Scary Stories for Halloween...

Don't Read Them in the Dark!
The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall has arrived in time for Halloween. This story, by May Downing Hahn, follows young Florence as she leaves her orphanage to go live with her great uncle in his mansion outside of London. However, when she arrives she meets the ghost of Sophia, an evil and spoiled child while among the living. Sophia wants Florence to help her as she cooks up grand schemes, despite her cold and sickly ghost status.

Hahn paints a descriptive picture of the old, haunted mansion and wait staff who would have helped run the household in historic England. To make sure you feel a little spooked, she makes sure the ghost has a keen interest in revenge....at all costs.

Check out these other spooky tales to get you in the Halloween "spirit":
All the Lovely Bad Ones: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn
Scary Stories by Alvin Schwartz
The Battlefield Ghost by Margery Cuyler
Christina's Ghost by Betty Ren Wright
The Ghost's Grave by Peg Kehret

For older, middle grade readers looking for a seasonal tale or two, try:
Darkest Powers Series by Kelley Armstrong
The Empty Mirror by James Lincoln Collier
Ghost Girl by Tonya Hurley
The Light by D.J. MacHale, author of the Pendragon Series
Chronicles of Vladimir Tod Series by Heather Brewer
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

As always, we encourage parents to participate in their child's reading choices.

The Good Life in High Water

Surf's Up
Susan Casey's new book The Wave is a fast and enjoyable read especially if your fantasy dreams include living on a tropical isle under a surfboard and watching waves until you are completely stoked. Although the book purports to be about oceans on the rise and environmentally altered waves of enormous proportions (a mountain top could become beachfront), it's really about Laird Hamilton and his worldwide surfing adventures.

Pair this book with fluffy films about surfing, including Lords of Dogtown (surfboards to skateboards), Blue Crush (teen surfer girl) and for kids, Surf's Up (surfing penguins).

And if, by chance, you don't know who Laird Hamilton is, give a look...

Post by Phil Carr

Spreading the Clean Energy Word

'Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge'

East Hampton, along with 13 other Connecticut towns and nine partners, was chosen to participate in the Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge. The Challenge is funded by a $4.1M grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and will help our town build off/forward our participation in the Connecticut Clean Energy Communities Program.

For a detailed description of Neighbor to Neighbor, click here. Click here to retrieve a volunteer member list for East Hampton's Clean Energy Task Force. Click here to read an in-the-news article published by HTNP.

Student Conservation Association

Partners to the Challenge include interns from the Student Conservation Association. Locally, you will have the pleasure of meeting the following youth interns, who will be looking to you to help them navigate and meet our community as a way to spread the clean energy word far and wide...

Pictured Left to Right : David Mayer, Kayla DeCarr, Jenna Zelenetz, Katelyn Hope

Conventional and Complementary Care

Choose Your Resource, Check It Twice
Books and online resources about conventional, complementary and alternative therapies abound. We here provide a very short list of consumer health titles that may be of interest, among other library-owned titles about the topics.

We recommend that you evaluate safety information, source credibility, and scientific documentation included in any medical title and address questions regarding your own health to your physician.

Mayo Clinic Book of Home Remedies offers common sense information about everyday health issues. Also try the Clinic's complementary primers about alternative medicine and diet.

Finding the Right Treatment: Modern and Alternative Medicine is a handbook that provides analysis and description of conventional and alternative medicine, the effectiveness of their treatments and therapies, and their strengths and weaknesses.

The Best Alternative Medicine is authored by Dr. Kenneth Pelletier, a clinical professor of medicine and senior research scholar at the Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention.

Maximum Healing is authored by Dr. H. Robert Silverstein, cardiologist and Medical Director of Hartford Hospital's Preventive Medicine Center. His book discusses combining conventional and holistic medical approaches to improve our immune systems.

The most current edition of PDR for Herbal Medicines offers information on over 600 common botanicals.

Surf's Up

MedlinePlus

National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Ask Dr. Weil (Contains some commercial content)
Health & Wellness Resource Center (click "...and much more")
Office of Dietary Supplements

Photo above by Honou, via Flickr, under the Creative Commons License

2010 Kids & Family Reading Report™

Reading in a Digital Age

Scholastic Corporation is the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books; also a leader in educational technology and children’s media. On September 19, Scholastic released results of its 2010 Kids & Family Reading Report™ conducted by the Harrison Group and Scholastic.

