Novel First Lines

Now that the weather is frightful, wouldn't it be delightful to find a great read for the holidays? Courtesy of our fall "First Lines & Factiods" contest, check out these interesting reads. Thank you to our many great entrants who submitted all of the below books and facts.

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick
(submitted by Najla Morgan)

First line: "The Garretts were forbidden from the start."

Interesting fact: "On Huntley Fitzpatrick's 10th birthday, her father gave her a typewriter, a pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes, and a bottle of scotch. He also gave her a note telling her to "Be Bold, Be Bold, Be Bold." Huntley passed on the scotch and cigarettes, but kept writing." (author's website)


East of Eden by John Steinbeck

(submitted by Nicole Johnson)

First Line: "The Salinas Valley is in Northern California."

Interesting Fact: "Years after her husband's death, Elaine Steinbeck went to a bookstore in Japan asking if they carried copies of The Grapes of Wrath. The owner was puzzled, not recognizing the title. "It's by John Steinbeck," she insisted. "Oh," said the owner, finally understanding her request. "You mean The Angry Raisins." (Steinbeck's biography @ Oprah.com)

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
(submitted by Colton Claughton, Megan Morehouse, Marcel Ortiz, Sean Smith)

First Line: "In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit."

Interesting Facts: "Tolkien, a professor of linguistics at Oxford, was grading exams and came upon a blissfully blank page. He wrote the first line of the book without having any notion of what a 'hobbit' was at the time. This anecdote suggests that if more students endeavoured to be succinct in essay exams, we might have more classics of literature." (Annotated Hobbit, Sean Smith)

"Tolkien was a codebreaker in World War II." (tolkiensociety.org)

"The Hobbit was written for Tolkien's children. It was by luck that a person working for a publishing company came across it and then convinced Tolkien to publish the book, which Tolkien hadn't previously intended to do." (tolkiensociety.org)

"Tolkien and his wife, Edith, are buried together in a single grave in the Catholic section of Wolvercote cemetery in the northern suburbs of Oxford. The headstone reads: 'Edith Mary Tolkien, Luthien, 1889-1971' and 'John Ronald Reul Tolkien, Beren, 1892-1973.' The character names are from The Silmarillion. (IMDB)

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

(submitted by Amanda Page)

First Line: "The circus arrives without warning."

Interesting Fact: "Morgenstern is an artist as well as a writer." (goodreads.com)

I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloan Crosley
(submitted by Thomas McNamara)

First Line: "As most New Yorkers have done, I have given serious and generous thought to the state of my apartment should I get killed during the day."

Interesting Fact: "Sloan Crosley wrote the cover story for the worst-selling issue of Maxim in the magazine's history." (author's bio)




Haunted Mesa by Louis L'Amour

(submitted by Don Connors)

First Line: "It was night, and he was alone upon the desert."

Interesting Fact: "Louis L'Amour spent much of his time in libraries and bookstores across the United States and all over the world. He was known to brag about reading more than one hundred and fifty non-fiction books per year from 1928 to 1942. (LouisLAmour.com)



Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
(submitted by Emilie Smart)

First Line: "I am old now and have not much to fear from the anger of gods."

Interesting Fact: "C.S. Lewis was a member of a group known as 'The Inklings,' an informal collective of writers and intellectuals with his brother and J.R.R. Tolkien. Through conversations with these members, C.S. Lewis found himself re-embracing Christianity after becoming disillusioned with the faith in his youth." (C.S. Lewis @ Biography.com)


The Dispossessed by Ursula LeGuin

(submitted by Susannah Day)

First Line: "There was a wall."

Interesting Fact: "LeGuin has chosen to make almost all of the characters in her books people of color-- a huge change from the other books of the science fiction/fantasy genre." (http://writing-world.com/sf/leguin.shtml)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
(submitted by Donna Reed)

First Line: "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of Number Four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much."

Interesting Fact: "#4 Privet Drive is located in Berkshire. The worst place in Muggledom is named after a small town in Gloucestershire. Rowling has visited such places as a child. The Dursley home can be found near Bracknell." (www.empireonline.com)

Happy Holidays, and may all your reads be good ones!

Thanksgiving Yum Yums

Thanksgiving's coming up and we all know what that means...sitting on the couch after a delicious meal that lasts a couple hours...getting together with family that you really love, or maybe don't so much...dishes...and a MUCH needed break from school. 

Now I don't know about you, but I always enjoy trying at least one new recipe.  You have a table full of willing participants for the experiment so, why not?  I've been looking through our cookbooks and I thought: some of these recipes cannot go hidden any longer.  When you see them, I imagine your mouth will begin to water as mine did, and you'll need a mop to wipe up the mess.

From a neat book called One-Pot Meals with recipes that can all be accomplished in...you guessed it...one pot!  That makes it nice if you're looking for ways to eliminate dishes.  On page 172, you'll find this:


Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chili
Eating Well: One-Pot Meals
641.82 P

This sounded like a D E L I C I O U S side with a healthy dose of calcium, iron, and potassium.  (It's important that we stay healthy too, right?)  But then again I'm a sucker for sweet potato so don't take my word for it...

