March is almost upon us, and that means spring is just around the corner. For many that means the NCAA is gearing up for its big annual single-elimination basketball tournament. Not into basketball, you say? Not to worry. The online news magazine The Morning News has cleverly put together a friendly competition that has, for…
Graphic Novels + Mental Disorders = Fantastic Stories
In the past I've blogged about Graphic Novels to Tug At Your Heartstrings, but this time around I'm taking a look at how some graphic novels deal with mental disorders. Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo & Me tells the tale of a woman artist who is afraid her meds could ruin her creativity. I like how Ellen…
Schooners: Technology That Changed Chicago
Although cargo carrying sailing ships crossed oceans for thousands of years, their time on the treacherous waters of Lake Michigan was much more limited. They faced competition from faster and more reliable birchbark canoes in their early days. As soon as canoes went out of fashion, faster and more reliable steamships began traveling the Lake…
Tales of the City: A Beloved Series Comes to a Close
"There are biological families, and then there are logical families." —Anna Madrigal I first picked up the Tales of the City series by Armistead Maupin in the early 1990s and was immediately drawn into the saga of 28 Barbary Lane and its "logical" family headed by pot-smoking and pot-growing landlady Anna Madrigal. I became so enmeshed in…
Favorite Teen Award Winners
I was really excited last month when the Young Adult Library Services Association announced that Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick was the 2014 Michael L. Printz Award winner. The Printz Award is presented to the book that “exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature” each year. The Printz Award list is a surefire way to find…
My New BFFs: Funny Ladies in the Library
It’s an almost universal truth that making new friends as an adult can be difficult. High school and college make quick bonding feel easy, but adult life seems to get in the way of making deeper connections. I’m not ashamed to say that some of my best new girlfriends have been found at the library…
Start Your Engines for NASCAR
Ladies and gentleman, start your engines! I know I am fired up for the Daytona 500, which also signals the start of the NASCAR racing season. The Daytona 500 takes place at 12 p.m. Sunday, February 23 and will air on FOX. Coincidentally, this falls hours after the men's Olympic gold medal hockey game, which airs…
Pulling Back the Curtains on Illusionists
I love magic. The accurate term would be illusion, but in my heart it is all real. When it comes to modern illusionists, my favorite is Criss Angel. I saw his show in Las Vegas and was blown away by the appearance of birds from nowhere and him walking down walls. I know it’s heavily…
1998 Bulls Win NBA Championship
The 1998 NBA Finals would be déjà vu. After finishing the season with identical 62 win seasons, the Bulls and Jazz would roll through the playoffs and meet again in the Finals. The Jazz had home court advantage this year. They won the first game in OT, but the Bulls fought back and took Game Two…
Oscar Wilde, Sleuth
For those of you who like historical mysteries with wit, may I suggest the Oscar Wilde Mysteries by Gyles Brandreth? Six volumes in all, these quick reads are not only meticulously researched, but filled with Wilde's bon mots, thrown off as casually as only the great man could. Most are narrated by Robert Sherard, Wilde's real-life, contemporary biographer, but…
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