eBranch Blog

August 31, 2006

Spanish/English Bilingual Book List for Kids

This bibliography of Spanish/English bilingual books was compiled by the Cooperative Children's Books Center, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Each book has the text both in English and Spanish.

Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy, selectors. ?Pio Peep! Traditional Spanish Nursery Rhymes
A collection of more than two dozen nursery rhymes in Spanish, from Spain and Latin America, with English translations.

Alma Flor Ada. I Love Saturdays y Domingos
A young girl enjoys the similarities and the differences between her English-speaking and Spanish-speaking grandparents.

Lori Carlson, ed. Cool Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Growing Up Latino in the United States
Here are the sights, sounds & smells of Latino culture in America in thirty-six vibrant, moving, angry, beautiful & varied voices, including Alicia Gaspar de Alba, Ana Castillo, Sandra Cisneros, Luis J. Rodriguez, Gary Soto & Martin Espada. Presented in both English & Spanish, each poem helps us to discover what it is like to grow up Hispanic in America.

Lois Ehlert. Moon Rope: A Peruvian Folktale/Un lazo a la luna: Una leyenda Peruana
An adaptation of the Peruvian folktale in which Fox and Mole try to climb to the moon on a rope woven of grass.

August 28, 2006

New Bestsellers 8/28/06

The following books are appearing on the best seller lists for the first time this week. For a complete listing see our collection of Best Seller Lists.

Library Journal's Fiction & Nonfiction lists have been updated for September 1.

The Criticas Fiction and Nonfiction lists have been updated for August.

E = Essence Magazine
NYT = New York Times
PW = Publisher's Weekly
USA = USA Today
* = Titles that have previously appeared on the bestseller lists but are new to our catalog.

Fiction

Ted Bell. Spy
This fourth thriller featuring intrepid intelligence operative Alex Hawke by "New York Times" bestselling author Bell takes readers to the very edge of danger, as Hawke must thwart a political mission in South America. (PW #15)

Suzanne Brockmann. Into the Storm
The men of SEAL Team Sixteen and Troubleshooters, Inc. face off in a winter training exercise in the mountains of New Hampshire. Tracy Shapiro, a receptionist for Troubleshooters', goes missing. Former LAPD detective Lindsey Fountaine and Petty Officer Mark Jenkins search for her and turn up the bodies of brutally tortured women. (PW #3, USA #15)

Sandra Brown. Ricochet
Detective Sergeant Duncan Hatcher knows he must exercise discretion when investigating a fatal shooting at the home of Judge Cato Laird, but he is both suspicious of and attracted to the Judge's wife. (PW #2, USA #6)

Marisha Pessl. Special Topics in Calamity Physics
Structured around a syllabus for a Great Works of Literature class, this mesmerizing debut, uncannily uniting the trials of a postmodern upbringing with a murder mystery, heralds the arrival of a vibrant new voice in literary fiction. (PW #9)

Karin Slaughter. Triptych
In this gritty, gripping firecracker of a novel, the author of the bestselling Grant County, Georgia, series breaks thrilling new ground, weaving together the threads of a complex, multilayered story with the skill of a master craftsman. (PW #10)

Nonfiction

Harold S. Kushner. Overcoming Life's Disappointments
From Harold S. Kushner, the author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People, a book that shows us how to be our best selves even when things don?t turn out as we had hoped?that is, how we can overcome life?s disappointments. (PW #15)

August 24, 2006

Teens' Top Ten Booklist

Now you and your friends can help create an exciting nationwide list of books chosen for teens by teens as the best reads of the year - Teens' Top Ten Books!

Start reading them now, then vote for your favorites during Teen Read Week, October 15-21, 2006.

Kate Brian. Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys
While her military parents are stationed in South Korea, high school junior Megan learns a great deal about boys and herself when she moves to Massachusetts to live with family friends who have seven sons.

Christopher Krovatin. Heavy Metal and You
High schooler Sam begins losing himself when he falls for a preppy girl who wants him to give up getting wasted with his best friends and even his passion for heavy metal music in order to become a better person.


Kenneth Oppel. Skybreaker
Matt Cruse, a student at the Airship Academy, and Kate de Vries, a young heiress, team up with a gypsy and a daring captain, to find a long-lost airship, rumored to carry a treasure beyond imagination.

August 23, 2006

New Bestsellers 8/23/06

The following books are appearing on the best seller lists for the first time this week. For a complete listing see our collection of Best Seller Lists.

E = Essence Magazine
NYT = New York Times
PW = Publisher's Weekly
USA = USA Today
* = Titles that have previously appeared on the bestseller lists but are new to our catalog.

Fiction

Robin Cook. Crisis
Dr. Robin Cook, the inventor of the medical thriller--and bestselling author of "Coma, Abduction, Invasion, Marker," and many other chilling novels--now shows readers a healer's dark side, in the terrifying story of a doctor who plunges into a web of corruption and lies. (NYT #3, PW #9)

Dennis Lehane. Coronado: Stories
From Dennis Lehane, the award-winning author of Mystic River, Shutter Island, and the Kenzie-Gennaro series, comes a striking collection of five short stories and a play. (PW #15)

THE NIGHT GARDENER, by George Pelecanos. (Little, Brown, $24.99.) Three Washington cops reunite to solve a murder that resembles a 20-year-old cold case. (NYT #12)

Lolly Winston. Happiness Sold Separately
The marriage of a seemingly perfect couple dissolves into a complicated dance of affairs, lovers, and admirers. (NYT #8, PW #7)

Nonfiction

STUMBLING ON HAPPINESS, by Daniel Gilbert. (Knopf, $24.95.) A Harvard professor explores why people can't predict what will make them happy. (NYT #16)

The Guiness Book of World Records, 2007 (PW #9)

Lawrence Wright. The Looming Tower
This sweeping narrative history of 9/11 includes important new information about the people, ideas, events, and intelligence failures that culminated in the attacks, told for the first time from both the American and Arab sides of the story. (NYT #5, PW #7)

August 17, 2006

Presentation of Historic Records Display

Harris County District Clerk Charles Bacarisse on Thursday, Aug. 10 presented the first of three displays that will rotate through the Harris County Public Library branches.

The first display is at the Katherine Tyra Branch, 16719 Clay Road and will run from August 10 - September 15, 2006.

Among the cases featured in the display are an 1837 criminal case with a sentence that would be considered cruel and unusual today; the lawsuit between the first two presidents of the Republic of Texas; the 1847 case in which a free black woman won her freedom a second time; and the lawsuit that laid the cornerstone for the Texas Medical Center.

The other displays will be presented later, with the Kingwood Branch getting a similar display in September.

Photo Album of Exhibit Opening

New Books, Movies, Audio Lists Updated

The New Books, Audios, and Movies lists have been updated with titles cataloged in July 2006.

For the most up-to-date listing, please check the catalog's New Additions, New DVD, New Video, New Audiobook or New Music browse searches.

August 14, 2006

New Bestsellers 8/14/06

The following books are appearing on the best seller lists for the first time this week. For a complete listing see our collection of Best Seller Lists.

Library Journal's Fiction & Nonfiction lists have been updated for August 15.

E = Essence Magazine
NYT = New York Times
PW = Publisher's Weekly
USA = USA Today
* = Titles that have previously appeared on the bestseller lists but are new to our catalog.

Fiction

Roland Dahlquist. The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters
It began with a simple note: a letter of rejection from Miss Temple's fiance, written on crisp Ministry paper and delivered on her maid's silver tray. But for Miss Temple, Roger Bascombe's cruel rejection will ignite a harrowing quest for answers, plunging her into a mystery as dizzying as a hall of mirrors - and into a remote estate where danger abounds and all inhibitions are stripped bare ... Thus begins Gordon Dahlquist's debut novel of Victorian suspense - at once a dazzling feast for the senses and a beguiling, erotic literary adventure. (PW #12)

Lisi Harrison. The Clique #6: Dial L for Loser
Just as the Pretty Committee is getting bored with being expelled and Massie begins worrying about losing her spot as the most popular girl, Claire is cast in a Hollywood film. As Massie and Alicia report live from the set, Kristen and Dylan keep them posted on events in Westchester County. (USA #14)

James Patterson & Andrew Gross. Judge & Jury
FBI agent Nick Pellisante finally captures mob boss Dominic Cavello. Two of Cavello's former employees are ready to testify against him when he hires a killer to make sure the trial never concludes, but Nick and a juror from the trial are determined to exact justice. (PW #1, USA #1)

Joel Rosenberg. The Copper Scroll
Joel C. Rosenberg takes you on his most exciting and heart-ounding ride yet ? as a new democratic Iraq rises, so, too, a new evil, and White House advisors Jon Bennett and Erin McCoy find themselves facing a terrifying threat triggered by an ancient mystery. (PW #13)

Nonfiction

Nora Ephron. I Feel Bad About My Neck
With her disarming, intimate, completely accessible voice, and dry sense of humor, Ephron shares her ups and downs in a candid, hilarious look at women who are getting older and dealing with the tribulations of maintenance, menopause, empty nests, and life itself. (PW #4)

PW Religion

Shaunti Feldhahn. For Women Only: What You Need to Know About the Inner Lives of Men *
Offers fascinating insights into the secret lives of men. Based upon a landmark nationwide poll, Shaunti Feldhahn offers ground-breaking information and advises how to convert her revelations into practical application. (#5)

August 10, 2006

New Bestsellers 8/7/06

The following books are appearing on the best seller lists for the first time this week. For a complete listing see our collection of Best Seller Lists.

