Mary Amato. GUITAR NOTES

Tripp and Lyla have nothing in common, except that they use the same practice room in the orchestra hall. Tripp uses it on odd days; Lyla on even days. At first, they begin leaving each other snarky notes displaying their prejudgement of each other. But as they keep writing, they begin to see that they have more in common than they realized.

Tripp's mom doesn't understand his love for playing the guitar. She thinks it absorbs too much of his time. She feels he should be spending his time making friends and doing "normal" things. Lyla's dad thinks she should continue to spend all of her time on her Cello and preparing for her blossoming career.

Both love music. Both are miserable because of it. As they continue writing to each other, they discover that together they may be able to improve both of their situations.

I adored this book! You can tell that the author is a talented musician, because she makes the songwriting process seem so enjoyable and much easier than I'm sure it is in real life. I could relate to both Tripp and Lyla's passion for music. Even though I'm not a music creator like them, I'm a huge music consumer. Music accompanies me throughout most of my day.  I loved the way the author wove the characters, the music, the writing, and the science of sound all into this wonderful story of joy. It made my heart sing!

If you are interested in the songs or songwriting in general, you must check out the book's website: www.thrumsociety.com You can hear all of the songs in the book and learn a lot more. But read the book first! You don't want to read any spoilers. You want to experience the book fresh. But you can certainly check out the trailer now. There are no spoilers. Enjoy!

NEW BOOKS!

We have a whole cornucopia of new books! Among them, as expected, are some new dystopians. Be sure to check out the display in the front of the library:

Also, see directions below for using the list feature in Destiny to see view our newest book lists:  Dystopians and New Books.  Use the lists to find a new and exciting book to check out!

Enjoy!

DIVERGENT & THE FAULT IN OUR STARS Movie News

There's been a lot of DIVERGENT casting news lately!
Kate Winslet has been cast as Erudite leader Jeanine Mathews. All of the other main characters are listed on IMDB, so go there to check them out. Also, check out the author's blog for news as it develops:

Veronica Roth via kwout

In other movie news, THE FAULT IN OUR STARS looks to be in pre-production, which means that we don't know exactly for sure when it will be made. However, it's an interesting coincidence that Shailene Woodley has been cast as Tris in DIVERGENT and Hazel in THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. Hopefully we'll know more in the coming months.

Kat Zhang. WHAT'S LEFT OF ME

"I shouldn't exist, but I do."

With a tag line like that, how could I resist picking this one up?

Addie and Eva live in a world were two souls are born into one body. Typically, by the age of ten or so, one of the souls becomes dominant, while the other fades away. It's called "settling." If a person doesn't "settle" then both souls remain and you're called a hybrid. It's evil and dangerous to be a hybrid in this society, for some unspecified reasons.

Addie and Eva are one of these hybrids. But they hide it from everyone, including their parents. Addie is known as the dominant soul. Eva remains a secret to everyone except, of course, Addie. Addie meets two other hybrids and is unable to keep the secret any longer. After some suspicious behavior  doctors from the government come and take all three of them away to a hospital to "cure" them.

I liked the book. It became suspenseful throughout the second half. This is an intriguing idea and brings up a lot of ethical questions, especially when you find out what is going on in the hospital. If you like dystopians, you'll enjoy this.

It's called THE HYBRID CHRONICLES, so expect a few more. I'm guessing it will be a trilogy, like all YA books nowadays. ;) Check out the awesome trailer!

Nicholas Sparks. SAFE HAVEN

Katie moves to the small southern town of Southport, North Carolina with the goal of making a fresh start. Alex, owner of the general store, notices Katie seems quiet and scared when she comes in to purchase her few essential items every week. She's obviously been through sometime traumatic and seems to be hiding. Katie warms up to Alex's acts of kindness towards her, but is still nervous to get too close.

Katie begins to love her new life in Southport. But as she grows to love Alex, she must decide whether or not to let Alex completely into her life or to keep the dark secrets hidden and risk losing him forever.


If you've read a Nicholas Sparks book before, you know that it typically involves romance and tears. This does both, although I was pleasantly surprised that it also included a good amount of suspense in the second half. Additionally, I loved the way he shifts points of view throughout the main characters, so you really get into their head. It kept me anxiously flipping through the pages to get to the end.

A good storyteller creates characters you care about enough to continue reading. Sparks does that here. I enjoyed the characters and the plot. He definitely pulls the heartstrings, as he usually does.

Hamburguering in the Library 2013

Featured below are a few pictures of the Hamburguering in the library this year. 

Click here for videos of full-length scenes from Hamlet Day 2013.