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Celebrate National Library Week – April 12 – 18

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ALA_NLW2015_375x474It’s National Library Week 2015. The American Library Association, and you local library have many amazing events scheduled this week. Check out the ALA’s press release and links!

National Library Week (April 12 – 18, 2015) is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation’s libraries and library workers and to promote library use and support. From free access to books and online resources for families to library business centers that help support entrepreneurship and retraining, libraries offer opportunity to all. The theme for 2015 National Library Week is “Unlimited Possibilities @ your library.”

First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation’s libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support. All types of libraries – school, public, academic and special – participate.

Best-selling author David Baldacci will serve as Honorary Chair of National Library Week 2015 (April 12-18, 2015). Baldacci’s novels have been translated into more than 45 languages and have been adapted for film and television. Over 110 million copies of his books are in print worldwide.  In addition, Baldacci is involved with several philanthropic organizations, including his family’s Wish You Well Foundation®, which fosters and promotes the development and expansion of literacy and educational programs.

National Library Week events

5 Ways to Find a Great Book That is Worth Your Time

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Find a BookBy guest blogger – Meghan Belnap

Finding the perfect book is a way to spend hours escaping into an entirely new world, especially when you are a fan of fiction novels. The issue comes when you have read all of the books on your list and are striving to find something more. When you are on a search for the best books that are also worth your time there are a few resources to put to use to ensure you have made the right selection.

Find Your Niche

Before browsing through thousands of book stores and libraries it is highly advisable to determine the type of reading that is right for you. Whether you prefer novels about mystical creatures, non-fiction literature on psychology or if you are searching for just the right autobiography it is possible to find the books you have in mind in-store and even right from home, online. Knowing what genre you like is paramount to finding the right book to indulge in.

Search Public Libraries

One of the best ways, if a little old-fashioned, is to seek out help at your local public library near you. Seeking help in the library gives you the option of browsing by category and in some cases, even popularity. When seeking solitude to research books of your interest the library is often considered the ideal location because it is the gathering place of like-minded individuals. Ask around and see what others are reading and just enjoy the atmosphere.

Use Free Resources Online

Seeking out book titles and even books free in their entirety is available online. Searching online for book titles and excerpts that appeal to you can be done within seconds and give you more details on writing style, format and the overall appeal of the book itself before making a purchase.

Research Books and Synopsis of Books Online

If you have become genuinely interested in researching book prior to making a purchase it has never been easier than online. Reading book reviews and testimonials on sites like the Book Trib will allow you to gain insight while having a better understanding of the type of book you want to add to your own bookshelf. Forums like this are a great way to get a feel for the titles you are looking at with candid reviews that help direct your next selection.

Ask a Reader You Know

Having an avid reader in your life is another great asset to have in your own, especially when you are similar interests in the books you own and rent. Friends who are also readers are likely to borrow or swap books to avoid spending money on your very own copy. Finding people that you can share this pastime with can be extremely rewarding.

Whether you’re an avid reader or if you have just recently discovered the magic of immersing yourself into literature there are thousands of books to choose from in all genres. Finding a great book that is informative, entertaining, romantic and even mystery has the power to open the mind while exploring infinite worlds and destinies.

About the Author:
Meghan Belnap is a freelance writer who enjoys spending time with her family. She also enjoys being in the outdoors and exploring new opportunities whenever they arise as well as researching new topics to expand her horizons. You can often find her buried in a good book or out looking for an adventure.

 

2015 Hugo Award Nominations

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The Hugo Awards are presented for the best literature in the science fiction genre. Awards are given in seventeen categories. All members (attending and non-attending) of the 2015 Worldcon can vote on the final ballot. The winners will be revealed at the show being held at Sasquan, Spokane, Washington, USA, August 22, 2015

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The nominees are:

Best Novel (1827 nominating ballots, 587 entries, range 256-387)

  • Ancillary Sword, Ann Leckie (Orbit US/Orbit UK)
  • The Dark Between the Stars, Kevin J. Anderson (Tor Books)
  • The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison (Sarah Monette) (Tor Books)
  • Lines of Departure, Marko Kloos (47North)
  • Skin Game, Jim Butcher (Orbit UK/Roc Books)

Best Novella (1083 nominating ballots, 201 entries, range 145-338)

  • Big Boys Don’t Cry, Tom Kratman (Castalia House)
  • “Flow”, Arlan Andrews, Sr. (Analog, 11-2014)
  • One Bright Star to Guide Them, John C. Wright (Castalia House)
  • “Pale Realms of Shade”, John C. Wright (The Book of Feasts & Seasons, Castalia House)
  • “The Plural of Helen of Troy”, John C. Wright (City Beyond Time: Tales of the Fall of Metachronopolis, Castalia House)

A complete list of all nominees in all categories can be found at the Hugo Awards website. 