The latest study, preceded by biennial studies published in 2008 and 2006, shares parents' and kids' latest views on a wide range of topics regarding reading in the 21st Century. In short form, the results are unsurprising mixed depending on who you talk to: parent or kid, boy or girl, reared on print and/or attracted to e-format.

Though we all can learn much from study outcomes, on one matter we all agree: Read Every Day. Lead a Better Life.

Gangsters, Guerillas, Soldiers, Spies... And Then Some

Mix and Match Your Thrilling Reads

We here recommend some adult fiction reads by local favorites and by authors you may have missed along the way.

The Mullah's Storm by Thomas W. Young

Young's debut novel opens with a transport plane carrying a Taliban prisoner and a radical mullah being forced down in Hindu Kush of Afghanistan. The book's ending definitely spells sequel.

American Assassin by Vince Flynn

Flynn delivers a prequel to his Mitch Rapp novels and (finally!) explains in depth why Rapp became a CIA operative. Recurring characters galore for fans of the author's Rapp-Kennedy-Stansfield novels.

The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville

Irish writer Neville's thriller debut tells the story of a former IRA operative haunted by the ghosts of the people he's killed. Complex characters and back-story; expect a sequel.

Warlord by Ted Bell
This sixth in the series of well-written and plotted Alex Hawke thrillers.

Our Kind of Traitor by John le Carre

A Russian mafia/spy thriller from the much admired author who gave us George Smiley.

The Templar Salvation by Raymond Khoury
This fast-paced sequel to The Last Templar will interest fans of religious thrillers by Dan Brown, Steve Berry, Katherine Neville and Umberto Eco, among others.

Zero History by William Gibson

If you're thinking denim can't possibly be the focus of a semi-spy, semi-sci-fi thriller, think again. Gibson, who is known as the "patron saint of cyberpunk lit," again speculates about technology's effects much as he did in his once futuristic now classic novel, Neuromancer.

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

Follett's known for spy thrillers and more recently, historical fiction. This first book in the author's Century Trilogy is historical and follows five families from the outbreak of WWI to the early 1920s. Pair this one with the author's similarly structured books, Pillars of the Earth and it's sequel, World Without End.

Dexter Is Delicious by Jeff Lindsay

Who knew we could root for a serial killer? Next in the series after Dexter by Design. Dexter's on cable if you are a Showtime subscriber.

Don't Blink by James Patterson and Howard Roughan

It's difficult to keep up with a guy who seems to release a new book every couple of months but most local buzz says this one (murder and the mob) is more like the Patterson books of yore.

Gluten-Free

October is National Celiac Disease Awareness Month
Celiac disease, a complex condition, is called an allergy by some and an autoimmune disorder by others. What is certain is that when people with Celiac disease eat gluten, a protein found in wheat, oats, rye and barley, events in the small intestine cause damage to the lining of this organ. In many cases, it is an inherited disease and therefore runs in families.

One way to deal with the condition is to adhere to a strict gluten free diet. The prospect of this for some is overwhelming, especially in the beginning. However, Celiac disease awareness has grown considerably in the last decade or so and that has thankfully lead to many a cookbook, website, and restaurant offering delicious and healthy options for those living with the disease.

Here's a short list of library-owned cookbooks about gluten-free eating:

Cooking with Coconut Flour by Bruce Fife
The G-free Diet by Elisabeth HasselbeckCooking Well: Wheat Allergies by Maire-Annick Courtier
BabyCakes : Vegan, Gluten-free, and (Mostly) Sugar-free Recipes from New York's Most Talked-about Bakery by Erin McKenna
The Gluten-free Almond Flour Cookbook by Elana Amsterdam
Cooking Free: 200 Flavorful Recipes for People with Food Allergies and Multiple Food Sensitivities by Carol Fenster
Make it Fast, Cook It Slow : the Big Book of Everyday Slow Cooking by Stephanie O'Dea

Surf's Up
Celiac Sprue Association
Celiac Disease Foundation
National Institute of Health

Post by Kathleen Sands

Similar But Not the Same

No Holds Barred Fiction

If you're a fan of Lisbeth Salender and have read your way through Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy, you may want to try John Burdett's Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep novels. The two series share many of the same components: murder and mystery, criminal and spiritual journeys, sex, tattoos, men who hate women, conspiracies, international setting.

