September's PubQuiz

Last Thursday (9-25-14) was another night of laughter and trivia at our PubQuiz!  Once again, B&B Classic Dogs was nice enough to host us and we had seven teams compete.

How would you have scored?  Check out the quiz by clicking read more and let us know your score in comments!

DIY Forever: Butterfly Jars

At our last craft event for adults, we made Butterfly Jar lights inspired by the Green Bellevue working to make the library a Monarch Waystation.  This is a relatively easy craft that only takes about 30 minutes to make.  Click "read more" to find out how to make your own!

Freegal Fun

It has been a couple months since we launched the free music service, Freegal, for our library.  In that time I have been surprised by what artists can be found and the sheer breadth of genres available.  I mentioned some things I liked in my Freegal Picks post but did you know you can see what is popular at the library?  Well, you can!  Check out "My Lib Top 10" under the "Popular" link to see the top ten songs, albums, and the top 5 videos that patrons at the Bellevue Public Library are listening to.  

This week we see artists and music from Meghan Trainor, Newsies Musical, Weird Al, and more.  Take a look, have a listen to what is popular, and see whether you agree or disagree with the aggregate musical taste of your fellow patrons!

Note: Just to be clear - no one can see what you or anyone else, in particular, is listening to.  We can only see what is most popular, not who listens to what.

PubQuiz - 7-31-14

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Last Thursday was our PubQuiz for July.  This time we had a Sci-Fi trivia night.  We had 6 teams compete and the winning team was "Darmok and Jalad at Tenagra" who got a whopping 27 questions right!  How would you have done?  Click 'read more' to find out! 

DIY Forever: Pressed Flower Lumiaries

Last night was this month's adult craft event.  We made delightful luminaries with pressed flowers and leaves in the shade panels.  This is a great craft that can be easily adapted to be as simple or complex as you desire.  Whatever you choose to do, as all of our crafters found, your resultant luminary will look absolutely brilliant with a candle or LED votive flickering inside.  We all had a great time and you can too!  Just check out the pictures and instructions by clicking "read more" and start crafting!

Freegal picks of the week!

We launched our music streaming and download service last week and so far, many of our patrons have told us some music they've been enjoying!  Today I thought I'd share some great and fun things we've found while listen to in this new service.  Click "read more" to have a look and try out Freegal today!

DIY Forever: Moss Garden

Last week we continued our series of craft events with a focus on upcycling what would otherwise be trash into something new and wonderful.  We turned empty tin cans into beautiful desktop moss gardens!  A super simple and dirt cheap craft that resulted in something nothing short of adorable!  Click "read more" to see some pictures we took during the event and find out how you can make a desktop moss garden for yourself!

PubQuiz - May 22nd

Last night was the PubQuiz.  We had a great time and the power didn't go out this time!  Yay!  The winning team last night was the Librariwins.  Congratulations, Librariwins!  Did you miss out on the event last night?  Did you want to know how you would have done?  Click "read more" to see last night's quiz and start getting your team together for the July 31st PubQuiz!

Book Review "A Darkling Sea" by James L Cambias

James Cambias' debut novel is something special.  Hard science that is relentlessly readable with action, humor, and asking a good deal of philosophical questions.  The excitement and dangers of first contact with an alien species along with the political and ideological pitfalls dealing with a third species all set in light-less depths of a vast sea under 20 kilometers of ice in a different world.

5/5 Stars

Gordon’s Ratings Guide:

                                1/5 - Blech! Don't Bother

                                2/5 - Nothing Special

                                3/5 - Entertaining and worth a read

                                4/5 - Amazing! You should definitely read.

                                5/5 -  Truly an outstanding title. MUST read!

Book Review: "Neuromancer" by William Gibson

Neuromancer is thirty years old at this point, but it still holds a place of honor and validity in science fiction.  When it was released it won numerous awards and has been praised by people from more informed and influential places than I could hope to aspire.  So there is likely not much reason to toss yet another bit of praise into the white noise of the sea of praise already heaped upon the title.  But, none-the-less, I am going to do so . . . click read more to, well, read more.

5/5 Stars

Gordon’s Ratings Guide:

                                        1/5 - Blech! Don't Bother

                                        2/5 - Nothing Special

                                        3/5 - Entertaining and worth a read

                                        4/5 - Amazing! You should definitely read.

                                        5/5 -  Truly an outstanding title. MUST read!

Book Review: "Quesadillas" by Juan Pablo Villalobos

I finished "Quesadillas" a couple days ago and my mind is still turning over the ideas and emotions evoked by the world Juan Pablo Villalobos offers up.  A darkly humorous and supremely surreal romp with serious satire of Mexican politics seething beneath the surface with an additional undercurrent full of the realities of being poor.  This book, short though it may be, will leave you laughing and railing at apparent hopelessness . . . often at the same time. 

4/5 Inflationary Quesadillas

Gordon’s Ratings Guide:

                                        1/5 - Blech! Don't Bother

                                        2/5 - Nothing Special

                                        3/5 - Entertaining and worth a read

                                        4/5 - Amazing! You should definitely read.

                                        5/5 -  Truly an outstanding title. MUST read!

