I know I’ve mentioned here before that I often watch the Today Show in the morning as I am getting ready for work. This morning, as I buzzed around trying to figure out what to wear, I was entertained by Meredith, Matt, and Anne’s interview with the show’s very own weatherman turned novelist, Al Roker, whose debut who-dun-it is appropriately titled The Morning Show Murders. Take a peek at the video. Looks like everyone involved had a bit of fun at work. Perhaps RH Library should stage something like this… What do you think?

 Whether The Morning Show Murders (say that five times fast!) turns out to be Ms. Viera in Studio 1A with the teleprompter or just maybe Mr. Lauer in the Green Room with the boom, well… you’ll have to read it yourself to find out!

-Marie

While I feel as though I am missing out on all the back to school enthusiasm, I have plenty of teacher friends who sound  a bit overwhelmed, yet happy to be back in the swing of things.  So, while my heart and thoughts are with you as the new school year begins, here is some inspiration for YOU as you heroically mold young minds each and every day.

-Erica

I had heard the whispers in the halls and now the rumors are true!  Del Rey will be publishing Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Graphic Novel in 2010.  Details are available from Publishers Weekly.

And while I missed the official Comic Con announcement, the Quirk Books’ sequel is slated to be Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters!  And while I have not yet read the phenomenon that is Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the book trailer Quirk Books released  for the sequel is hilarious.  A little reordering of my giant “to read” pile is in order…Just don’t tell Jane!

-Erica (admitted Austenite)

This guy, Chuck Palahniuk, has one of the most devoted followings I’ve ever seen. A friend of mine has a blog alias gleaned from a character in his book Choke and one of my friends in publicity said Palahniuk’s signing was the craziest one she’d been to. (And I think this is the first time I’ve been able to spell his name right without looking it up.)

Below is a book trailer for his latest firebomb of a novel, Pygmy, compared quality-wise to the infamous Fight Club. Pygmy goes on sale next month.

With many of our department members off to the Texas Library Association conference this week, I can’t help but think back on my experience there last year. One of the best things, for me, is getting to attend the First Fiction panels at the various shows and I was fortunate enough to sit in on one with author Stephan Merrill Block last year. He is around my age and has published his first novel The Story of Forgetting last year. Talk about motivation! The paperback is out next week (4/7). Check out the awesome video on the novel below. It definitely makes me want to dive into my copy!

-Marie

As I was getting ready for work this morning, I caught the first half of a Good Morning America segment on Lynne Greenberg’s new memoir, The Body Broken. Some of us have been in Greenberg’s shoes… 30 to 50 million in fact. That’s the number of Americans who have suffered from chronic pain. Since my own personal experience with this issue has been on the more tolerable end of the spectrum, listening to Greenberg’s story I felt both empathetic and very lucky. Having suffered a broken neck she thought had healed during a car accident at age 19, Greenberg chronicles the physical agony she experienced years later when her pain suddenly began and her determination to put mind over matter and get her life back. With 30 to 50 million who can relate, chances are some of them are your patrons so pick up a copy of this memoir today.  

Watch the GMA video and read an excerpt of the book here.

-Marie

What we’ve all be eagerly awaiting!  Alexander McCall Smith’s beloved series finally brought to life on HBO, beginning Sunday, March 29th, 8pm.

Anthony Minghella (The English Patient, Cold Mountain), who died last year, directed the two-hour pilot.  Grammy-award winner, Jill Scott, plays Precious Ramotswe.  Tony award winner Anika Noni Rose (Dreamgirls) plays her secretary, Mma Makutsi.  The series was shot is Botswana.

-Erica

 Happy Friday, everyone!  I’m not sure if it’s time, yet, for our Pet of the Month selection, but I was in need of some feline humor and thought you might be, too.

-Erica

I came across this great URL on Facebook last night for librarygamingtoolkit.org. (I guess it pays to be Facebook friends with Reforma librarians!) This website is HUGE. It provides tips, resources, and ideas for librarians looking to provide an environment for gaming in their libraries–everything from “Survey library users to determine their gaming preferences and their wishlist of services” to “Offer socks.” Here’s their eye-opening introductory text:

In 2007, over 404 libraries responded to a national library gaming gaming census, reporting on 218 programs. On November 15 2008, 597 libraries reported on serving 14,184 gamers on National Gaming Day. Gaming services epitomize library as third place, creating a community gathering spot between home and work/school. That third place encourages play, socialization, and cultural enrichment. Libraries looking for ways to reach beyond their traditional patron base are turning to gaming.

Board games, card games, and videogames are, in essence, information, and the human act of telling stories, presented in new formats that involve the player. Games may fulfill a library’s mission to provide cultural, recreational, and entertaining materials; to provide adacemic curriculum support; or to provide resources and support their industry or profession.

This may be old news to some, but gaming can nourish the neurons too, as detrimental as it can be for a person’s orthography: First person to email me (library@randomhouse.com) the etymology of “pwned” gets a copy of Prima Games‘ Fallout 3 Collector’s Edition Game Guide.

Also, for more ideas and information on D&D, visit the Wizards of the Coast website.  

-David

My most recent staff pick was North Korea Kidnapped My Daughter by Sakie Yokota.  Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, recently met with Sakie Yokota while meeting with families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea, as reported by The New York Times.

This summer, CNN’s Anderson Cooper ran a story that was both shocking in its immediacy and haunting with its heart-wrenching tale. Four years ago, North Korea admitted to a program of abducting Japanese citizens in the hopes of training them as spies during the Cold War. Sakie Yokota lost her thirteen-year-old daughter, Megumi, in 1977 to this insidious scheme. This is the story of one woman’s personal struggle to find the daughter who was so cruelly taken from her and her transformation from happy housewife to political activist and crusader.

In August 2006, Sakie met with President Bush to further talks about demanding sanctions on North Korea. The documentary, Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story is available and also a quick search on YouTube will allow you to explore more coverage of this astonishing emotional and political quagmire. This riveting true story of every parent’s worst nightmare will captivate and horrify you.

-Erica