You will find red-light Bangkok hotter than Stockholm, though with a little sideways humor for breathing room. Author Burdett was a long-time resident of Bangkok, the city about which he writes.

Read and listen to more about series courtesy of NPR.

Post by Phil Carr

The Coffee Table Books Strike Back

"The Making of Star Wars"

Fans of the always popular films will find much to love about two indispensable books that celebrate the Star Wars film franchise.

Pair The Making of Star Wars (2007) with new release The Making of Star Wars : The Empire Strikes Back (2010). Both books feature information from the Lucasfilm Archives, including never-before-seen photos taken during production, concept artwork, character data, plus glorious inside information about the challenges of shooting each film's most memorable scenes.

Check out the publisher's trailer for the second book, due for release on October 12. The book celebrates the 30th anniversary of what is arguably the best of the Star Wars film series.

Facebook Goes Big Screen

"The Social Network"
If you plan on buying a ticket to see the above titled film, you might want to check out a couple of books that relate to this big screen tale about how Mark Zuckerberg started an empire in his Harvard dorm room.

Ben Mezrich's The Accidental Billionaries is said to have provided a pinch of inspiration for the film, written by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing) and directed by David Fincher (Fight Club). Watch for Rooney Mara's performance as Zuckerberg's girlfriend. You'll be seeing her again as Lisbeth Salander in Fincher's upcoming remake of the Swedish original, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

David Kirkpatrick, a former senior editor for Fortune Magazine, offers up The Facebook Effect. No gossipy overlay here; just an interesting and useful business book about Facebook's role in the lives of over 500 million active users.

What's Cooking?

Standout Selections
Whether you love to cook or more simply, cook to eat, here's a sample of latest cookbooks from our shelves to your kitchen. Most of the books are lavishly illustrated (one comically) and forward two themes: keep it simple and eat healthy. More than one selection may be useful to cooks interested in the sustainable food movement.

In The Ultimate Slow Cooker Book, the experts at Better Homes Gardens share easy, creative ideas for main courses, appetizers, side dishes, desserts, breakfast, and hot beverages.

Celebrating its 50th Anniversary, The I Hate to Cook Book by Peg Bracken is a treat. Much has changed since 1960 but Bracken's wit remains. Read a review of the cookbook, courtesy of the New York Times.

Michalene Busico, former New York and Los Angeles Times food editor, offers up Knack Gourmet Cooking on a Budget. Eat well at a lower cost without sacrificing taste.

Earthbound Cook by Myra Goodman shows how consumers can make selections which not only taste good, but in addition, help the planet. In 1984, Goodman and her husband started Earthbound Farm, now the largest producer of organic food in the United States.

Susan Hermann Loomis' Nuts in the Kitchen provides more than 100 diverse recipes for everyday or special occasions. Great book for vegetarians or vegans but don't rule it out if you love your burgers.

Cookbook author Mark Bittman (How to Cook Everything) adds The Food Matters Cookbook, a companion to his 2008 title of roughly the same name. You may want to pair Bittman's books with similarly themed titles by Michael Pollan.

Robin Robertson's Party Vegan delivers fun recipes for festive occasions plus tips on how to plan and shop for that special party.

Post by Bev Simmons

Banned Books Week : September 25 - October 2, 2010

Celebrate Your Freedom to Read

Banned Books Week has been observed since 1982; this annual event reminds Americans not to take their freedom to read for granted.

Stick up for your freedom to read this week and read a banned book. Our good guess is many of you have already read more than a few...

Surf's Up

Peruse a listing of the Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009 or view of a map of Book Bans and Challenges, 2007-2010.

Banned Books Week in the News

Christian Science Monitor
The New Statesman (A British Current Affairs and Political Magazine)

New York Times Learning Network

NPR Replay

Left, Right, Left, Right

Hot Political Reads

Politics is always a dicey subject but a popular pursuit for sure. Here's a short list of latest notable books about the national political scene and the people who serve at the top of the pyramid.