DIY Forever: Paperback Wallets

Last night was our special DIY Forever adult craft night for the Adult Spring Reading Program. We upcycled some paperback covers into wallets using the library's new sewing machines.  We had a big crowd that had a great time constructing the wallets.  Unfortunately, I fail at planning ahead, and thus there were no pictures taken during the event.  But, click 'read more' to see the instructions and make your own!

Spring Adult Reading Program: Literary Elements

Our annual Adult Reading Program started yesterday!  With a bunch of great events, prizes, and countless great things to enjoy by reading or listening, now is a great time to celebrate your love of the library or to rekindle it!  There are no obligations, no minimum reading requirement, and no costs!  Only the joy of reading or listening to books and winning prizes - including a grand prize of a 7 inch HD Nook tablet!  Click 'Read More' for more info . . .

PubQuiz: Disney Edition!

Last night we held our second PubQuiz at B&B Classic Dogs.  This time we had a theme - Disney. We had a great time, with new participants and teams, and the competition was fierce!  The evening started out on shaky ground with a power outage, but our stouthearted players laughed at the darkness and bid the questions commence.  So, the questions were posed.  The questions ranged from Disney cartoons, music, attractions, business, Walt himself, and everything in between.  In the end, there could only be one winner and that team is 'The Heathers'!  'The Heathers' narrowly squeezed out their win from last event's winners 'The Double Duke' (who changed their name to 'No One Wins Like Gaston' in honor of the theme).  Congrats to 'The Heathers' and all who competed!  We had a great time!  The next PubQuiz will be in May, so keep an eye out for details.  

Wondering how you would stack up?  The quiz is after the jump, so click 'read more' and comment with how many you got right!

DIY Forever: Marimo Terrariums

Last week we had our monthly DIY Forever event.  We made marimo terrariums and it was amazing!  It was great fun and now we have 29 people with new adorable fuzzy green friends! Click read more to see some of the terrariums made at the event!

Let's Get Graphic!

I have been busy putting together an order of graphic novels and comics for the Adult Department for a while now.  Part of doing that is reading a bunch of different graphic novels to help decide what we should buy for the start of this new collection.  Its a tough job, I know!  I'll talk briefly about a couple of items that we are adding and what I think about them. I thought I would also take some time today to talk about the new collection and the idea behind what we'll be adding and why.  Click read more to dive in!

PubQuiz

We held our first Pub Quiz last night at local restaurant and arcade, B&B Classic Dogs.  The hotdogs were tasty, the beers cold, and the trivia competition fierce as four teams pit brains against brains to come out on top.  In the end, there can only be one champion and that team was "The Double Dukes!" They got 26 out of the 44 questions right and took home a $25 dollar gift card to B&B Classic Dogs!  Though only one team triumphed, we all had a great time and we will definitely be doing another Pub Quiz in March, so keep a look out for details!  If you are interested in seeing how you would have stacked up against our winning team, the questions are after the jump, so click "read more" and see what you know!

Book Review: "Solanin" by Inio Asano

We invited Clair, one of our librarians,to review a book this week.  She chose Solanin, a wonderful manga.  Here are her thoughts:

     I unexpectedly lost a whole lazy Sunday afternoon reading Solanin, a graphic novel written and illustrated by Inio Asano. It is a coming-of-age story about a group of twenty somethings living in urban Japan. Initially, I just thumbed through the first few pages to see if it would be worth a read. I quickly found myself glued. 

4/5 Cute Bunnies with X's for Faces

Gordon’s Ratings Guide:

1/5 - Blech!  Don't bother

2/5 - Nothing special

3/5 - Entertaining and worth a read

4/5 - Amazing.  You should definitely read.

5/5 - Truly an outstanding title. MUST read!

Click "Read more" for the rest of her review.

DIY Forever: Mug Cakes

For last night's DIY Forever, we made mug cakes.  Tasty, tasty mug cakes!  Mug cakes have been a bit of a trend over the last couple years, a simple pinterest search for "mug cake" reveals thousands of resulting pins.  Sometimes they end up spongy and strange and sometimes they end up magnificent and dangerous to your waistline; however, no matter the result, making them is so much fun!  There really is no baking experience like a mug cake - a one serving desert that you can whip together in about 5 minutes just using a microwave?  Yes, please! 

Click "read more" for more information and the recipes.

Book Review: "Mothership" and "A Stranger Thing" by Martin Leicht and Isla Neal

What do you get when you combine a gender-swapped 60’s pulp sci-fi novel with a young adult book about teen motherhood and a John Hughes film?  You get The Ever-Expanding Universe series by Martin Leicht and Isla Neal.  This review is the first two books in the series, entitled "Mothership" and “A Stranger Thing.”  It is a hilariously fun read with a great deal of quirkiness and wit, though it is not without its pitfalls.

3.5/5 Shiny Ray Guns

Gordon’s Ratings Guide:

1/5 - Blech!  Don't bother

2/5 - Nothing special

3/5 - Entertaining and worth a read

4/5 - Amazing.  You should definitely read.

5/5 - Truly an outstanding title. MUST read!

Read an in depth review after the jump.