What's up with that? Romance novel character names

Let me clarify from the outset that I'm not dissing romance novels (I have read some, but it's not my usual fare)... I'm just pointing out an observation on their oftentimes ridiculous character names. I realize that romance novels are escapist, so the setting, time period and names will inherently be more unusual, but some are actually laughable. Where's Matt? Or Maggie? I know, not different enough. Try Cerynise Kendall and Beauregard Birmingham (who find love in Kathleen Woodiwiss' The Elusive Flame; I think it's the alliteration of his name that gets me on that one).

However, romance novels' cousin, chick lit, does find balance between naming characters uniquely without entering ridiculous territory. For example, in Emily Giffin's Something Borrowed (the movie based on this book will be in theaters May 6), the characters are Rachel, Darcy and Dex. Overused, everyday names? No, but you actually might know someone in real life named Rachel. Maybe it's the time periods that determine the names more so than the genre ...

For a little fun, check out this amusing Regency name generator.

So, have any funny character names to share?

Me Want Books!

I came across this hilarious Sesame Street clip today, featuring the one and only Cookie Monster (my favorite Sesame Street-er).  Personally, I think the librarian is being far to stuffy and dramatic.  Who doesn't want books with a side of cookies?!



Via LIS News.

Frank O'Hara Goes to the Movies

"glorious Silver Screen, tragic Technicolor, amorous Cinemascope,

stretching Vistavision and startling Stereophonic Sound, with all

your heavenly dimensions and reverberations and iconoclasms!"

- Frank O'Hara, "To the Film Industry in Crisis"

Frank O'Hara (1926 - 1966) loved the movies. His poetry is bursting at the seams with actors and actresses, arcane film references, even Hollywood gossip. O'Hara literally composed love poetry to the entire film industry. (While he doesn't seem to make any distinction between "good" and "bad" movies, I'd hesitate to call his feelings about Hollywood uncomplicated. See his wry poem "Ave Maria" as evidence.) Without question, his most direct ode to the art of movie-making is "To the Film Industry in Crisis", available in The Collected Poems of Frank O'Hara. This exuberant poem is breathless in its praise of everyone from Clark Gable to the extras.

Follow the link for my breakdown of the many film references in this poem:

Have you mastered the Dewey Decimal System?

Mental Floss created a belated National Library Week lunchtime quiz about the much beloved (and frequently misunderstood) Dewey Decimal System. While I always knew that non-fiction books were arranged by numbers starting with 000 and ending at 999, I didn't have all 10 major classes memorized (let alone the divisions under each class).  I pretty much only knew the numbers I visited frequently (641= cookbooks, 741= graphic novels, 810s= American Literature, 780s= Music, and so forth). This is probably the way most library users understand Dewey.

However, now as a librarian, I am almost fully fluent in Dewey. You can give me a call number (613.25 for instance) and I can tell you what the subject of the book is going to be (dieting) and where it is in the stacks.  It's a nerdy and specific science, but useful. Naturally, I scored a (perfect) 10 on the quiz, not that I'm the bragging type...

Happy Record Shop Day!

Remember back in the olden days, when you used to buy music in actual stores?  As a kid, I always wished I lived in an area where we had a cool independent record shop, like Reckless or Permanent Records.  Instead, I was stuck ordering all my weird indie rock CDs online, and once a year or so, heading to Chicago or Madison (home of B-Side Records) to check out actual records stores.  Now it seems like everyone purchases their music online.  I, for one, still prefer the cramped, messy record stores to the convenient but austere and sonically inferior route of purchasing digital music online.  In honor of Record Store Day, here is a few books about records and Rock n' Roll:

Record Store Days: From Vinyl to Digital and Back Again by Gary Calamar and Phil Gallo (2009).
Call #: 780.266 CAL
Find it in the catalog!

An appreciation of music stores past and present, this book explores the history of record stores and their place in the community.

Wish You Were Here: An Essential Guide to Your Favorite Music Scenes- From Punk to Indie and Everything In Between by Leslie Simon (2009).
Call #: 780.66 SIM
Find it in the catalog!

Sort of like a travel guide for music geeks, this books has primers on major music scenes, as well as locations to visit in the different cities profiled, including even obscure sights like the Dunkin Donuts on Clark St. in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago aka. "Punkin Donuts," supposedly a popular punk hangout since the 80s.


The Show I'll Never Forget: 50 Writers Relive Their Most Memorable Concert Going Experience (2007). 
Call #: 781.66 MAN
Find it in the catalog! 

Record and music geeks will probably relate to these stories about unforgettable shows.

Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984 by Simon Reynolds.
Call #:  781.66 REY
Find it in the catalog!

Profiles a very cool era of music history, featuring the formation of bands like Gang of Four, Joy Division, and Talking Heads. 

Awkward Moments with Rocco Dispirto

 Just a dude, sitting on a stoop, petting my tomatoes.

Celebrity chef/ author/ awkward hand gesture-maker Rocco DiSpirito has several different cookbooks with delicious looking but healthy meals.  However, I mostly enjoy his cookbooks for another reason, DiSpirito's odd posing in photographs.  Blessed with generically handsome looks, DiSpirito could have been a Sears catalog model in another life.  Below are some of my favorite DiSpirito poses from his books:

Dog, you are the only one I can trust now. 

National Poetry Month 2011

"ONE'S-SELF I sing, a simple separate person,

Yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse."
- Walt Whitman, Ones-Self I Sing

National Poetry Month has afforded us here at the Reader's Block the welcome opportunity of addressing a literary form that's too often neglected. Last April we allowed our repressed love of poetry to come proudly to the surface. Danielle highlighted the many volumes written by and about Shakespeare, sundry poetry anthologies, and provided a thoughtful introduction to the work of Billy Collins. I took inventory of some of my own favorites, specifically Hart Crane, Pablo Neruda, Frank O'Hara, Carl Sandburg, and Dylan Thomas. Well, it's April again, and the 800s are our destination. (I'm speaking of Dewey numbers, natch.)