location

Durham Public Library
7 Maple Avenue
Durham, CT 06422
860-349-9544

Hours:
10:00am - 9:00pm * Monday through Thursday
10:00am - 5:00pm * Friday and Saturday

blog description

"You see, I don't believe that libraries should be drab places where people sit in silence, and that's been the main reason for our policy of employing wild animals as librarians."--Monty Python


Friday, October 28, 2011

PATRON PICKS--Recommend a favorite book or DVD!

We'd love to hear about your favorite books and DVDs!  You can use the comment box below, or stop by the library and fill out one of our Patron Picks forms. 


Please include the name of the book or DVD, author (for books), why you liked it, and your first name.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

PATRON PICKS (DVD)--In the Bedroom

Jacquelene's DVD pick:  In the Bedroom (2001)



Jacquelene says:  Excellent story, acting.  Speaks to the issues of what is a fitting sentence for certain crimes in our justice system today.

PATRON PICKS (DVD)-- The Indian Runner

Jacquelene's DVD pick:  The Indian Runner (1991)



Jacquelene says:  Excellent story line.  Good brother vs. bad brother and how each of their lives reflects the choices they make.

PATRON PICKS (DVD)-- Into the Wild

Jacquelene's DVD pick:  Into the Wild (2007)

Jacquelene says:
Exploratory film relating the story of a young man from a life of comfort and his quest to determine what life without money and status has to offer, and what he finds out in his travels.

Excellent DVD for those 12 and older but has a sad ending.  Outstanding photography and interesting characters throughout the story.

PATRON PICKS-- The Moonlit Cage

Sue's pick:  The Moonlit Cage, by Linda Holeman


Synopsis:
Daryâ’s simple life in mid-nineteenth-century Afghanistan is torn apart when a hateful curse by a jealous tribeswoman leaves her an outcast in her small Muslim village. She looks to her arranged marriage to the son of a nomadic tribal chief with hope that it will deliver her from this oppression; instead, Daryâ finds herself regularly beaten by her wrathful husband, and more isolated than she can bear. Seeing no choice other than to flee from her torment, Daryâ barely escapes through the foothills of the Hindu Kush.

Destitute and alone, Daryâ meets David Ingram, an enigmatic Englishman traveling in Afghanistan. Although he is a complete stranger, she joins him on his journey to Bombay—and embarks on the adventure of a lifetime. Ranging from the arid Afghan plains to the lush tropical villas of India, across mighty seas to Victorian London’s fetid streets, The Moonlit Cage is an intense and sensuous story of love, loss, and redemption.

Sue says:  I highly recommend it!

PATRON PICKS--James D. Doss' Mysteries

Mercedes' pick:  James D. Doss' Mysteries


Synopsis of A Dead Man's Tale:
At seven feet tall, Colorado rancher and Ute tribal investigator Charlie Moon is a larger-than-life figure—and a force to be reckoned with, on and off the reservation…

Hard times have come to Colorado, and Moon’s ranch is feeling the pinch. Not so for Samuel Reed. He seems to have a special intuition when it comes to picking stocks, and claims to be able to remember the future, which gives him quite a leg up on Wall Street. So Reed is quite confident when he makes a wager with Moon’s best friend, Granite Creek Chief of Police Scott Parris, that Parris can’t keep him alive.

Even when Reed doesn’t offer any details beyond the date and time of his impending demise, Moon has a sixth sense that everything will turn out just fine…until not one, but two men end up left for dead. Now it’s up to Moon—along with the help of his Aunt Daisy, an aged Ute shaman who can communicate with the spirit world—to solve the case. Or die trying…

Mercedes says:  The main character is very likeable and the plots are interesting.  Reminds me of Tony Hillerman's western mysteries. 

Thursday, October 20, 2011

PATRON PICKS: Troublemaker

Tati's pick:  Troublemaker, by Andrew Clements

Synopsis:
There’s a folder in Principal Kelling’s office that’s as thick as a phonebook and it’s growing daily. It’s filled with the incident reports of every time Clayton Hensley broke the rules. There’s the minor stuff like running in the hallways and not being where he was suppose to be when he was supposed to be there. But then there are also reports that show Clay’s own brand of troublemaking, like the most recent addition: the art teacher has said that the class should spend the period drawing anything they want and Clay decides to be extra “creative” and draw a spot-on portrait of Principal Kellings…as a donkey.
It’s a pretty funny joke, but really, Clay is coming to realize that the biggest joke of all may be on him. When his big brother, Mitchell, gets in some serious trouble, Clay decides to change his own mischief making ways…but he can’t seem to shake his reputation as a troublemaker.
From the master of the school story comes a book about the fine line between good-humored mischief and dangerous behavior and how everyday choices can close or open doors.

Tati says:  A daring story about a boy who's brother goes to jail.  He is usually a troublemaker.