Friday, July 29, 2011

Discover or Rediscover Science Fiction

Your NHTI librarians have put together a display featuring classic and newer science fiction in the library lobby. Science fiction imagines other worlds and technologies which could exist.  Science, rather than magic, drives the stories. Books in the display may be checked out with a valid ID for three weeks.

Check NoveList in the library’s EBSCO databases for articles and reading lists covering all aspects of the genre.

An Introduction to Science Fiction for New Readers by Jessica E. Moyer http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=noh&tg=UI&an=433373&site=novelist-live

You can check for digital copies of books in eBrary such as: 

100 Must-Read Science Fiction Novels: Bloomsbury Reading Guides http://site.ebrary.com/lib/nhti/docDetail.action?docID=10408597&p00=100%20read%20science%20fiction 

Dimensions Behind the Twilight Zone: A Backstage Tribute to Television's Groundbreaking Series
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/nhti/docDetail.action?docID=10257080

eBooks from EBSCOHost is a new EBSCO database containing digital books with the capability to download many titles to a variety of mobile devices. You will also find books about the subject of science fiction.

Seed, D. (1999). American Science Fiction and the Cold War: Literature and Film. Edinburgh University Press http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,cpid,url,uid&custid=concordt&db=nlebk&AN=9570&site=ehost-live


The following titles are Sci-Fi movies based on books in the NHTI collection.  Check the library catalog or with Circulation Desk staff for availability.  DVDs may be checked out with a valid ID card for one week.
  • The Minority Report (Philip K. Dick) Tom Cruise and Colin Farrell
  • Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Jack Finney) Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter (1955)
  • I Am Legend (Richard Matheson) Will Smith
  • Contact (Carl Sagan) Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey
  • Sphere (Michael Crichton) Dustin Hoffman and Sharon Stone
  • Journey to the Center of the Earth (Jules Verne) Brendan Fraser Seth Myers
  • The Andromeda Strain (Michael Crichton) Arthur Hill and David Wayne (1970)

Friday, July 22, 2011

Book Review- Blood’s A Rover

James Ellroy (2009)

PS3555.L6274 B57 2009

History as it might have happened; and probably did.  James Ellroy’s Blood’s A Rover (the title is taken from an A.E. Houseman poem) completes his Underworld U.S.A Trilogy that began with one of the great novels of the late 20th century, American Tabloid, followed by the Cold Six Thousand.

Do you think you know what really happened with the Kennedy and King assassinations, Cuba, Jimmy Hoffa, organized crime, J. Edgar Hoover, Howard Hughes, the 1968 Democratic Party convention in Chicago, the Civil Rights movement, the war in Vietnam and all of the turbulent events that comprise the 1960’s in the U.S.A. and continue to shape our lives? Written at a pace in a prose style that makes Blood’s A Rover a page turner, Ellroy challenges conventional wisdom and accepted accounts of the 60’s and produces a noir thrilling plausible (and perhaps “true”) alternate history of America that would even have the heads of conspiracy theorists spinning! No wonder Blood’s A Rover has been called “Brilliant” – Minneapolis Star Tribune; “Wild and brilliant, dazzlingly and funny” – LA Times; and,”Drop-dead great” – Austin American Statesman: you have to experience it to believe it. 

New DVDs

  • The 39 Steps - DVD PN1995.9 .S68 T4578 1985
  • 84 Charing Cross Road - DVD PN1997 .E544 E544 1987
  • Aguirre – Wrath of God - DVD PN1997 .A276 1972
  • All About My Mother - DVD PN1997 .A455 A455 2000
  • The American Film Institute: Salute to Frank Capra - DVD PN1998 .A3 A43733 1991
  • The American Film Institute: Salute to Alfred Hitchcock - DVD PN1998 .A3 A43732 1991
  • And God Created Woman- DVD PN1997 .G64 G64 1986
  • Angels Over Broadway - DVD PN1997 .A644 A644 1986
  • Au Revoir Les Enfants (Goodbye, Children) - DVD PN1997 .A8513 A85 1989
  • The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer - DVD PN1997 .B234 B234 1987
  • The Beast with Five Fingers - DVD PN1997 .B437 B4378 1992
  • Belle De Jour - DVD PN1997 .B455 B3 1995
  • The Best Years of Our Lives - DVD PS3521 .A47 G6 1985
  • The Bishop’s Wife - DVD PN1997 .B574 B574 1987
  • Black Robe - DVD PN1997 .B533 B5 1992
  • Brief Encounter - DVD PN1997 .B7544 B755 1988
  • The Burning Bed - DVD PN1997 .B8755 B875 1995
  • Charlie Chan in Paris - DVD PN1997 .C435 C4 1989
  • Charlie Chan in the Shanghai Cobra - DVD PN1997 .C4 C4 1993
  • Daffy Duck’s Thanks-for-Giving Special - DVD PN1997.5 .D344 D344 1992
  • Dark Journey - DVD PN1997 .D375 D375 1987
  • The Dark Mirror - DVD PN1997 .D374 D3 1987
  • The Day After Trinity: J Robert Oppenheimer - DVD QC16 .D392 1980
  • The Diary of a Chambermaid - DVD PN1997 .J687 J6 1987
  • The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeosie - DVD PN1997 .C437 C4 1985
  • Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands - DVD PN1995.9 .C55 D663 1978
  • Dr. Strangelove - DVD PN1997 .D77 D77 1999
  • Fires on the Plain - DVD PN1997 .F5 F5 1987
  • Floating Weeds - DVD PN1997 .F55 F5 1988
  • Footsteps in the Dark - DVD PN1997 .F668 F668 1993
  • Force of Evil - DVD PN1997 .F67 F67 1984
  • Full Metal Jacket - DVD PN1997 .F85 F85 1990
  • Fury - DVD PN1997 .F879 F8 1991

