KC Public Library Blog
The 7 Best Ebook Apps for Your Smartphone or Tablet
The joys of reading ebooks are not restricted to those who own Kindles, Nooks, or other ereaders. If you have a smartphone or tablet, you too can enjoy ebooks checked out from the Library or downloaded from a retailer like Amazon or a free-ebook site like Project Gutenberg.
Program Notes: Vacation (1983)
A pebble thrown into a pond may create just a tiny splash. But the ripples it generates can seem to go on forever. Vacation created lots of ripples. We’re still experiencing them today.
Back to School
Many (if not most) children will be headed back to school in the next couple of weeks. To help kick off the school season, check out these light-hearted books that will entertain even the most reluctant reader.
How Do Dinosaurs Go to School?
By Jane Yolen
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
If you pick up a John Green book, you might expect to find lovesick teenagers or high school pranksters. But what you really should expect is nothing but literary gold.
Program Notes: Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
If everyone loves a winner, why do we walk out of Little Miss Sunshine in love with the film’s miserable losers? It’s probably because the movie recognizes that most of us are losers. And that’s OK.
Heat Wave
August 14, 1936: Kansas City records its highest temperature ever, 113 degrees Fahrenheit, causing a summer heat wave that sends area residents to Swope or Penn Valley parks to sleep at night in order to cool off.
Program Notes: 24 Hour Party People (2002)
You needn't know anything about the late '70s music scene in Manchester, England, to enjoy 24 Hour Party People. The real engine driving this romp is Steve Coogan, the Brit standup comic who makes an indelible impression.
Classic Review: Men Against the Sea by Nordhoff and Hall
Was Captain Bligh a villain – or a hero? If you've read the Bounty Trilogy, you know Bligh cuts a controversial figure in the pages of fiction and nonfiction alike. Read Bernie's review of the second book, Men Against the Sea, and decide for yourself.
New on DVD: Jeff Who Lives at Home (2011)
Jeff Who Lives at Home is a pleasantly meandering effort that exhibits more genuine soul than any comedy since Bill Forsythe’s sublime Local Hero back in 1983.
Program Notes: The Straight Story (1999)
The Straight Story is a glorious aberration. At a time when movies tend to dazzle with speed and style, it rolls along at a snail's pace, allowing us plenty of time to observe the changing sky and the flora in the roadside ditches.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
When Amy meets Nick, it’s love at first sight. Something out of a movie. Magical. And, maybe, deadly.
Coming Soon: A Digital Learning Lab for KC Teens
Equipped with a planning grant from the MacArthur Foundation, the Kansas City Public Library and Science City are plotting a digital media "learning lab" for teens in Union Station. Check out our progress!
Program Notes: Badlands (1973)
Badlands is about two teenagers on a cross-country murder spree. Yet it's terribly funny. As a comedy of middle-American blandness mutating into indifferent homicide, it's no less satirical than Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove.
The Way to Santa Fe
August 10, 1825: Representatives of the Osage tribes meet with American commissioners near present-day Council Grove, Kansas to negotiate a treaty giving the U.S. government rights to land for the establishment of the Santa Fe Trail, which will become a major trade route linking the greater Kansas City area to the Southwest.
I'm STARVING!!
It’s been a long, hot summer already and we’re still weeks away from fall! My garden is definitely showing the strain even though I have been watering almost every day to make up for the many weeks without rain. One of the ways that I’ve been distracting myself from the sad state of my garden is testing out some new recipes in the kitchen. I have come across some great kid friendly cookbooks here at the Plaza Kid Corner that I would love to share with you!