SNEAK PEAK: Remember Me by Maggie Mae Gallagher

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RememberMe300x450REMEMBER ME

The Heart Never Forgets…

When world renowned psychic, Madelyn Rose, accepts a missing children’s case on the Navajo Reservation, she believes it is a case she is more than capable of solving. What she never expects is for Detective Bronx Daniels to dredge up images of their shared past life and challenge the foundation of her future. In the wide open spaces of the Arizona desert, Madelyn and Bronx are forced to rely upon each other for survival as they race to save the abducted boys from the will of a madman. But with her life on the line, will Madelyn risk it all for a love that crosses time?

 

Excerpt of REMEMBER ME

Well, hell.

The police building reminded her more of the OK Corral than a government office building. Any minute she expected Doc Holiday to waltz around the corner of the squat brown brick and tip his hat in her direction. Instead, she had Mister Crabby Ass, Detective Daniels, impatiently awaiting her arrival, his large frame illuminated in the doorway. If Maddie had not experienced the travel day from hell, she might actually be able to smile at his flippant assertiveness.

She loved the work she did, loved helping people, saving lives, and putting the bad guys behind bars. But it meant she worked closely with law enforcement and personalities that made her want to beat her head against the wall half the time. As much as she was trying to reserve judgment, Detective Daniels wasn’t making it easy on her.

He had threatened at one point today to send a search party for her with all her flight delays. Maddie snorted at the thought, she had never been lost a day in her life. Switching off the car engine, she grabbed her purse and climbed out into the desolate desert, flickers of lightning raced across the inky sky. The small town of Creekstone had already closed for the night. A lone street lamp near the one church cast its pitiful light on what served as main street for the town boasting a population a smidge over three hundred. The police station seemed to be the only business still operating at this time of night.

“About time you made it,” he said and turned before she caught a glimpse of his face. Man had been on her ass all day long. Like she called down the heavens and asked for a series of super-cell thunderstorms spanning seven states, just to ruin his day. Detective Daniels she presumed.

Arrogant jerk didn’t even give her a chance to respond. On the bright side, at least he left the station door open for her and didn’t slam it in her face.

Her luggage could stay put until he pointed her in the direction of a motel that hopefully wasn’t one of those pay by the hour deals she had noticed on the drive in. Although from the way it looked, she would be lucky to find a decent coffee shop within fifty miles. Why couldn’t she have had another case in New Orleans or somewhere that the population demanded amenities like coffee shops on almost every corner? How people lived in the middle of nowhere, away from any type of civilization was beyond her. Didn’t people watch scary movies? The middle of nowhere was precisely where the deranged psycho killer with a chainsaw showed up. She glanced around the adobe brick Navajo Nation Police Sub-Station as if it were the Bates Motel, and rubbed warmth back into her arms. Maddie’s brownstone apartment on the Upper East Side in Manhattan was twice its size.

What a day. And from the looks of it, her day was nowhere near over. She could really use more coffee and not the gut-bombing swill she normally found at every police station she worked in.

At one point in the police station’s existence the tiny building might have been a house. Cactus dotted the side yards that were now slushy, slick pools of mud. The only difference between this squat building and the other homes she’d passed was the sign posted in front of two parking spaces designating it as the police station.

Maddie ignored her sweaty palms and apprehension swirling in her body. The dinner she’d grabbed in Flagstaff threatened to regurgitate with each step forward. For the second time in her life, Maddie disregarded her instincts. When it came to kids, there was no out, not in her book.

She marched inside after him, her gaze slid over his ass encased in well-worn jeans. Well, she had to give the guy credit. He had a triple-prime, grade-A behind.

The icy breeze made her teeth chatter. Maddie pulled her coat tighter and closed the door against the chill. The fluorescent lights exposed the faded light blue paint on the walls that were tinged with grime around the edges. Some of the desert had taken up residence inside, nature’s way of trying to take back what rightfully belonged to her.

Two small pale wooden desks each competed for space with computer stations that looked like an IT person’s version of a wet dream. A multi-line phone, extra light, as if the glaring fluorescent bulbs weren’t enough to brighten the dingy place, and black computer chairs. A pewter-colored metal door stood staunchly in the left-hand corner; she assumed it led to the holding cells, and possibly a restroom, but little else.