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Mt. Washington Auto Road Anniversary

This year the Mt. Washington Auto Road, built in 1861, celebrates its 150th anniversary.  Do you remember the cardboard sign “This car climbed Mt. Washington” wired on to the heavy chrome bumper of your car once you made it back to the parking lot?  Driving your car up the highest peak in the Presidential Range is like earning a badge of honor.  You can check the website http://mtwashingtonautoroad.com/start-your-adventure/the-bumper-sticker  for global bumper sticker sightings or visit www.mtwashingtonautoroad.com for the road’s history and summer-long special events.

Eric Pinder, an observer and writer at Mt. Washington Meteorological Observatory, recalls his experiences while stationed at the observatory in his book, Tying Down the Wind: Adventures in the Worst Weather on Earth. He weaves stories of the world’s worst weather into the book, talking about lightning storms, winds and hurricanes while clarifying how weather changes.  

Pinder also wrote Cat in the Clouds, the story of a stray cat befriended by Pinder and brought to the Mt. Washington Observatory.  In a picture book with delightful watercolor illustrations by T.B.R. Walsh, Pinder tells the story of Nin and his life on the mountain. Nin is one of a handful of courageous cats that have lived with the meteorologists at the observatory since 1934. The appendix, “Mount Washington Mascots”, gives brief biographies and illustrations of the resident cats.

At one time, travellers sought the fresh air and scenery of the great White Hills; they rode the trails and hiked the mountains.  It was a time when tourists travelled by train to hotels such as the Mount Washington  in Bretton Woods.  F. Allen Burt’s grandfather published the summer newspaper, “Among the Clouds” at the summit of Mount Washington.  Burt wrote a history of the area, The Story of Mount Washington, prepared from materials collected by his father, Frank H. Burt.  It relates the building of the first road to the top, tells the history of the first railroad to the summit and documents the U.S. military use of the mountain for experiments during WWII.

The North Country region developed from massive lumbering operations with clear cutting and sawmills needed for development into a tourist destination with elegant resort hotels designed to preserve and enjoy the wilderness. George McAvoy wrote  And Then There Was One, the story of Bretton Woods, now named Carroll and the 5 great hotels of the town. 

You may want to read the Concord Monitor’s recent article on the White Mountain National Forest at

And finally, if you would like your feet to say they climbed Mount Washington check the AMC Guide for the Mount Washington and the Presidential Range Trail Guide  for trails.


Burt, F.A.(1960). The Story of Mount Washington.  Hanover, NH: Dartmouth Press.  F41.6 .W3 B88

McAvoy, G.E. (1998) And Then There Was One: a History of the Summit and the West Side of Mt. Washington. Littleton: Crawford Press     TX909 .M33 1988

Mount Washington and the Presidential Range Trail Guide (2003).  7th ed. Boston, MA: Appalachian Mountain Club  GV199.42 .N42 W374  2003

Pinder, Eric. (2009).  Cat in the Clouds. Charleston, SC: History Press.             JUV QC875 .U72 M6853 2009

Pinder, E. (2000).  Tying Down the Wind: Adventures in the Worst Weather on Earth.  New York: Putnam.  QC861.2 .P48 2000

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Time Magazine's Reading List

Looking for some summer reading, but not sure what to look for? Time magazine has gotcha covered. They asked some of their favorite authors to recommend titles for summer reading. You can find the list in full at www.Time.com, or read it in the glossy pages of the magazine at the Library, but here are the titles that the NHTI Library owns, for your summer reading pleasure.

We’ve gathered the books on this list in a display in the Library lobby, for your checkout convenience.

  • The Pale King, David Foster Wallace
  • A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway
  • The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway
  • To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
  • Memoirs, Pablo Neruda
  • Dead Souls, Nikolai Gogol
  • Ada, or Ardor, Nikolai Gogol
  • Ulyssess, James Joyce
  • The Bridge of San Luis Rey,  
  • Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
  • West with the Night, Beryl Markham
  • Franny and Zooey, J. D. Salinger
  • The Forbidden City, Geremie Barme
  • Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel


Exact link to Time article: