New Acquisitions: May 2009

Check out our new acquisitions for the months of May, 2009!

Many thanks to the families who donated books for us at the Parent Book Fair.

Click here to download the list.

Or, find out more about these books on our online Shelfari bookshelf. View book covers, read other user reviews, and more!

The Quest for the Best - Guide to the Internet

Do you want to become an Internet power-user?

Then take a look at this list of recommended web sites and services, and learn about the hottest Web sites:

The Quest for the Best

Web site of the Week—New Yorker Fiction Podcast

Are you having trouble finding the time to read for pleasure? Well why not try the next best thing, with fiction podcasts! It's easy to subscribe to a podcast using iTunes services and upload them to an iPod. Or, you can download audio files and burn them to a CD to listen in the car.

• New Yorker Fiction Podcast

We highly recommend the New Yorker Fiction podcast. In this free podcast, famous authors read their favorite stories from the back catalog of the New Yorker magazine. Afterwards, they discuss the significance of these stories with the New Yorker's fiction editor.

Listen to Joyce Carol Oates read Eudora Welty’s “Where Is the Voice Coming From?” or Mary Gaitskill read Vladimir Nabokov’s “Symbols and Signs.”

These short stories and discussions are the perfect length for a commute!

• NPR Books Podcast

This podcast includes NPR book reviews, news and author interviews -- for people who love to read.

For other podcasts, check out these podcast repositories online.

• Librivox —This collection focuses on books from the public domain, including many classics. Many of these podcasts are user-created, so the quality may vary.
  
• Audible — If you are looking for contemporary authors, nad are not worried about paying for your content, this is the place to go.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/podcasts/fiction
http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_detail.php?siteId=89697155
http://librivox.org/
http://www.audible.com/

Web site of the Week—Youtube EDU and Youtube LOC

This week we are covering another great source of scholarly collegiate-level lectures. Youtube EDU is a repository of all Youtube accounts associated with Colleges and Universities.

Click on Directory to see a list of all participating institutions.

Here's a sample video on "Bringing Education into the 21st Century" from the University of California's Channel.

Great for:

• Video Resources
• Professional Development

Library of Congress Youtube Channel

While you are on Youtube, make sure to check out the Library of Congress's channel to access classic video footage from their digital library, as well as coverage of LOC-sponsored author events and other intersting videos.

Here's a clip from their Journey's and Crossings Playlist: "Rosie the Riveter: Real Women Workers in World War II":

http://www.youtube.com/edu
http://www.youtube.com/user/LibraryOfCongress

Summer Reading 2009

Summer is almost here! Time to celebrate by creating your reading lists. In addition to the required reading lists put out by the English Department, the NCS Library has some recommended reading lists that you should check out:

Recommended Summer Reading Lists

• Grade 7
• Grade 8
• Grade 9
• Grade 10
• Grade 11
• Grade 12
• Grownups

Required Summer Reading Lists

All required summer reading lists are available on the NCS Summer Mailing Web site.

What's Happening!

If your looking for something “crafty” to do this week and weekend, check out the happenings around town!

Craft Week DC
Mayor Fenty proclaimed April 22-26, 2009 Crafts Week DC surrounding two major events in Washington, DC, The Smithsonian Craft Show and The James Renwick Alliance Spring Craft Weekend .

Celebrate the growing reputation and artistic achievement of local artists working in clay, glass, fiber, metal, and wood. Gallery Openings, artist’s studios, exhibitions, craft show, and gala.

Check out the Events page to see what is planned for the week including classes, lectures, and here are a few examples of exhibits to scope out:

• Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, VA
  Ceramics, enamelists, and objects that are reclaimed, recycled, reinterpreted and transformed into art.
  


• Textile Museum in Washington, DC
  (Dupont Circle)
  Constructed Color: Amish Quilts
  


• Foundry Gallery in Washington, DC
  (Dupont Circle)
  A Cast of Characters: Works by the Washington Glass School

Booklist: Keep It Short

Short stories are wonderful to read because you can see things in their entirety very quickly. It’s like having a preference for small watercolors over an elaborate oil painting. It’s also a demanding genre because while a novel can sprawl or contain flaws, a short story follows a strict writing regimen. There is a diamond aspect to the short story. It requires perfection.

I also find that when they are well written, they always leave me hungry for more information about the characters or denouements. Short stories are ideal for folks who have little time to read and want to spend their spare moments with high-quality fiction. So if you’re busy, check one of these out right away.

Click here to download the book list.