Maddie noticed a small refrigerator in the opposite corner with a coffeemaker situated on top. There was a half-full pot of, from the smell of it, burnt coffee. A trace of heady sage mingled with cedar lingered in the room. Why would the detective smell like sage and cedar? Was he a practitioner? Was that why he called her? The scents were something one would typically find in a metaphysical shop, like the one she conducted psychic readings out of when she was home in New York. Maddie practically rubbed her hands together. If he was, it would make her job so much easier.

Detective Daniels reached his desk before he turned his attention and face back to her.

Wowzers.

She bit her lip to keep her mouth from popping open. This was no pretty boy, like the ones dominating Hollywood these days, but a rugged man’s man. Taking in the lean, rangy build encased in a blue plaid dress shirt the top button undone, as he swiveled to meet her gaze head-on, the man wasted no movements. A brown leather belt was slung around his hips, holding his firearm and displaying his badge, accentuated his lean hips. Every step he took had a purpose behind it or he did not bother with the movement. The intensity in his gaze reminded Maddie of birds of prey. Even the straight raven hair grazing his shoulders moved in conjunction with the rest of him as if allowing a strand out of place would somehow cause too much disorder.

Maddie checked the long sturdy fingers on his left hand. No wedding band. Dark suntanned skin, rugged features from a lifetime spent in the sun with coldly assessing brown eyes. He wasn’t pure Navajo Indian, somewhere in his ancestry there was some Anglo.

The firm line of his mouth, surrounded by shadowed growth along his square jaw-line, and his stern expression told her in all of two seconds that he didn’t want her there. Absorbing the distrust stamped across his face, the man did not practice anything that was remotely off the reservation, so to speak.

He studied her with a stony glint in his eyes and firm set to his jaw that she steadfastly believed police forces around the world taught their officers. And this one sized her up, traced the outline of her loose auburn curls draped over her shoulders. His eyes missed nothing, not the dangly silver hoops decorating her ears to her brown high-heeled Steve Madden boots. Something told her he was displeased by her appearance.

“What? Were you expecting a crystal ball and broomstick?”

Available at:
Amazon http://goo.gl/tp6QMO
B&N http://goo.gl/g03cxG
Kobo http://goo.gl/5nKnBc

maggieAbout the Author:
Bestselling Author Maggie Mae Gallagher doesn’t remember a time when she wasn’t writing. When she was a kid she acted out her favorite scenes, only better, with her brother and cousin. As a teenager, she wrote reams of poetry, but realized her true love lay with creating characters and stories. A former music and history major, Maggie is a total geek at her core. When she is not writing, she adores attending the latest comic con or spending time with her family. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with her two furry felines.

 

Find Maggie at:
Website: http://www.maggiemaegallagher.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Maggie-Mae-Gallagher/107335792624944
Twitter: https://twitter.com/magmaegallagher
Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/author/maggiegallagher
Goodreads

The Webby Awards

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downloadIt is awards season for books, websites and all things literary. Right now, you can cast your vote at the Webby Awards website for your favorites. The Webby Awards is an international award ‘honoring excellence on the Internet.’

The awards are sponsored by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences and their judging body. Once these judges have selected what they consider the top nominees in each category, the site opens so the public/Internet users can cast their vote. Since 1996, The Webby Awards have selected those sites that highlight how great the Internet can be.

“This year’s Nominees are moving Internet culture – and society – forward through their sophisticated technology, sleek user design, and social influence. Each of this year’s Nominees are raising the bar in their respective categories and we are excited for the public to weigh in with their votes for this year’s Webby People’s Voice Winners,” said executive director, David-Michel Davies.

The awards will be presented on Monday, May 18, and the ceremony will be available on demand on May 19 on the official Webby Awards site. Head over and vote now!

 

 

Reader’s Entertainment Radio Presents: P.C. Cast

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What a blast I had chatting with #1 New York Times Bestselling Author, P.C. Cast this evening! We talked about her amazing writing career thus far, her latest novel, Redeemed, Book 12 in the House of Night Novels and tread desks…I Googled, and they look phenomenal! Of course, I think I’d get wigged out trying to walk and type at the same time, but I’m sure I’d get the hang of it…eventually.

