cataldie is the Louisiana State Medical Examiner.  Previously, he worked as a doctor and as a coroner in Baton Rouge.  This book is a collection of cases that Dr. Cataldie has worked on throughout his career, including attempting to identify bodies after the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

All of these books are available for check out at the library!  Even though classes start next week, make time for some reading on topics you enjoy.  If forensic science isn’t your cup of tea, stop by and see what the library has on your preferred topics!  We can help you find books that will educate and entertain you!