Pick of the Week: Iron Man!

I am so psyched about Iron Man 3 coming out May 3!

I have to admit that I've only seen the movies, not read the comics, but now might be a good time to start. The third movie is getting awesome reviews.

You'll want to watch the first movie & Iron Man 2.

You'll also want to check out Iron Man: The Ultimate Guide which is a gorgeous full-colour guide.

Then of course, we have Iron Man graphic novels.

So get your Iron Man fix before the third movie!

Pick of the Week!

Just a quick heads up that our Power of the Pen competition is open for entry!

You can find out all the details here along with a complete entry form and also a link to our online entry form if you'd rather submit online (please do!).

For those who haven't heard of our writing competition, it's an annual competition for teens 12-18. You're judged against others in your age category, and poetry and short stories are judged separately. If you win, you get $100 and second place takes $25. You also get your entry looked over by a real life writer which is pretty cool.

You can submit one per category (poetry/short story) so start writing! Deadline is August 31.

Best of luck!

Pick of the Week!

This week's pick is actually an event. Okay, multiple events rolled into one. It's March Break!!

I know it's not this week, but I wanted to give you the heads up about all the cool March Break programming going on for teens.

First off, Carlisle, Waterdown, Lynden, Freelton and Milgrove are holding a writing contest over March Break so stop by a branch for details.

Monday 
Binbrook - beading tecniques (12+) - 6:30 pm
Kenilworth - Create an eco-friendly backpack (10+) - 2:30 pm
Terryberry - Movie: The Odd Life of Timothy Green (12+) - 2pm

Tuesday
Central - YouTube theatre (12+) - 4pm
Stoney Creek - Celebrate the Hobbit (9+) - 2pm

Wednesday
Binbrook - Hip Hop with Broadway Bound Studio (8+ but I think teens are welcome) - 2pm
Central - Be Afraid! Writing Effective Horror (12+) - 6:30 pm
Concession - Celebrate the Hobbit (9+) - 2pm
Terryberry - Teen Pen Pal Program (13+) - 2pm
Terryberry - Open Games Day (all ages) - all day!

Thursday
Central - Creative Journaling - 2pm
Locke - Author reading (Ameer Ildreis) - 2pm
Saltfleet - Wii Party! (10+) - 2:30 pm
Sherwood - Ping Pong (12+) - 3pm
Turner Park - Finger Knitting (9+) - 1:30pm

Also, a lot of branches are showing movie like Wreck it Ralph and Hotel Transylvania on their big screens, so stop by your local branch and see what they have going on.

pick of the week: Doctor Who

This week's pick is an awesome sci-fi show that's been around for 50 (count 'em - FIFTY!) years and yet somehow remains fresh, funny and amazing. Doctor Who! It's hard to explain what Doctor Who is about, so let's just say it's about an alien (The Doctor), who travels through time and space in a blue box, meddling and trying to save people. He usually has one or two companions with him and they have all sorts of adventures. The picture above is the current doctor (Eleventh) with the last companion, Amy.

If you are looking to start the show, I'd recommend starting with the modern show first. Start with the ninth doctor and Rose here or you can also start with the eleventh doctor and Amy Pond, I think. Put that on hold here on DVD or here on blu-ray.

There are also companion books too, some available in print and some available in e-book. Find those here.

There's also some fantastic BBC radio plays which you can find here to download as e-audio.

Finally, also check out the book The Science of Doctor Who which explores some of the scientific concepts on the show in down-to-earth type language.

Allons-y!

Pick of the Week: New Overdrive

I'm so glad the new e-book interface is ready for today so I can show it off as my pick of the week!

The old e-book interface wasn't my favourite. I found it hard to search, hard to navigate and most importantly, hard to show people how to work it.

I'm still getting used to the new e-book/e-audio interface but already I think it's better. Check out the demo below.

You can browse teen audio and e-books here. Here are some awesome books that are checked in right now! (Though they might not be for long)

 Also cool: you can read books right from the website without downloading any software! Awesome for when you're on a public computer (like at, say, the library) or a friend's computer.

Check it out and let me know what you think. I'm currently reading the e-book Falling in Love with English Boys by Melissa Jensen which is fairly swoony.

Pick of the Week

One of the questions I get asked a lot is, 'what's the next book in this series?' and unless it's a trilogy, I have a hard time keeping series straight. Luckily, there's a really easy way of finding out what book you should read next in a series and it's accessible right from our catalogue.

First, search for the book you've just finished in our catalogue and click on the title.

I'm using Perfect, part of the Pretty Little Liars series as my example.

On the right-hand side, there's a link to: Get Novelist Reading Recommendations. Novelist is a book database that helps you pick your next read. It also keeps track of series.

When you click the link, it will open a new window with the list of books in the series. Click more to see all titles. Ta-da! Unbelievable is the next book in the series.

If you scroll down, you can also see what Novelist recommends as similar reads. 

Happy browsing!

Pick of the Week

This week's pick is something you might need this week - study guides!