After high school PC Cast joined the United States Air Force and began public speaking and writing. After her tour in the USAF, she taught high school for 15 years before retiring to write full time.  She is a member of the Oklahoma Writers Hall of Fame.  An award winning fantasy and paranormal romance author, her novels have been awarded the prestigious: Oklahoma Book Award, YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Prism, Holt Medallion, Daphne du Maurier, Booksellers’ Best, and the Laurel Wreath. She is an experienced teacher and talented speaker.

She wrote The House of Night series with her daughter.  An international phenomenon, it’s reached #1 on U.S., German, and UK bestseller lists, and remained a fixture on The New York Times Children’s Series bestseller list for nearly 160 weeks and counting, with more than 20 million copies in print and rights sold in fourty–two countries to date.  Redeemed is the final electrifying installment in the #1 New York Times bestselling vampyre series by PC and Kristin Cast.

RedeemedBook Blurb:

Zoey Redbird is in trouble. Having released the Seer Stone to Aphrodite, and surrendered herself to the Tulsa Police, she has isolated herself from her friends and mentors, determined to face the punishment she deserves–even if that means her body will reject the change, and begin to die. Only the love of those closest to her can save her from the Darkness in her spirit; but a terrible evil has emerged from the shadows, more powerful than ever…

Neferet has finally made herself known to mortals. Crowning herself a Dark Goddess, she is evil unleashed and is enslaving the citizens of Tulsa. The vampyres of the House of Night have banded with the police, and are gathering every last resource they have, but they know that no single vampyre is strong enough to vanquish her–unless that vampyre has the power to summon the elements as well as the ability to wield Old Magick. Only Zoey is heir to such power…but because of the consequences of using Old Magick, she is unable to help.

In the final novel in the House of Night series, an epic battle of Light versus Darkness will decide who is redeemed…and who is forever lost.

Click on the book image above to listen to P.C. Cast’s interview!

 

P.C. Cast
P.C. Cast

Connect with P.C. Cast on Social Media:

www.pccast.net

www.facebook.com/officialhouseofnight

www.twitter.com/PC_Cast

Girls Who Count: Taylor Swift, Rachael Ray, and Other Mathematical Role Models

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By: Laura Overdeck @Bookish.com

Math gets a bad rap and little girls in particular are rarely encouraged to pursue it. No one knows this better thanBedtime Math: The Truth Comes Out author Laura Overdeck. In this guest post, Overdeck shows us the cool jobs that involve a passion for calculation, from cooking to becoming the next Taylor Swift. So before you forget how to do integrals and throw your algebra sensibilities to the wind, read up on these exciting women whose careers involve mathematical know-how. You just might find something right up your alley.

 

Let’s face it: Math sounds like something you leave behind in the classroom. Our culture doesn’t mix math into playtime, the way we do with art, music, or even reading for pleasure. One look at Amazon’s top-selling toys for kids, and you’ll find the alphabet and music, but almost no math. Of the top-selling books for kids, most books about math are workbooks. Ugh! No wonder kids miss out on the beauty in numbers, and grow up thinking math is just a tedious school subject. Our culture doesn’t signal that math is fun.

That’s a big problem, because someday when those kids graduate from college and take jobs, they’re going to need math skills. Our school leaders, politicians, and the press have drummed into us that we have a shortage of technically skilled adults, but that doesn’t sound interesting to kids—particularly to girls, whom we unconsciously bias against math and science from an early age. The fact is, some really cool jobs use math behind the scenes—and the girl who knows some math will excel in the workplace over everyone else.

Follow in Rachael Ray’s footsteps

Follow in Rachael Ray’s footsteps
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One thing everyone loves is food. Cooking is both art and science: You can’t be a great cook unless you’re also comfortable with math. When famous chefs like Ina Garten and Rachael Ray cook up magic, there are lots of numbers at play. They have to understand how the depth of batter in a pan or a thickness of meat will cook, and how high or low temperatures will create a totally different dish. Even before that, they have to mix the right amounts of ingredients. If you make 1 1/2 times a recipe that calls for 3/4 teaspoons of baking soda, you can’t just guess how much baking soda you need and hope for the best. You’ll end up with fluffy goop gushing out of your oven. Mixing ingredients to make magic means math. What girl doesn’t want to wrangle with that challenge?

Be the next Taylor Swift
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When Taylor Swift writes a song, she’s working on both the lyrics and the beat, and has to make sure the pieces fit together. As she writes each line, the words, in fact the syllables, have to add up to fill the right amount of time. When instruments roll in, those phrases (which are often manipulated digitally) have to still fit the time signature. Beyond that, she has the whole business side to track. Taylor may not come out and say she does math for a living, but if she weren’t comfortable with numbers deep down inside, she wouldn’t be the superstar talent she is today.

