Come by the Durr Branch this Sunday!

Independence Inklings: Make Us Laugh Reception

This is an event for those interested in writing stories, listening to some fine local folks read their original stories, or just looking for an afternoon of fun!

Authors, family and friends are invited to a reception on Sunday, May 3rd at 3p.m. to celebrate the stories of the 2009 Make Us Laugh Writing Contest. Please join us for light refreshments and an afternoon of giggles and grins. The top three winning stories will be announced and read at 3:30. All stories will be on display. The Independence Inklings Writer's Group is open to all writers, of all skill levels and genres. Receive constructive feedback, suggestions and more from group members and guest speakers. And, remember: What happens in writer's group, stays in writer's group!

William E. Durr Branch, 1992 Walton-Nicholson Road

Offbeat Activities

I enjoy traveling. When on vacation, I like to see historical buildings, landmarks and renowned attractions in the area I'm visiting. But I'm also fascinated by more unusual fare, like the World's Only Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota or The Tillamook Cheese Factory on the Oregon coast.

Sarah Vowell took her interest in the murders of three United States Presidents- Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley- and turned it into a quirky, thought-provoking book. Assassination Vacation recounts Vowell's road trips around the country, touring the historic sites of the killings and their sometimes gruesome but always intriguing museums, monuments, statues, and other artifacts. The book is filled with great political facts and trivia. Did you know that Robert Todd Lincoln was present (or at least in the general vicinity) when each of these presidents were assassinated? Bad luck or jinx? You decide.

To Err is Human, to Forgive Canine

"We long for an affection altogether ignorant of our faults. Heaven has accorded this to us in the uncritical canine attachment." ~George Eliot

A few weeks ago, I adopted a beagle. Hurrah! Although she was very shy of me at first, she now greets me with great enthusiasm, for I am the Keeper of the Treats! I'm very willing to hand over some Alpo snaps for some of that doggy affection.

With that in mind, I've chosen Susan Conant as my author pick this week. Conant writes a series of Dog Lover's mysteries, featuring writer and dog trainer Holly Winter. The first book in the series is A New Leash on Death, in which Holly adopts an Alaskan Malamute named Rowdy and becomes an amateur detective after Rowdy's owner winds up dead at an obedience class. There are currently 18 books in the series, but you will not be seriously lost if you don't read them in order.

And if you're a cat person, Conant now has a Cat Lover's series, beginning with Scratch the Surface. Meow!

You'll Never Nanny in This Town Again!

It's quite the threat. "You'll never ____ in this town again!" Never? Really? Sounds rather over the top to me, awfully dramatic. Yet drama is so often a fundamental part of the celebrities we love, or those we love to hate.

Highly entertaining and decidedly dishy, You'll Never Nanny in This Town Again: The True Adventures of a Hollywood Nanny chronicles Suzanne Hansen's time spent working for several famous families. Young and fresh out of the Northwest Nannies Institute, Suzanne lands a job caring for the children of super-agent Michael Ovitz. Without an official contract (oops!) she finds herself on call 24/7 and subject to the whims of the rich and famous. Who wouldn't want take a vacation to Hawaii, and be told to care for 5 additional children during the trip? Be sure to steer clear of the art, or you might set off the Picasso alarm! And if you think you want to be part of the glamorous Hollywood crowd, do not get the acid facial peel, or you will literally feel the burn.

For those who loved The Nanny Diaries, and for the tabloid lover in us all.

Poetry Reading and Workshop

Celebrate National Poetry Month this April with a special poetry reading and workshop with Kentucky's own Frank X Walker, prize-winning, critically acclaimed poet and founding member of the Affrilachian Poets. This introductory workshop will help demystify the poetic process and give advice to those seeking to be published.

Place & Time:
Erlanger Branch, 401 Kenton Lands Road
Wednesday, April 15 at 6:30pm

New Beginning, Same Ending

My book this week starts in a rather unusual way. The main character has a heart attack and dies. So if you think about it, you really know how his story will end from the beginning. But Ken Grimwood's Replay twists the understood meaning of time and plays with the notion that you can change everything about your life, but there is only one time of death.

43 year old Jeff Winston dies and wakes up as his 18 year old self. He has all the knowledge of his life as he lived it, but he is indeed a teen. Stumbling along for years, he dies again at age 43. And comes back to the same age as before, only it's a few hours later. Continuing the cycle over and over again, he does consistently and drastically change his life, although the changes never carry through from one replay to the next, and it's increasingly later each time he comes back (first a day, a few days, a week, months, and so on). Jeff also meets another "replayer" with whom he forms a relationship, but shifts in time make meeting and remembering each other difficult. They always wonder if the current replay will be their last. Replay won the 1988 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel.

For another interesting look at time, watch Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. A man must live the same day over and over, remembering everything. Is this a nightmare, or an opportunity? Check out the DVD at KCPL.

My Fair Julie

I have a great affinity for biographies and memoirs. Whether reading about a famous celebrity or a virtually unknown individual, I am always intrigued by what circumstances formed the personality and character of the featured person or group. And I love musicals (you were bound to find out sooner or later, trust me).

Detailing her childhood and rise to fame in England and on the Broadway stage, Julie Andrews pulls back the curtains on her life and lets us see her backstage story in Home: A Memoir of My Early Years. Hardly the Mary Poppins, Sound of Music life you would expect, Ms. Andrews recalls being a child during WWII in Britain, her parent's turbulent divorce, how her unexpected extraordinary singing voice was put to work supporting her family financially as a teen, and the early years of learning to be a consummate performer. Julie starred in My Fair Lady for two years - eight shows a week definitely teaches discipline!

And if you're a Broadway fan like me, I'd like to suggest the DVD of Broadway: The American Musical, hosted by Julie Andrews. Covering the years 1893-2004, the three discs feature fantastic songs and some truly amazing performances.