William Allen White Award Book Review/Anonymous Book Reviews
Your vote counts! Watch local middle school students review Shakespeare's Secret by Elise Broach, a Kansas William Allen White Award nominee.
William Allen White Award Book Review: Princess Academy
Your vote counts! Watch a local middle school student puppeteer review Princess Academy by Shannon Hale, a Kansas William Allen White Award nominee.
William Allen White Award Book Review: The Sacrifice
Your vote counts. Watch a local middle school student review The Sacrifice by Katherine Benner Duble, a Kansas William Allen White Award nominee.
William Allen White Award Book Review/Naked Mole-Rat Letters
Your vote counts. Watch a local middle school student puppeteer review The Naked Mole-Rat Letters by Mary Amato, a Kansas William Allen White Award nominee.
William Allen White Award Book Review: The Dr. Dyl Show 2
Your vote counts! Watch local middle school students review Kansas William Allen White Award nominees. The Dr. Dyl Show includes interviews for Defiance by Valerie Hobbs, and A Dog's Life; the autobiography of a stray by Anne Martin.
90 second book review: Austenland by Shannon Hale
The Barbies are back, this time to act out scenes from the novel Austenland by Shannon Hale. When Jane Hayes' inherits a three-week vacation from her eccentric aunt, she heads to England to try to get over the overwhelming obsession that is preventing her from finding romance in New York. I first heard about this entertaining novel from Michelle's excellent review on Papercuts last October.
60 second book review: love is a mix tape
In Love is a Mix Tape: life and loss, one song at a time, Rob Sheffield, a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, reflects on music and love, his marriage and on being a widow. How to tell if you might like this book...Did you ever (publicly or secretly) love pop music? How clearly do you remember the day that Kurt Cobain died? Have you ever made or received a mix tape? Do you sometimes miss the 90's? When the singers ask "What is love?" Rob Sheffield knows the answer. Love is a mix tape.
The Shock Doctrine: a video review by Alfonso Cuaron
60 second book review: at knit's end: meditations for women who knit too much
The Yarn Harlot -Stephanie Pearl-McPhee - offers sage advice in her small but delightful non-fiction book of meditations for women who knit too much. The audiobook version is also great, because you can knit while you listen. If you are a knitter, this will validate everything you have always believed about your art/craft/hobby/obsession. And if you don't knit - well, maybe you should give it a try?
Check it out! At Knit’s End by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
60 second video book review: life on the refrigerator door
"life on the refrigerator door" by Alice Kupiers is a quick, emotional read that is sure to be passed around from daughter to mother and between friends. 15-year-old Claire and her mother take the epistolary novel to a new level with their story, which is told entirely through notes left for each other on the refrigerator door. A highly recommended read!
Check it out! life on the refrigerator door by Alice Kupiers
60 second book review: confessions of a Jane Austen addict
This new novel by author Laurie Viera Rigler takes a heartbroken thirty year old Los Angeles woman and sends her back in time to the early 1800's, specifically to the world inhabited by her beloved Jane Austen characters. A fun chick-lit read for those who enjoy escaping - literally - into a good Regency-era novel.
Check it out! Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler
Author Marilyn Johnson visited TSCPL
Yesterday afternoon, Marilyn Johnson, author of The Dead Beat, shared stories and inspiration from her non-fiction book about the art of obituaries, the people who write them, and the people who enjoy reading them.
Video Book Review: The Friday Night Knitting Club
When Georgia Walker was pregnant, she began taking on knitting projects to make extra money. She has worked hard to build her business, and her daughter is almost thirteen now. Their small Manhattan knitting store is called Walker and daughter and it is tucked away above a popular deli. Busy city women rush in at closing time to pick up one more skein or get supplies for a new project, and on Friday night, regular customers tend to linger longer, talking and knitting and becoming friends. Read The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs!
Videos from the Big Read Kickoff
The Big Read Kickoff was Friday, May 11, 2007 at the Topeke and Shawnee County Public Library. Enjoy these videos, or read more about The Big Read.
To celebrate Fahrenheit 451 as the choice for our community's Big Read (May-June 2007), Topekans gathered to read aloud from their favorite books.
The Big Read has begun!
As I'm sure you have heard by now, this month we are reading and discussing Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451. 
What is Fahrenheit 451 all about?
Ray Bradbury’s masterful novel, Fahrenheit 451, explores issues of censorship, independent thought and free speech, propaganda, anti-intellectualism, and technology and alienation in society. Its relevance remains undiminished since publication in 1951.
In Fahrenheit 451, fireman Guy Montag doesn’t extinguish fires—his job is to start them. Firemen burn books, along with the ideas and knowledge they contain, to keep the written word and critical thinking from intruding on people’s daily lives.
When Montag sees that society places no value on the life of the individual, the intellectual, or the inquisitive... when his family, his job, and ultimately his life are endangered... he must choose a new path, one that he can live with and believe in.
Watch a video book review of Fahrenheit 451 on youtube.com.
Discuss the book Sunday, May 20, 3-5 pm at the library!
Find out more about events including movies, music and book discussions at the Fahrenheit 451 website.
This community reading event is part of The Big Read, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest. The Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, the State Library of Kansas, and the communities of Syracuse, Junction City/Fort Riley, Wichita and Hiawatha are partners for The Big Read this year.
The Eyre Affair: Video Book Review
Watch this short teaser for The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde that we filmed as a movie-trailer-style advertisement for the novel.
What other books do you think deserve a movie-trailer?
Book Group in the Cube: Video Book Review
This video book review expands the Barbie Book Club to the realm of the cubicle.
Video Description: The HR department is making The Cubes participate in some corporate bonding activities - so they're starting a book group. They begin by discussing the newest Douglas Coupland book - JPod
Read more about JPod by Douglas Coupland or check out the book from the library,
This is my third video book review based on this premise. You can watch the first "What if Barbie had a Book Club?" video here. I'm still experimenting, so let me know what you think!
Video Description: The HR department is making The Cubes participate in some corporate bonding activities - so they're starting a book group. They begin by discussing the newest Douglas Coupland book - JPod
Read more about JPod by Douglas Coupland or check out the book from the library,
This is my third video book review based on this premise. You can watch the first "What if Barbie had a Book Club?" video here. I'm still experimenting, so let me know what you think!
What if Barbie Had a Book Club?: Video Book Review
Video Description: When Barbie's book club chooses a historical novel about Kansas statehood and the settlement of Lawrence, they bring in a literature expert to help facilitate the discussion. Unfortunately, their "expert" is a plastic fortune-telling toy. Luckily, The All True-Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton by Jane Smiley can be summarized by one of Barbie's favorite phrases -- "Girls can do anything!"
Read a summary of The All-True Travels of Lidie Newton by Jane Smiley, check out the book from the library, or read an author interview about the book.
This is my second video book review based on this premise. You can watch the first "What if Barbie had a Book Club?" video here. I'm still experimenting, so let me know what you think!