Obama's Wars by Bob Woodward

Crimes Against Liberty by David Limbaugh (son of Rush)

Pinheads and Patriots by Bill O'Reilly

The Obama Diaries by Laura Ingraham

The Promise by Jonathan Alter

The Bridge by David Remnick

Don't Vote : It Just Encourages the Bastards by P.J. O'Rourke

Are You Ready for Some Footbaaaaaaall?!

With a Little Learning on the Side...
Football season is officially here!

If you're a fan, stay in the zone and check out nicely done educational videos created by the National Science Foundation, NBC Learn, and the NFL. The series, entitled The Science of NFL Football, will add a new video each week through October 29th. Each mini-learning sesson focuses on an issue in the sciences, such as nutrition, physics, math, etc. and how it relates to the game. Click here to join the fun.

Also check out biographies of your favorite stars or stories with a football theme. A few of our favorite books for the younger set are listed below as well as a few favorite films:

Books and Reading
Tom Brady by Calvin Miller
Peyton Manning by Joanne Mattern
Tee Dee the Football by Michael Serrian
75 Seasons : The Complete History of the National Football League by Will McDonough
Gym Candy and Payback Time by Carl Deuker
Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Crackback by John Coy

Fire Up the DVD Player
Big Fan
The Blind Side
Brian's Song
Remember the Titans
Friday Night Lights
We Are Marshall

Almost all of the above films are based on books or have documentary film tie-ins available for checkout. Watch for more football-related posts as the season unfolds.

Post by Kathleen Sands

Introducing JobNow™ by Brainfuse™

The Latest Addition to Our Online Service Portfolio
We are pleased to offer a new online service called JobNow™: a real-time resume and interview coaching/career advice service that uses innovative online platform technology. JobNow™ is available to local users via any Internet-ready computer. Register to use the service at the library or use your East Hampton library card to register from a remote computer.

About JobNow™
JobNow™ provides you with a host of services to help in every step of the job search process. Online job coaches are available to help you with job search related questions. In addition to helping beginning job seekers pinpoint their desired career field, coaches can also provide constructive suggestions on resumes, help write a professional cover letter, and give live interview practice and feedback.

If you do not have time for a live session, you may submit your resume at any time of day through the Resume Lab and a job coach will send it back to you generally within 1 business day with detailed feedback and suggestions for improvement. The JobNow™ service also comes with an extensive collection of resources, including:

• resume/cover letter templates
• interview tips
• general sample interview questions
• industry-specific sample interview questions, and
• a diverse array of online resources and links.

About Brainfuse™
Founded in 1999, Brainfuse is one of the nation’s leading online tutoring providers, serving a diversified client base of libraries and school districts. For more information about Brainfuse services, please visit www.brainfuse.com.

Here Comes the Sun...

Clean Energy, Renewable Energy

Earlier today, workers were amazingly able to stroll across the library's pitched roof while laying rails needed to support a solar panel array. The Community Center, which houses your library and Senior Center, is the first public building in town to be outfitted with the panels.

The panels were installed owing to a partnership program forged by our town's Clean Energy Task Force and Glastonbury-based DCS Energy. DCS provides the solar technology to East Hampton at no cost; the town picks up the minor costs associated with installing the array's monitoring system.

Installing the array allows DCS to recoup money through state tax credits and rebates. The panels are expected to shave electricity bills and save East Hampton an estimated $75,000 over the 25 year life of solar system. Good deal!

About East Hampton's Clean Energy Task Force

Our town's Clean Energy Task Force is an all volunteer board composed of knowledgeable local citizens committed to promoting green energy efforts and quality of life in a go-green environment.

About DCS

DCS is a 4-year-old company and is a member of the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association and ClubGreen, a subsidiary of buildingctgreen.com.

Eric Girardi "Bends Gravity" : Saturday, September 18, 2 p.m.

Magic or Science? We'll Find Out!

Join us @ your library and watch Eric Girardi perform his gravity bending show! In his own words, Girardi calls the show art in motion, as he manipulates objects in a performance choreographed to music.

Girardi is a world ranked yo-yo player and has performed at hundreds of special events hosted by colleges, cub scouts, schools, and YMCAs. Audience members have raved about Girardi's tricks, describing them as crazy and entertaining. For a sample of Eric's gravity-based wizardry, watch a quick video to see Eric demonstrate a Gyroscopic Flop...

Eric's performance promises to be both energetic and fast paced and is appropriate for kids age 8 and up. The event is also free and open to the public; however, registration is required. Click here to register or phone the library at 860-267-6621.

