Talkin' 'bout my generation

Surprise, surprise, the boomers love to read! See the Newsweek article about
Boomers and the books that defined their generation. But the more interesting part to me is the love for books that endures. I keep thinking about how back then the "establishment" expected rock 'n roll, hippies and radicals to destroy the world as they knew it...and in some way I guess they did...but yet again books rule!

The Gilded Lily

In the spirit of the Oscar, the Grammy and so forth, I've decided to give out my own award which I call the "Gilded Lily." Categories are random....because it's my award and I can do what I want with it. ;-)

Best late night talk show host: Craig Ferguson (because he's hilarious and makes me laugh out loud). He's also written a hilarious book: Between the Bridge and the River.

Best daytime talk show host: Ellen DeGeneres (because she's so down-to-earth and makes me laugh) Of course, this is the only daytime talk show I watch, although I do listen to the hot topics on The View more frequently now that Rosie is on...

Best new music album by an old boomer: Modern Times by Bob Dylan (because it's awesome and you can actually understand the words this time)

Best collaboration between a pre-boomer dude and today's artists: Tony Bennett Duets: An American Classic (because it makes me feel good)

Best new singer: K. T. Tunstall (because she sounds different than anyone else and is mesmerizing)

Best new serial: The Adventures of Mooie (because I'm addicted to it) This was a tough category and Javabell's photo diary runs a close second!

Best non-fiction book recently read: Honor Killing by David E. Stannard (because it's an incredible story and it did more to explain ethnic and political relations in Hawaii than anything else I had read) Honorable mention to 1776 by David McCullough (because it was fascinating and it took place in my backyard)

Best new historical romance writer: Diane Wylie, author of Secrets and Sacrifices (because she's a really good writer who incorporates lots of historical detail and features strong women protagonists) And, for full disclosure, she's also a really good friend of mine and we need to support new authors!

Best middle of the night TV: NBC's Poker After Dark 2amEST (because it beats anything else on at that time of night)

And that's it for now folks. Good night and thanks for reading!

Why aren't we surprised???

So, a congressionally mandated audit found that the Patriot Act was used improperly and alot more than the FBI claimed....Read the NYT story here.

I know librarians and the ALA are not surprised. Although this particular audit did not deal with the part of the Patriot Act that refers to libraries, one can not be faulted for expecting similar results... Keep up the fight!