Publisher's Weekly Audio Fiction & Nonfiction lists have been updated for August.

E = Essence Magazine
NYT = New York Times
PW = Publisher's Weekly
USA = USA Today
* = Titles that have previously appeared on the bestseller lists but are new to our catalog.

Fiction

Catherine Coulter. Born to Be Wild
In the latest novel of romantic suspense by a #1 "New York Times" bestselling author, the drama hits close to home for a popular soap actress when someone tries to kill her--and she must turn to the last man she'd expect for help. (USA #6)

Janet Evanovich. Smitten
From the "New York Times" bestselling author of the Stephanie Plum novels comes this early romance novel--now revised and repackaged--about a single mom who goes to work for a sexy and gorgeous carpenter. (USA #8)

Lisa Jackson. Twice Kissed
When TV star Marquise Walker vanishes from her Denver estate without a trace, her twin sister Maggie decides to search for her. With a cryptic suicide note setting up dreadful possibilities, Maggie plunges into a world of scandal and uncovers shocking secrets about the sister she thought she knew. But of all the men in Marquise's life, it's her ex-husband, Thane, who puts Maggie at greatest risk. (USA #11)

J.A. Jance. Dead Wrong
Juggling a family and a career is never easy - and it's becoming a real challenge for Sheriff Joanna Brady. Coping with the impending delivery of her second child as well as a staff shortage, the last things Joanna needs are two serious crimes. (NYT #8, PW #14)

Laura Kleypas. Scandal in Spring
In this lush conclusion to her seasonal series, "New York Times" bestselling author Lisa Kleypas takes readers back to Victorian London, where after spending three seasons searching for a husband, Daisy Bowman, the sole "Wallflower" yet to be married, finally meets her match. (USA #9)

Kathleen McGowan. The Expected One
Two thousand years ago, Mary Magdalene hid a set of scrolls in the rocky foothills of the French Pyrenees, a gospel that contained her own version of the events and characters of the New Testament. Protected by supernatural forces, these sacred scrolls could be uncovered only by a special seeker, one who fulfills the ancient prophecy of l'attendue -- The Expected One. (NYT #13, PW #9)

Daniel Silva. The Messenger
Israeli agent and art restorer Gabriel Allon faces terrorism once again in this follow-up to "Prince of Fire," filled with remarkable characters and breathtaking double and triple turns of plot. (NYT #3, PW #2, USA #13)

Karin Slaughter. Faithless
A victim was buried alive in the Georgia woods--then killed in a horrifying fashion. When medical examiner Sara Linton and her ex-husband, police chief Jeffrey Tolliver stumble upon the body, both become consumed with finding out who killed the pretty, impeccably dressed young woman. And for Sara and Jeffrey, a harrowing journey begins, one that will test their own turbulent relationship and draw dozens of lives into the case. (USA #10)

Nonfiction

Sylvia Browne. Insight
A chronicle of the experiences she has had during psychic readings and over the course of her career, Sylvia Browne's "Insight" is her most personal book to date--sharing the author's thoughts on the significance of her gift and its impact on others. (NYT #6, PW #10)

Thomas E. Ricks. Fiasco
Drawing on the exclusive cooperation of an extraordinary number of American military personnel, including more than one hundred senior officers, and access to more than thirty thousand pages of official documents, many of them never before made public, Thomas E. Ricks has written the definitive account of the American military's tragic experience in Iraq. (NYT #1, PW #1)

PW Audio
The following title has not previously been on print bestseller lists.

Stephen King. Read by Ron McLarty. Stationary Bike
When commercial artist Richard Sifkitz, alarmed by his high cholesterol level, buys a stationary bike and paints a scenic wall mural on the wall opposite it, the bike transports him to places he has no intention of going to. (Unabridged CD) (#8)

August 03, 2006

2006 Christy Awards

The seventh annual Christy Awards were awarded on July 8, 2006. The awards honor the best in Christian Fiction in a variety of categories.

