Sample these titles for free on your computer, phone, or e-reader

Major publishers want to whet your reading appetite.  Check out this link for excerpts and first chapters of new books.  These titles will receive a lot of advertising and media-hype hoping to catch your eye.  If you have the time, let us know in the comments whether (after reading several) they deserve attention on par with the media campaigns.
A similar title from last year is available if the titles or authors catch your eye and/or jog your memory for last year's blockbuster books.
If the image above does not load, then try looking for Buzz Books 2013 at your favorite online ebook store (Amazon's Kindle, Barnes & Noble's Nook, iBookstore, Kobo, Sony, Google Play, Powell's, etc.).  The ISBN is 9780985491086.
Library staff are not able to read, review, or even hear about every new book available.  (This article offers a quick explanation of just how many books are released every year.)  Marie adds over 3,000 titles each year to Ruidoso Public Library's shelves.  When publishers release over 300,000 new books (not counting self-published or anniversary releases), it is easy to see how 1% looks lovely on our shelves, but is only a single drop in a very large bucket.  We welcome your insight and input on which titles to watch.

Book Review: The Princess of Mars/John Carter Series

Last Spring, I was motivated to look for the book which inspired Disney's movie, John Carter. Before Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote Tarzan of the Apes, he wrote a series about Mars.  Beginning with A Princess of Mars, and ending eleven books later with John Carter of Mars, Burroughs' tales have captured imaginations for a century.  Some of the pulp fiction art can be seen here.

QR code to read A Princess of Mars, care of Gutenberg.org

If this square image is new to you, it is called a QR code, for Quick Response.  It is a barcode your smartphone reads with a QR reading app (either already installed or free at an app store, such as these for Android or this for Apple).  The barcode tells your phone where to go online for more information, a clue, a discount or offer, etc.  You may have seen them on bananas, posters, or in magazines.

But I digress.  After reading A Princess of Mars, I saw the movie.  Then I read the second and third books in the series, which explained a lot of the technology and political machinations that added action to the movie, but also added confusion because it was not explained.  I am working on the fourth book now.  They are light entertainment, providing insight into machismo and cultural norms from the turn of the prior century.  Mostly, it reminds me how far my culture has progressed and which characteristics remain valuable and timeless.

P. S. Ruidoso Public Library is open today, New Year's Eve, regular hours, but closed Tuesday, January 1.  We will re-open Wednesday at 9am.

Ruidoso Convention Center, January 16, 8am to 4pm

P.P.S. The Village of Ruidoso is hosting a health fair for all comers.  You may schedule an appointment time for biometric screening, mammograms, Body Age Analysis, or just drop in to learn about the local health resources already available in the community.

Book Review: Ready Player One

I am thrilled to write about Ernest Cline's Ready Player One.  It is available as an ebook (EPUB and Kindle) on Overdrive.  If this review really catches your attention, let us know at the library and we may look into buying an additional print copy if there is enough interest.  My reading experience had an odd irony as it was the first book I read on a smartphone; it just added a layer of mirth to the experience.

One version of the cover art

As with many books I like, there is a not-so-distant-future dystopia.  It is what American might become if inertia holds true, at least in some ways.  Lots of misery and economic divisions, life online overpowers the real world--or does it?  The story teaches the reader to question the obvious and re-evaluate what you really value.

The most enjoyable part of Ready Player One for me was the 1980s nostalgia.  If you enjoyed pop culture from the '80s, or just find it funny to reminisce about, this book could be a treat.  Movies, books, games, and those little things of day-to-day life that create the flavor of a decade--those are tucked away in every chapter and nearly every page.

Several friends (guys) have read this book and really enjoyed it, too.  The cover art is very different, depending on the country and printing.

If you are opening a new-fangled gadget today or tomorrow, you may already be able to download free ebooks and audiobooks from the library website.  Call us when we open Wednesday, or join us for an orientation class on Thursday at 3pm.