On Poets and Poetry : September to April Series Returns

Donald Hall (1928-) was born in Hamden, Connecticut. He began writing in grammar school, and first published at 16. At the same age he attended Breadloaf where he met Robert Frost, among others. He earned a bachelor’s degree at Harvard, and a B.Litt from Oxford. He was a Writing Fellow at Stanford where he studied under Yvor Wintors.

While teaching at U. Michigan he met the poet Jane Kenyon. They married and the couple moved in 1975 to Wilmot, New Hampshire. Her death 20 years later of leukemia (after his own bouts with colon and liver cancer) cast a pall of grief over his work of that period which is best characterized by a line in the poem “Kill the Day”: ‘How many times will he die in his own lifetime?’

He has 20 collections of poetry, 11 children’s books, 3 dramas, and 2 volumes each of biography, short stories, and memoirs. His recognitions include U.S. Poet Laureate, N.H. State Laureate, the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize for Lifetime Achievement, and numerous book awards and prizes.

Ox Cart Man
In October of the year,
he counts potatoes dug from the brown field,
counting the seed, counting
the cellar's portion out,
and bags the rest on the cart's floor.

He packs wool sheared in April, honey
in combs, linen, leather
tanned from deerhide,
and vinegar in a barrel
hooped by hand at the forge's fire.

He walks by his ox's head, ten days
to Portsmouth Market, and sells potatoes,
and the bag that carried potatoes,
flaxseed, birch brooms, maple sugar, goose
feathers, yarn.

When the cart is empty he sells the cart.
When the cart is sold he sells the ox,
harness and yoke, and walks
home, his pockets heavy
with the year's coin for salt and taxes,

and at home by fire's light in November cold
stitches new harness
for next year's ox in the barn,
and carves the yoke, and saws planks
building the cart again.

Further Reading
Old and New Poems
Ox-cart Man

Content developed by local resident and poet Leland Jamieson, author of:

21st Century Bread (2007)

In Vitro : New Short Rhyming Poems Post-9/11 (2009)

Happy Labor Day!

"If all the cars in the United States were placed end to end, it would probably be Labor Day Weekend." ~ Doug Larson

Though originally associated with the American labor movement, today's Labor Day weekend marks the unofficial end of summer and for sure, the beginning of fair season.

Check out the Library of Congress's website to learn more about Labor Day's historical roots. America's first Labor Day parade was held in 1882 in New York City; Congress made Labor Day a national holiday twelve years later.

Books and Reading
Though likely to inspire spirited debate, here's a short list of well-written books about the early origins and mid-20th century outcomes of the U.S. labor movement.

From the Folks Who Brought You the Weekend : a Short, Illustrated History of Labor in the United States by Priscilla Murolo and A.B. Chitty ; illustrations by Joe Sacco

A Brief History of the Connecticut Labor Movement by Marta Moret

The Woman Behind the New Deal : the Life of Frances Perkins, FDR's Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience by Kirstin Downey

For Kids
The Unions ; written and illustrated by Leonard Everett Fisher
The Factories ; written and illustrated by Leonard Everett Fisher
Labor Day by Carmen Bredeson

Header cartoon by Clay Bennett,

editorial cartoonist for the Christian Science Monitor from 1997-2007

Into the Wild...

Back to Nature...
Owing to local interest, the library recently updated its book collection on the topic of edible wild plants. The following guides may help readers identify wild plants that may be used for food. As aways, we don't endorse the content and recommend caution and additional research before making your choices.

Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants, Mushrooms, Fruits, and Nuts : How to Find, Identify, and Cook Them by Katie Letcher Lyle is from Falcon Guides, a publisher of outdoor recreation guides.

Edible Wild Plants : Wild Foods from Dirt to Plate is authored by John Kallas, who hosts the Wild Food Adventures website.

Edible Wild Plants : a North American Field Guide to Over 200 Natural Foods by Thomas S. Elias & Peter Dykeman is latest edition of book originally published in 1982 by Outdoor Life, a publisher imprint and magazine now owned by the Bonnier Group, which also publishes Field & Stream.

Surf's Up
Wild Food Adventures
American Herb Association
American Horticultural Society
Wilderness Survival: Edible and Medicinal Plants
Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes