Birmingham Public Library Blog

Double Minds begins with Parker James struggling to succeed in the Nashville music scene. She finds the competition fierce maybe even deadly. Nothing is as it appears, and unraveling the truth challenges everything Parker believes about her talent, her future, and her faith. Click here to reserve a copy today.

Dr. Anthony Pattin , a favorite performer for BPL, will give a special concert on Thursday, February 19, 2009. Dr. Pattin will play in the BPL-Central Atrium on a baby grand piano especially for this BPL@Night performance. He will play three different styles of music: one part classical, one part popular tunes, and another segment to be announced. Pattin has taught at the University of Montevallo since 1987. His intense enthusiasm for music and the piano began at an early age in his hometown of Toledo, Ohio, where his career was decided in high school when he was singled out to perform as a soloist in a concerto. He subsequently earned the bachelor and master of music from the Universities of Toledo and Michigan and the doctor of musical arts from the University of Alabama. Pattin has an extensive and diverse repertoire (including more than 30 concerti). He has performed in recitals throughout the United States, as well as in Central America, Europe, and Japan. He has appeared as solo...

How Not To Die , by Dr. Jan Garavaglia , gives lessons on how to avoid premature death, as well as simple advice on how to live a much longer and healthier life. Dr. G is well-qualified to give us the answers. She is the chief medical examiner for the District Nine Examiner's Office in Orange County, Florida, and has presided over 1,100 autopsies each year. In addition, Jan Garavaglia is the host of Discovery Health channel's top-rated series, Dr G: Medical Examiner. We can learn from her expertise. In this informative, thought-provoking book, Dr. G blends case histories with advice and detailed examples. As forensic expert, Garavaglia must closely examine cell, tissue and fluid samples of deceased individuals to make her best determination as to the cause of death. She uses subtle clues, hidden evidence, and interviews from family members to pinpoint the exact cause of death. Some cases are difficult, but it is her responsibility to apply her knowledge and put together the pi...

Fridays from 1969-1974, I watched America’s most wholesome stepfamily come together and merge, weathering the adolescent storms of braces, lost Kitty Carryall dolls, and battles for the coveted attic room. When you hear “Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!”; “pork chops and applesauce"; “Baton Rouge!”; and “Oh! My nose!”and you immediately think of the Bradys, then you were watching right along with me. In 1992 Barry Williams a.k.a. Greg Brady wrote Growing Up Brady , a very funny, self-deprecating look at his years on the set of The Brady Bunch . Maureen McCormick a.k.a. Marcia Brady just published Here’s the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice , a brutally honest memoir of her life before and after The Brady Bunch . Unlike the Bradys, Maureen's home life was anything but idyllic. Her grandfather gave his wife syphilis, and she passed the disease to Maureen's mother at birth. It was a shameful secret all through her mother's life, and was the cause of her mo...

John Updike , Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, passed away Tuesday, January 27th, at the age of 76, after a battle with lung cancer. He was an award-winning American novelist, poet, short story writer, essayist, literary critic and art critic. John Updike described his subject as "the American small town, Protestant middle class." The majority of his fiction was set in New England. He was a prolific writer, publishing more than 60 books, including twenty-five novels, over a dozen short story collections, as well as poetry, stories, reviews, children's books and literary criticism. Updike was a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books. He was known internationally for his rabbit series which includes Rabbit, Run (1960), Rabbit Redux (1971), Rabbit is Rich (1981), and Rabbit at Rest (1990). Updike won the Pulitzer Prize for two of his novels, Rabbit is Rich and Rabbit at Rest, as well as two National Book Awards . He was the third American to win a second...

In the remarkable documentary Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North , filmmaker Katrina Browne takes members of her family on a difficult journey of exploration to learn about their forefathers' role as the largest and wealthiest slave-trading family in American history. The film examines the place of slavery in the American experience, the role of wealthy New England traders like Browne's ancestors in perpetuating the slave trade and making it profitable, and the legacy of slavery for us today. Following the documentary viewing, Dain Perry will lead a facilitated discussion. Dain participated in the documentary along with his brother, Jim, and nephew, James. He grew up in Charleston, South Carolina. During the 1970s he worked for a non-profit agency that promoted reform in the criminal justice system, particularly prison reform. Dain has been a member of his church vestry and has been an active volunteer in his community for many years, including serving on the boar...

Avondale Library For appointments call 226-4000 beginning on Wednesday, January 21. Sessions will begin on Monday, February 2. Sessions will take place on Mondays and Fridays from 9:00 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Sponsored by AARP . East Lake Library Saturday, January 31, February 28, and March 28, from 9:00 a.m-12:00 p.m. Wednesdays from 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. by appointment only. For appointments call 836-3341. Sponsored by NRS Community Development Federal Credit Union . Smithfield Library (No more sessions available as of March 19, 2009) For appointments call 1-888-99-TAX-AL. Sessions will begin on Wednesday, January 21. Free income tax preparation and fast electronic filing for households earning less than $42,000/year with one or more kids or $20,000/year without kids. Sponsored by Youth First , Regions , SaveFirst , and Badham & Buck, LLC .

Benjamin Franklin was no Puritan, but he was also not as modern as we have made him out to be. Join Dr. Brian Steele, UAB Professor, as he explores what made Franklin a man of his time, an era on the cusp of modernity, but with one foot firmly planted in tradition. Wednesday, January 28, noon. Feed your body and mind at BPL's Brown Bag Programs . You bring the lunch and we'll bring the drinks. Wednesdays at noon in the Arrington Auditorium located on the 3rd floor of the Linn-Henley Research Library, 2100 Park Place.