Contemporary Fiction
W. Dale Cramer. Levi's Will
Will flees his Amish community at the age of 19, leaving behind a pregnant girlfriend. He begins a new life, joining the Army and later marrying and having two sons. Unable to regain his father's respect, can Will learn that love, not work, will heal the past and give hope to his family's future?

Vanessa Del Fabbro. The Road to Home
In her debut novel, Del Fabbro relates the story of the friendship that develops between two women--a friendship that sees them asking questions of themselves, uncovering new and sometimes uncomfortable personal truths, and learning to trust their faith as well as each other.

Historical Fiction
Liz Curtis Higgs. Whence Came a Prince
Higgs revisits 18th-century Scotland for the crowning finale to the saga thatbegan with "Thorn in My Heart."

Romance
Deeanne Gist. A Bride Most Begrudging
Any ship arriving from England means good news for Virginia colony farmers. The "tobacco brides" would be on board, eligible women seeking a better life in America, bartered for with barrels of tobacco from the fields. Drew O'Connor isn't stirred by news of a ship full of brides. Still broken-hearted from the loss of his beloved, he only wants a maid to tend his house and care for his young sister. What he ends up with is a wife, a feisty redhead who claims she is Lady Constance Morrow, daughter of an Earl, brought to America against her will.

Suspense
Athol Dickson. River Rising
In 1927 Louisiana, Rev. Hale Poser arrives in the bayous of Pilotville, looking for his roots. In the swamp beyond the cypress lies a lingering evil. For years it slept in dreadful isolation. Now comes Hale Poser, and it will sleep no more.

August 02, 2006

Explore Your World Book List

Did you ever wish you could explore the remote areas of the world? Through the books on the Explore Your World book list, based on National Geographic Adventure Magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Adventure Books of All Time, you can go west with Lewis and Clark, cross the pacific by raft with Thor Heyerdahl, and climb Annapurna with 13 women. These stories and more make up some of the greatest true adventures ever told.

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Journals
At the dawn of the 19th century, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark embarked on an unprecedented journey from St. Louis, Missouri to the Pacific Ocean and back again. Their assignment was to explore the newly acquired Louisiana Territory and record the geography, flora, fauna, and people they encountered along the way. The tale of their incredible journey, meticulously recorded in their journals, has become an American classic.

Thor Heyerdahl. Kon-Tiki
The record of an astonishing adventure -- a journey of 4,300 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean by raft. Intrigued by Polynesian folklore, biologist Thor Heyerdahl suspected that the South Sea Islands had been settled by an ancient race from thousands of miles to the east, led by a mythical hero, Kon-Tiki. He decided to prove his theory by duplicating the legendary voyage.

Arlene Blum. Annapurna: A Woman's Place
An acccount of the 1978 climb, by 13 women, of Annapurna I in the Nepal Himalaya, the 10th highest mountain in the world.

August 01, 2006

New Bestsellers 7/31/06

The following books are appearing on the best seller lists for the first time this week. For a complete listing see our collection of Best Seller Lists.

Publisher's Weekly Audio Fiction & Nonfiction lists have been updated for July 2006.

E = Essence Magazine
NYT = New York Times
PW = Publisher's Weekly
USA = USA Today
* = Titles that have previously appeared on the bestseller lists but are new to our catalog.

Fiction

James Lee Burke. Pegasus Descending
The daughter of Detective Robicheaux's dead friend suddenly appears in New Iberia, and he must confront his past as he tried to determine her motives and possible crimes. (NYT #4, PW #5%2)

Terry Goodkind. Phantom
The new novel of Richard and Kahlan is the direct sequel to "Chainfire." On the day she awoke remembering nothing but her name, Kahlan Amnell became the most dangerous woman alive. For everyone else, that was the day the world began to end. (NYT #1, PW #1, USA #4)

Kay Hooper. Sleeping with Fear
Riley Crane woke up fully dressed, a gun under her pillow, and covered in blood. Even more frightening, she didn't remember what happened the night before. In fact, she barely remembered the previous three weeks. (NYT #10, PW #9)

Scott Smith. Ruins
The Ruins follows two American couples, just out of college, enjoying a pleasant, lazy beach holiday together in Mexico as, on an impulse, they go off with newfound friends in search of one of their group - the young German, who, in pursuit of a girl, has headed for the remote Mayan ruins, site of a fabled archeological dig. This is what happens from the moment when the searchers - moving into the wild interior - begin to suspect that there is an insidious, horrific "other" among them ... (NYT #5, PW #3, USA #9)