Sara Dallas, the director of the Southern Adirondack Library System has been generous enough to share with the Books Blog the most circulated items from the libraries in the Southern Adirondack Library System (34 libraries in Saratoga, Hamilton, Warren and Washington counties) and the Mohawk Valley Library System (14 libraries in Schenectady, Fulton, Montgomery and Schoharie counties), which share an online database. The following are the most circulated items.

1. Cross by James Patterson,

2. Judge and jury by: Patterson, James

3. Motor mouth by: Evanovich, Janet.

4. Dear John by: Sparks, Nicholas.

5. Twelve sharp by: Evanovich, Janet.

6. The innocent man : murder and injustice in a small town
by: Grisham, John.

7. Consumer reports – the magazine.

8. My sister’s keeper : a novel by: Picoult, Jodi

9. Hundred-dollar baby by: Parker, Robert B., 1932-

10. Angel’s fall by: Roberts, Nora.

11. H.R.H. by: Steel, Danielle.

12. Santa cruise : a holiday mystery at sea by: Clark, Mary Higgins.

Most requested DVD’s

1. The Da Vinci Code by: Howard, Ron.

2. Over the hedge by: Johnson, Tim

Media Bistro blog has an interesting update on the ongoing Valerie Plame affair. Here’s the link:
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/publishing/plame_memoir_blocked_by_cia_50641.asp

Yes, that’s right, the screenplay based on the area’s own Steven Millhauser didn’t win.

You can read the full story here.

A colleague is reading her first Vonnegut novel — ever. I don’t think it is necessarily a sin to be living in the Capital Region without having read the former GE worker’s work, but the choice of novel, “Breakfast of Champions,” has raised some interesting discussions.

Namely, one other colleague says that it is the *wrong* book to be the first Vonnegut novel, that it probably should be Slaughterhouse 5 or Cat’s Cradle.

I see nothing wrong with Breakfast, after all it has fun doodles and Kilgore Trout is writing away in Cohoes.
This leads to a couple bigger questions I put to you, dear readers: If you had to recommend someone read one (or if you could only read one) Vonnegut novel, which would it be?

Other questions could be: Why read him now at all? Does Vonnegut still matter?

(one answer can be found in Indiana, where 2007 is the Year of Vonnegut:

The Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library and the Indianapolis Cultural Development Commission are hosting a yearlong celebration of Kurt Vonnegut. Here’s a look at the highlights. For a complete list, go to www.yearofvonnegut.org.

The story is here.

For more info, go to this blog: http://www.edrants.com/?p=5262Here’s what it says:

A good number of Charlie Rose interviews are now available through Google Video. (They had previously been available for $1.00 per view, but Google has since added video ads, making them free, and helpfully demarcated these ads through blue dots on the timeline.)

What this means, of course, is that the infamous DFW interview is now available. If you haven’t seen it, this is the interview in which Rose, who doesn’t seem to have read much of DFW’s work, asks DFW (wearing, believe it or not, a bandanna and shirtsleeves) about everything but his books. DFW comes in at the 23:17 mark.

It’s the telltale indicator of how low the literary journalism bar has fallen (compared with, say, the Dick Cavett shows of the 1970s, where Cavett or his researchers actually read the damn books) — a veritable train wreck and a true revelation of Rose’s illiteracy. A visibly uncomfortable DFW is bullied by questions that pertain to David Lynch, with Rose boasting about interviewing Lynch instead of talking about DFW’s work. Rose’s ignorance is astonishing, particularly as DFW educates Rose about the history of postmodern literature.

And this was only ten years ago.

http://www.edrants.com/?p=5262

At least, that’s the message I got from one of my co-workers. I don’t know if that says more about me or my co-worker. Anyway, here’s a link to more info.

Are you a book worm? A word-aholic? A devourer of novels? A poetry peruser? Are you big on biographies? Knowledgable about nonfiction? Passionate about prosody? Or even an academician on a mission? In short, are you a reader?

If so, then you’ve found the right place: The Times Union Books Blog: A conspiracy of smart people.

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