Do you know the Castle Rock Key Study Guides? They are Ontario-based, so they're built around your curriculum and grade level, specifically for YOU. They have quizzes and problem questions to solve so you can practice math, chemistry, or whatever you're having trouble with.

The topics aren't just sciencey, they also have World History, English, Civics, Geography and more.

You can find the list of all the study guides here, or by searching 'key study guide' and the subject you're having trouble with.

Place a hold and hang onto it during exam prep.

Good luck!

Pick of the Week!

This week's pick is AskON, the online chat service that HPL offers.

If you're not aware of the service, let me tell you a bit about it. It's staffed by real live librarians with education in finding good information, so you can be sure you're getting professional help. It's staffed by libraries all over Ontario, so you might be talking with someone from Hamilton, Whitby or Ottawa or lots of other places, but we are all happy to help you.

It's a text based chat, so be aware that it might take some time for the person on the other end to type back to you. Be patient and we'll help you get the information you need.

You can ask all sorts of questions but AskON is most useful to get help starting a research project. We'll show you the best places to search and you take it from there. AskON won't do your project for you, but we'll help you get started.

You can access AskON from the hpl.ca homepage - just click on the image on the left-hand side.

I hope you take advantage of this awesome help, especially with the new semester around the corner.

Pick of the Week!

This week's pick is a book that I'm in the middle of, Kenneth Oppel's Such Wicked Intent. It's the second in his Frankenstein prequel trilogy, The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein.

The first book in the series was fairly messed up - Victor's twin brother is dying so he and his friends (one of whom he has a huge crush on) go off in search of a magic elixir of life to save him. The book gets pretty dark when it seems like Victor's motivations have more to do with impressing Elizabeth, his crush, than saving his brother.

In the second book, Victor is even more driven to do crazy otherworldly stuff. I just want to take him aside and say, 'honey look. This stuff is full of bad mojo'. But no, Victor just keeps on doing more awful, intense stuff and I'm helpless to do anything except keep reading (or listening as I'm reading this one on audiobook).

If you are an audiobook lover, I'd recommend this one on audio. The narrator has good pacing and does fairly good voices. I can always tell who is talking even before he says, 'Elizabeth says'. It's made my morning commute much more enjoyable, if slightly more stressful as I'm constantly worrying about Victor even though I know this story ends in tears.

So, pick this one up if you're into slightly creepy, otherworldly stories. There's a lot to keep you reading (even if you want to just shout at Victor a little bit).

You can find it in a number of different formats:

audiobook
print
playaway

enjoy!

Forest of Reading 2013!

Pick of the Week is the Forest of Reading List!

 In case you don't know, Forest of Reading is an award in Ontario voted on BY YOU! A lot of schools have Forest of Reading programs where you read and discuss the books. I hope yours does!

Red Maple is for students in grades 7-8.

White Pine is for high school students in grades 9-12.

There are lots of good titles this year. Here are a few of my faves:

Which titles are you rooting for?

Pick of the Week

This week's pick is an audiobook I've been listening to on my way to/from work - Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor. The narrator does an excellent job with different voices and accents and the pacing is spot on. The story itself is really cool. It takes place in Prague and is an urban fantasy tale involving angels, demons and a girls tuck in the middle with blue hair.

If you've been looking for something new to listen to, pick up Daughter of Smoke & Bone.

Unfortunately I'm almost done with this fantastic audiobook. Does anyone have any other suggestions for me?

Pick of the Week!

Teen book clubs are this week's pick! 

We have teen book clubs at six (!) of our branches now, so chances are you have one near you. Why should you join a book club? Let me give you my top reasons why teen book clubs are awesome.

1. you get to read copies of books that you'd have to wait in line for like Divergent, Hunger Games & Perks of Being a Wallflower
2. you get to talk to fellow book lovers about stuff that interests you (and it's not always just the book we're discussing. My book club usually ends up touching on Percy Jackson at some point because we're all big fans)
3. book club books are, generally, pretty good or at least interesting so it's like a book recommendation program too. 
4. it's a great way to de-stress. It's nice to read something that's not for school and even if you don't finish the book it's no big deal, come and chat anyway. 
5. the staff mediators are awesome (okay, this is unfair because *I* am a staff mediator, but I'm speaking on behalf of the other book club staff). We love teen books and we love talking about them. You're in good hands.

Why not try out a book club this month? You can find the listings of book clubs here on the website.

Pick of the week!

I'm starting a new thing, inspired by some other blogs I follow. Basically I'm going to pick something awesome every week to highlight which is book or library related. It can be a website, book, program, database, whatever!

The very first pick of the week is:

Career Cruising

Career Cruising is a database which does what it sounds like: helps you cruise for careers. But that's not all! Not only can you take fun quizzes which will let you know which careers may be a good fit for you (I got fashion designer, probably because I love sewing and being creative) you can also work on your resume, research careers and find out what classes you need to be taking NOW in order to become an architect or librarian or engineer. It also has interviews with people in that career field, which is kind of neat.

It's really easy to use and more fun than I was expecting. Okay, off to pursue my career in fashion design (kidding. Librarian is the best fit for me). Let me know what career it thinks you should have!