Driving Lessons (2007)

This is the first DVD review for the blog, and I'm very excited! I'm reviewing the movie Driving Lessons (2007), starring Rupert Grint, Julia Walters, and Laura Linney.

This is a British film set in England and Scotland. Two neurotic women--Walters, a retired actress, and Linney, the boy's mother--quite literally fight for a boy's (Grint) soul one summer as he grows into adulthood. Both women admittedly each have a screw loose in their heads. The boy's mother wants him to remain a boy--someone over whom she has complete control, who is basically at her beck and call. While the actress depends upon the boy for friendship and companionship, ultimately she does indeed have his best interests at heart as she provides the encouragement and support for him to break from his mother and become a living, thinking being in his own right who will stand up for himself and his own best interests. Bizarre situations, neurotic dialogue, and hilarity ensue.

The driving lessons of the title refers to the fact that at the beginnning of the film, the boy is learning to drive and pass his driver's license exam, and this is, quite hilariously, going terribly for him. Over the course of the film, as he edges closer and closer to adulthood, he learns how to drive, and he eventually becomes a fairly decent driver by the end of the film. His triumph in his 'driving lessons' coincides with his excruciating, yet triumphant, emergence into manhood. Therefore, the driving lessons becomes a metaphor for coming of age in the film.

The film also has a wonderful soundtrack. Driving Lessons can be requested from the Annville Free Library for those wishing to check out this movie.

--reviewed by Ms. Angie

Nothing Left To Lose by Mat Kearney

This is our first review for a music CD. I've never written a review for music before, and during the course of writing this one, I've come to the realization that writing reviews for literature is much easier for me that reviewing music.

I am reviewing a CD called Nothing Left To Lose by the artist, Mat Kearney. This CD is not available in the county library system, but you might be able to request it through the Interlibrary Loan (ILL) system. You can also go to http://matkearney.com/ to listen to some of his songs, and if you do a search for him on http://youtube.com/ you can listen to his songs and view some of his music videos to sample his music.

Mat Kearney. Most of you will want to know--what genre does he sing? Is he country? No. Is he rock? No. Is he pop? Well. Yes and no. Is he rap? Well. Again: yes and no. Kearney wrote or co-wrote every song on this CD and co-produced the CD. He is an extremely talented songwriter and vocalist his style can best be described as a blending of pop and rap. For about half the songs on the CD he uses both rap and sung vocals. Each song is at least as good as the one before it.

There are some clear standouts, and here are my hi-lights--my favorites--from the CD.

"All I Need"-- My friend thinks this is a sweet song. Maybe so, but for me, it is a very sad song as it tells the story of a couple as they weather Hurricane Katrina, and they do not know how well, if at all, they'll survive the night as the storm rages and the waters rise. It is one of my most favorite tracks on the CD.

"Undeniable"-- This is the opening track on the CD; it seamlessly blends rap and sung vocals for a unique song delivery.

"Breathe In Breathe Out" -- This is a bonus track on the CD, and it's the theme for the current season of the ABC show, Grey's Anatomy. It reminds me of some of Coldplay's songs.

I highly recommend this CD to anyone who enjoys listening to different types of music, such as pop, rock, rap, or country. If you are a hardcore country fan, for example, and you refuse to listen to anything except for country music like one person I know, you may not enjoy it, although you should still give it a try.

--Reviewed by Ms. Angie

From Paperbacks To Pumpkins!

We have added a new video to our YouTube channel at http://youtube.com/matthewslibrary. The video features our fearless director, Ms. Sheila, demonstrating how to turn a paperback book into a pumpkin decoration. It also features a clip of the very dark and scary basement of the library where we store all the books for the annual book sale. It's a must see for all you crafters out there!




Enjoy the video! Post a comment to let us know what you think of the craft project!

Contest! Contest! Happy Autumn!

We have a winner of the contest video that we uploaded, and therefore, we have notified the winner and taken down the video. The contest is now closed. Thank you to all who viewed the video and/or entered the contest!

Around The Time Of The Autumnal Equinox

We have posted a new video on YouTube entitled "Around The Time Of The Autumnal Equinox." It's a nature film by our director. We hope you'll check it out.




You can visit our page on YouTube here http://youtube.com/matthewslibrary.

Fall Rummage Sale 2007

We have added a new video to YouTube with footage from this year's rummage sale. We'd love to hear from you--leave us a comment.

You can view the video here or you can go to our Youtube page at http://youtube.com/matthewslibrary . We hope you'll check it out!

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

In nineteen minutes, you can mow the lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game...In nineteen minutes, you can order a pizza and get it delivered. You can read a story to a child...You can walk a mile... In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world...In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge.

From the opening lines of Nineteen Minutes

In nineteen minutes, you can read a chapter of a book, losing yourself in the world in which its characters live. In nineteen minutes, you can write a review for that book and publish it to this blog... Well. That last one is a stretch.

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult is the story of a boy and a community. The narrative can be divided into two parts that are effortlessly and skillfully interwoven by the author. One part tells of the aftermath of the nineteen minutes it took for the boy to shoot up his high school, and the other part tells the story of the events and experiences of the preceding seventeen years that led the boy to commit such an unspeakable act of violence.

Ultimately, it is a story about the daily cruelties children are capable of inflicting upon each other and the effect these cruelties wrought upon their recipients. It is also a story of the struggle students endure every day to fit in at their school, to maintain appearances, and to keep hidden deep inside that which makes them who they are for fear of it being used against them in the schoolyard. It is the story of the cost of keeping our true selves hidden and protected from friends and family for fear of being rebuffed and rejected.

Regular readers of Picoult's novels won't be disappointed, this story, like all of her stories, draws the reader into its pages, and it is deeply effecting. The pages keep turning because you know, instinctively, that appearances are deceiving, and all will not be revealed until the end. For those who have never read a Jodi Picoult novel, this is a good one to start with because it will make you stop and think about a lot.

For me, I have yet to find the Picoult novel that is as heart wrenching, effecting, and haunting as one of her earlier novels, My Sister's Keeper. Nineteen Minutes comes close. And at some point in a future blog entry, you will hear more about My Sister's Keeper.

Nineteen Minutes can be found at Fic/Pic in adult fiction, located upstairs in the library. I hope you'll check it out.

Jodi Picoult's official website can be found here http://www.jodipicoult.com/

--Reviewed by Ms. Angie

A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore

The library is proud to present its first (un)fortunate review vlog post for the title A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. The book was reviewed by a familiar face for some of you here at the library: former library assistant, Ms. Natalie. From time to time we may feature guest reviewers.

We hope you enjoy the vlog. I know we enjoyed making it.




Remember you can visit http://youtube.com/matthewslibrary directly anytime to view all of our videos. We hope you'll visit often, and leave us a message!