Something new

Every fall, the Library works to offer something new to our students.  Our goal, to meet the needs of students by offering new and innovative library materials or digital resources.  This year, we have added several new products.  One we are very excited about is the Playaway audiobook.  I know you are all holding your breath to find out just what this great new audiobook format is, right?  Playaway is a digital audiobook that plays by itself.  No more carrying around a case of CDs, switching them in the car while driving, or having a CD end just when something exciting is about to happen.  Playaway holds the entire book on a small player (smaller than most cell phones) which can be carried with you anywhere.  It is great for driving.  It is perfect for listening while running or working out.  You use it like an iPod or an MP3 player.  All you need are a pair of earbuds and away you go.  If you don't have a pair, we'll give you one to get you started.  Now are you excited?
Here are a couple of books we have on Playaway that we think you will enjoy.

The Patience Stone

by Atiq Rahimi
In Persian folklore, Syngue Sabour is a magical stone, a patience stone, that absorbs the plight of those who confide in it. But here, the Syngue Sabour is not a stone, but a man lying brain-dead. His wife sits by his side, resenting him for not resisting the call to arms, for wanting to be a hero, and in the end, for being incapacitated. Yet she cares, speaking to him, revealing her deepest desires, pains, and secrets. She speaks of her life, not knowing if her husband hears, confessing about sex and love and her anger against a man who never understood her, and who mistreated her. Free of oppression, she leads her story up to a great secret that is unthinkable in a country like Afghanistan. Rahimi captures with great courage and spare, poetic, prose the reality of everyday life for an intelligent woman under the oppressive weight of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. (summary from Blackstone Audio)

The Mask of Zorro

by Yuri Rasovsky (based on the book by Johnston McCulley)

This is a sensational recording read by Val Kilmer and a full cast.  The voices will keep you on the edge of your seat the length of the novel.  

Wealthy, young aristocrat Don Diego de la Vega is the son of the richest ranchero in the country. Don Diego is an idler who has never concerned himself with more than the cut of his clothes. But Vega’s timorous reputation is merely a mask to conceal his alter ego—El Zorro. As Zorro, dressed in black and wearing a mask, he is transformed into a cunning swordsman who fearlessly pulls off dashing and daring escapades in his quest to avenge the helpless, aid the poor and oppressed, and punish cruel officials. Deemed an outlaw by California’s corrupt governor, he is ever-hunted by the Commandante of La Reina de Los Angeles, Capitan Ramón, and his henchman, Sergeant Pedro Gonzalez. 

 

Cleaning Nabokov's House

by Leslie Daniels
Barb Barrett has inadequate skills for relationships. In particular, she cannot follow her husband’s instructions. Because of this character “flaw,” she falls through the safety net of her lousy marriage, losing custody of her children and her home as she plummets. Guided only by her intense inner life, and a questionable business plan, Barb is determined to reinvent herself. She moves into a house once occupied by the literary genius Vladimir Nabokov, author of the notorious Lolita. She discovers what could be Nabokov’s last unpublished manuscript and from there begins a painful yet joyous journey that is deliciously romantic, both darkly comic and wise.(summary from Blackstone Audio)