Save the planet with Antonella Preti
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Any girl who wants to save a species—bug-eyed owls, black bears, beautiful tropical birds—can make that her life mission by becoming a biologist and studying animal populations. Antonella Preti, an ocean biologist in La Jolla, CA, studies sharks to understand what animals they’re eating, which shows how ocean currents and temperatures bring different critters to new areas. She combines that with other numbers, like each shark’s weight and age, to find patterns. Biologists sometimes even count up how many animals are flooding an area, like the jackrabbits overrunning North Dakota and the manatees swarming around Florida right now. By tracking and analyzing those numbers, we can help our furry and fishy friends alike. 

Make some dough like Elizabeth Magie
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Toy creators need math on the job, especially those who design board games. Monopoly, one of the most famous of all, was invented over one hundred years ago by Elizabeth Magie. Originally called “The Landlord’s Game,” she built a board outlined by pieces of property; each time you roll the dice and land on one, you pay rent to the owner or buy it yourself. Think of how much math this required. She had to decide how many turns it should take to go around the board, and how many rolls that would take, given that a pair of dice rolls anything between a 2 and a 12. She also had to set the rents and prices for all the properties, and the cost of buying a house or hotel; all of that had to balance with the prices to buy property. The game, which has 40 spots around the border with a railroad in the middle of each side, flows beautifully and really makes sense. That didn’t happen by accident. She had to get the math right.

Be out of this world like Anita Sengupta
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Toys are fun, but if one thinks big, there are countless opportunities for girls to use math in huge ways. Anita Sengupta, for example, is famous for landing things on Mars, as a project manager for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab. She led the team that designed the parachute for NASA’s Curiosity rover, so it could make a soft landing on Mars’ red dirt and live to tell the tale. Never mind that Curiosity had to fly 60 million miles and not miss Mars—that took a ton of math and physics fancy footwork as is. It then had to blast through Mars’ atmosphere without burning up, and unfold a parachute that would work no matter which way Curiosity happened to be facing. Anita and her team could never have achieved this without out-of-this-world math skills.

Or whatever else floats your boat
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Girls don’t have to take their engineering skills into space to find a place to use them. Right here on Earth there are countless jobs that tap our quant skills, beyond the chemists who invent medicines and the coders who build apps. Math is everywhere: any time you build things, mix things, and measure things, you’re putting numbers to work, and that makes work as good as play for anyone.

REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM BOOKISH.COM

Author Maya Angelou to Be Commemorated on Stamp

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maya1The Warner Theater in Washington, D.C. is hosting a very special event next week. Tuesday, April 7th, bestselling author, America’s Poet Laureate and American icon, Maya Angelou will be commemorated on a United States Stamp. Artist Ross Rossin of Atlanta was tapped to be the portrait artist and his original painting will be displayed at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery until November 1, 2015.

Oprah Winfrey and poet Nikki Giovanni will be attending the ceremony.

One of Ms. Angelou’s most famous quotes will be included on the stamp:  “A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”

 

The Most Popular Children’s Book Is…………

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download (13)In a recent survey conducted by the BBC, Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White was voted “The Most Popular Children’s Book” ever. The survey was given to reviewers, book critics, and other literary experts who were task with naming the best children’s books for readers under the age of 10 years.

The survey mentioned over 150 titles, but the top votes went the Charlotte’s Web. Following closely by Winnie-The-Pooh by A.A. Milne, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, and Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. 

You can peruse the entire list by following this link.

 

 

How to Speak Cat

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Why are cats so mysterious? Why don’t they tell us what they want? Why aren’t cats more like dogs? Find out what your feline is trying to tell you in our new book, How to Speak Cat. Get it here!
Find out more at – http://bit.ly/SpeakCat #SpeakCat
Written with pet expert Dr. Gary Weitzman, D.M.V., of NPR’s Animal House and CEO of the San Diego Human Society and SPCA Non-Fiction/Pet/Cats

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We know cats are beautiful, secretive, and independent … but even the most loyal cat owners are often baffled by their own pet’s behavior. With veterinarian expert Dr. Gary Weitzman as guide, this fun book helps kids understand what cats are trying to communicate by their body language and behavior. So if you’ve ever wondered what Fluffy means when she’s purring or moving her tail emphatically from left to right – this book is for you! It’s full of insights, expert advice, and real-life cat scenarios, and showcases more than 30 poses, so you’ll soon learn what each meow and flick of the tail means!