#4: Electronic or Digital Materials & Access

By Pete unseth [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons

Millennia ago, libraries held scrolls.  A few centuries ago, the scrolls became quartos, folios, and palimpsests. 

via Wikimedia Commons

Today and tomorrow, library buildings provide the people, tools, and access to information that has left the physical world due to costs or access limitations.


Ruidoso Public Library joined New Mexico Library To Go (a group of libraries on Overdrive) just last week.  Now you may download a book (ebook or e-audiobook) for a few days onto most devices or play them on your computer.  Nook, Sony, Kindle, Kobo, mp3 players and iPods, among others, are welcome.  Most devices are supported, though older models and some newer ones may not work.  


These books are available in different file formats, from epub to pdf, .azw to .wma or mp3.  That alphabet soup explains which files will work on which devices.  It also indicates the current confusion and changing nature of ebooks and e-audiobooks.  This is an ever-changing landscape of ereaders and sound systems, which continues to learn and offer new opportunities to test out.  


At Ruidoso Public Library, we can help you find articles, encyclopediae, books, or recordings on many formats and on many topics, for many age-groups.  We have non-fiction (or reference books) and fiction. We can show you projects releasing free books to the world, such as Gutenberg Project or Librivox.org where volunteers put the files of public domain titles online, to read or listen.


Currently the books you can access through Overdrive may not be the latest or most popular because the publishers do not release everything electronically.  Other titles are available in files locked with "DRM" (digital rights management) in an attempt to stop piracy.  This means you may not have a book at the same time as another user, and may only access the file for a few days. Some files require plugging your device into a computer to download while others may transfer over WiFi.  In future this may mean you cannot download the title at home, in the evening, but only at the library, during open hours.  


If you are ready to sample something digital please ask at the library.  We may not be able to demonstrate everything at the library (our public computers run Linux, which is not supported by Overdrive), but if your laptop works on wireless, we can guide you through the basic download and installation process.  We do not touch your computers (due to liability issues); please think of it as your learning opportunity instead. 


What is your perspective on ereaders?  Have you tried one (a friend's, at the store, an app on your phone)?  How about audiobooks? (This link will have 2 free audiobooks each week starting June 14; one classic and one new young adult.)  Have you seen our weed identification, gardening, or Chilton's Automotive Manuals online?

Support local authors @your Library

Click above for larger image

Saturday, Dec 10, 10 am til 2pm, Ruidoso Public Library will host 10 local authors with their latest books.  These are on sale, available for autographs, and a Friend of the Library will provide gift-wrapping, too!  Each author has agreed to make a donation to the Friends for each book sold.  Try out the shop-local philosophy this year.

This is a big week, both in history and at the library.  Wednesday, Dec 7, is the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.  People may choose to observe a moment of silence in memoriam.

Later on Wednesday, Dec 7, at 4pm, I, Jennifer, will sit down with up to 6 people to explore personal laptops.  Please call (575 258-3704) to register for the class.  There are a few spaces left!

Thursday, join us for "De-stress for the Holidays" also at 4pm.  Learn how to cope with family, situations, and learn how to enjoy yourself.

Finally, Saturday is also Melvil Dewey's 160th birthday.  This Dewey created one of the earliest systems for organizing information.  Several systems have been adopted around the world over the past century, but many public libraries, such as Ruidoso's, still use the Dewey Decimal System for our non-fiction books.

Meet your Laptop

Are you confounded by your laptop?  

Why does it not do the things your desktop computer does?  

Bring yours to Ruidoso Public Library Thursday, February 10^th, at 10am for “Navigate your Laptop.”  

Jennifer Stubbs will discuss keyboard shortcuts, wireless security measures, and devices to ease typing and mousing.  

Thinking of buying a laptop?  Maybe another attendee will care to share experiences.  

This is not a basics of computing class.  

Please call 258-3704 to reserve a space.