For all you folks growing your food locally, I have two things to say.  For one, props to you; growing fresh fruit and vegetables is an excellent way to save money, stay healthy, and appreciate the land we live on.  Second, you may find this book invaluable during the holidays or any time you feel like trying something new...


by Connie Green
641.6 G

 

My favorite recipe from this one has got to be the Gerber's Porcini Panini with Teleme and Caramelized Onions (I can't pronounce the name but boy does it look good), page 186. Imagine oozing white teleme cheese and caramelized onions coming from a golden ciabatta.  You look closer and you see slices of grilled porcini mushrooms with garlic, rosemary, and fresh thyme.  Yum.  If you can resist that, you just aren't human.

 

You may want to get serious about barbequeing for the holidays, in which case this is a must-read:

 

 



by Adam Perry Lang
641.5784 P

This is truly a must-see for all of you brave enough to face the cold outdoors for some delicious meat.

Favorite recipe: Bacon-wrapped Skinless Drumsticks with Sage and Garlic, pg. 271.  Heck yeah.

 

We'll have a display set up if you're feeling curious or edgy this winter, so come check it out. 



Celebrate American Indian Heritage Month!

Imagination

November is National Novel Writing Month, and in order to write the next great bestseller, you need some imagination and creativity! This week, Aria, one of the library's lab aides, discusses creativity, imagination, and how sometimes spacing out is more than just a 1000-yard stare:

   Imagination is what all great authors need. It allows a person to go to experience another world, beyond our own. As a frequent user of imagination, I can't bear the thought of not having one. I've fallen in love with the colorful world of my mind, and I plan on using a great deal of it for my writing.

    First off, let me explain why I bother to talk about imagination. I have Aspergers Syndrome, a form of autism that makes me think differently than a normal human. I am quite introverted, although many people will think the opposite if they meet me in person, and I have a huge imagination. If you ask me what I'm thinking of when I'm staring off into the distance, I'd probably tell you a detailed story of something I made up for a book or a piece of poetry. Aspergers Syndrome makes me give up the natural ability to socialize for the ability to be a god in my imagination.

   Now you might think that my odd syndrome is unusual for someone like me. But some of the greatest minds and authors of our race probably had Aspergers Syndrome. Here is a list:

• Bill Gates
• Isaac Newton
• Jane Austen
• George Orwell
• Woody Allen
• Mark Twain
• Thomas Jefferson

    Imagination is the key to creating things from books to new technology we use in our everyday lives. We rely on people who think differently to solve problems the average Joe couldn't. The person that you might think of as strange or different might be the person who cures cancer. So the next time you see someone that you think is strange looking off into the distance, try to imagine what they're thinking of. Maybe they're escaping their everyday lives by looking through the eyes of a dragon, or even a giant squid. Or maybe they're thinking of nothing and just like the color of the wallpaper. Although they may be different, the beauty of their imagination magnificent. Just like the authors that write the books for everyone to enjoy and read at the UCC library.

Check out these cool books:

                                      

How'd you like to win a Kindle Fire?

We're celebrating National Information Literacy Month (October) and National Novel Writing Month (November) with kindle giveaways!!

Introducing the UCC Librarys.....drum roll please....

NOVEL FIRST LINES & FACTOIDS CONTEST

Oct. 28 - Nov. 8, 2013

Grand Prize: Kindle Fire

Three First Prizes: Kindle Paperwhite

 

HOW TO ENTER

First, you're going to want to pick up a form from the front desk.  All you have to do is give us your first name, student ID#, and contact information.  Then, tell us the first line of a favorite book, the title of the book, its author, and an interesting fact related to the first line or the author of the book.  Lastly, because we're librarians and we get to be picky about things like this, cite your source!

Winners will be randomly drawn, so may the luckiest student win!

GoPrint!

You've probably already encountered the new GoPrint software on the computers in the lab.  If you haven't, you've probably heard about how frustrating it is from other students. 

We're working out some kinks right now, and slowly but surely, we're hopefully easing your frustrations. 

For now, no one is getting charged for any print jobs...so don't feel outraged when you think you're being charged 5.00$ for your print job.  If you look below the "Account Summary", you'll find the "Transaction Summary" where it will say 0.00$.  That is what's being 'charged' to your account.

Another thing we'd like you to remember is to log out of your account once you're done printing.  For now, you have an unlimited number of pages to print for free.  In the future, you will only be limited a certain number of pages to print for free before you begin getting charged.  It's a good idea to get into the habit now of signing out so others don't use your account.

Bear with us UCC!  Soon, coming to the lab will return to being a relatively painless process. :)

You can always ask the lab aides on duty if you have any questions or concerns, or call the HelpDesk at (541) 440-7808.

Welcome Back!

It's time for another quarter, and we're happy to have you here!  The Library is hosting free coffee Monday and Tuesday morning to celebrate the start of classes.

Come by the Library, check out our reading area with
comfy couches, our swanky study carrels that are waiting for you in the Quiet Study area, learn how to create your own cheese or beer with our new books, and grab a cup of coffee to help your brain jump back into study mode.

Happy Fall!