KC Public Library Blog
Kansas City Noir by Steve Paul, editor
If you’re a fan of shadowy crime fiction, local authors, and well-written literature, then Kansas City Noir is a book you’ll definitely want to add to your library reading list.
New on DVD: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011)
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is as comfortable as an old pair of shoes and about as surprising. An adaptation of Deborah Moggach’s novel, it's been carefully calculated to please the over-50 demographic.
Program Notes: The Road (2009)
It seems a strange thing to say about one of the most depressing films ever offered, but The Road is beautiful in its depiction of parent/child love that transcends the worst the world can throw at us.
Christmas Books Pinterest Contest Winner Announced!
The Library’s latest Pinterest Contest, Christmas Books: Past, Present, and Future, is over. But before we settle down for a long winter’s read, we’d like to congratulate Kristi Bond, the winner in the drawing for the grand prize.
Sweet Invention by Michael Krondl
Most people enjoy eating sweets, especially around this time of year. Michael Krondl in Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert shows how sweets have been a part of our diet since ancient times.
Strange Bedfellows
December 16, 1931: Nell Donnelly, a Kansas City dress manufacturer, and her chauffeur, George Blair, are kidnapped and held hostage in a cottage near Bonner Springs, Kansas, only to be released two days later without paying ransom.
Program Notes: A Christmas Carol (2009)
There are a few moments in the computer-animated A Christmas Carol when it seems bent on re-imagining the yarn as a theme park thrill ride. But despite these lapses, it delivers. And Jim Carrey gets most of the credit.
Program Notes: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first feature-length cartoon. As far as I'm concerned, it remains the greatest. The astonishing atmospheric effects, the careful balance of humor and terror, remains a triumph of popular entertainment.
Carter's Big Break by Brent Crawford
No one ever said high school was easy, and Will Carter found that out the hard way in 2009's Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford. But did Carter really learn anything? We find out in the sequel, Carter's Big Break.
Program Notes: Miracle Mile (1988)
Miracle Mile (1988) is about the last 24 hours of life on Earth. A nifty blend of conflicting moods, there’s terrific suspense and unexpected bursts of snarky humor set against an apocalyptic background.
Program Notes: The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
Let’s admit up front that two of the coolest things in the world are Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol and the Muppets. So it is humanly impossible to dislike The Muppet Christmas Carol.
Flying High
December 7, 1940: The Army Air Corps announces that a bomber plant, which will employ 26,000 and produce most of the B-25 medium bombers used in World War II, will be built in the Fairfax district of Kansas City, Kansas.
But, baby, it's cold outside!
I know it doesn’t really seem like it since the weather has stayed so warm and sunny, but it’s now December! Winter is just around the corner! We humans turn on our heat, put extra blankets on our beds, and trade our short and sandals for coats and boots, but what do our animal friends do when the weather starts to turn cold? Find out in the great books I tracked down at the Library!
Pinterest Contest: Share Your Christmas Books for the Chance to Win a Kindle!
From Dec. 3 - 10, 2012, the Kansas City Public Library invites patrons to use Pinterest to share their Christmas Books: Past, Present, and Future for a chance to win a Kindle Paperwhite.
Blue Monday by Nicci French
Since becoming a mom, I find it difficult to read novels where crimes are committed against children. Blue Monday by Nicci French is a story so compelling and well-written that it made me break out of my mold.