Taxes --- ARGH!!

Yes, the tax man cometh --- as if the arctic temps and seasonal affective disorder isn't enough to push me over the edge. My various personal financial forms are trickling in and I'm casting about for the appropriate bribe that will convince my brother-in-law to once again act as my personal tax consultant. Contemplating the completion of those evil forms is my least favorite thing to do -- taking my car in for an oil change tops the list. If bribery doesn't work I'll probably just whine a little to my sister and bring up all the "free" babysitting I've provided over the last year. I plan to use any leverage available to me!

I'm sure I'n not alone and to make life easy you can download IRS and Indiana tax forms at these links

Federal:

http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/lists/0,,id=97817,00.html

Indiana State:

http://www.in.gov/dor/taxforms/

Feel free to ask a librarian at the Reference Desk for assistance when downloading forms.

Also, the IRS provides tax tips and this one is worth reading in full, IRS TAX TIP 2009-06…Be aware of e-mail scams that fraudulently use the IRS name or Logo as a lure. The goal of the scam is to trick people into revealing personal and financial information, such as Social Security, bank account or credit card numbers, which the scammers can use to commit identity theft and steal your money. [snipped]

Warm up with new Leisure Reading

Brrrrrr...yep, it’s cold. Even to a native Michigander such as myself, for whom layering clothes is a genetically acquired trait. But, since you’re all bundled up anyway, why not stop in at the library to 1. warm up on your way across campus, and 2. pick up some leisure reading material for cold winter evenings by the fire (or reasonable facsimile – I do not want to take the rap as accessory to arson).

New this week to the Leisure Reading Collection:

The Magician’s Book: A Skeptic’s Adventures in Narnia, Laura Miller
A writer, editor and co-founder of Salon.com reflects on a lifetimes’ fascination with the works of C.S. Lewis. Miller has revisited The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe many times, as a youth, angst-ridden teen and most recently as an adult in search of the magic that originally captivated her imagination. Part biography (of Lewis), part memoir with some criticism thrown in, The Magician’s Book is a must for those of us still longing to find the secret passage in the back of the wardrobe.

The Art of Conversation: A Guided Tour of a Neglected Pleasure, Catherine Blyth
In a time when an array of communication technologies and social networking opportunities vie for our attention and devotion, this book extols the virtues of the face-to-face conversation. Blyth offers tips on overcoming shyness, listening techniques, steering the conversation, and the importance of artful small talk. This is not an exhaustive sociolinguistic treatise; it’s more of a conversation, for lack of a better word. It’s interesting, useful and probably should be required reading for the IM-obsessed. As Simon Doonan says on a cover blurb, “Don’t let modern technology turn you into an uncommunicative ninny”.

Scarpetta, Patricia Cornwell
For those of you already familiar with Kay Scarpetta, forensic pathologist and solver of gruesome psychological crimes, this book is probably already on your nightstand or in your bag. Each new Scarpetta novel takes the reader deep into the mind, often exposing the most horrid and undesirable aspects of the human psyche. In this book, Scarpetta is off to New York to consult on a case at Bellevue Hospital at the insistence of the patient himself. To say more will give away the story, and as true fans understand, it’s better to let the story unfold in Cornwell’s words. Highly recommended for anyone suffering from Gil Grissom withdrawal after this week’s episode of CSI.

Shadows at Dawn: A Borderlands Massacre and the Violence of History, Karl Jacoby
Referred to at the time as the Camp Grant Massacre, this book is a revealing look at one of the worst Indian massacres in American history. In the early morning of 30 April 1871, a group of Americans, Mexicans and Tohono O’odham Indians attacked an Apache camp, killing 150 - mostly women and children. Using a nearly forgotten incident, the author details a difficult period in American history – violence against Indians during the “Peace Policy” period, and how it shaped the way in which American western history is remembered, and retold, by the various groups involved.

Other recent additions to Leisure Reading:

Fiction:
Lark and Termite: A Novel, Jayne Anne Phillips
The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet, Colleen McCullough
NoVA: A Novel, James Boice
Plum Lucky, Janet Evanovich
Gears of the City, Felix Gilman
Calling Mr. Lonely Hearts, Laura Benedict

Non-Fiction:
Hope Endures: Leaving Mother Teresa, Losing Faith and Searching for Meaning, Colette Livermore
Digging for Dirt: The Life and Death of ODB, Jaime Lowe
The Adventures of Arthur Conan Doyle, Russell, Miller

Story Collections:
The First Person, and Other Stories, Ali Smith
The Red Convertible, Selected and New Stories, Louise Erdrich

This is just a brief sampling of titles available in the Leisure Reading Collection, located on the second floor of the library. Stop in and warm up with a good book, it’s just the thing for cold winter days!

Twilight@YourLibrary -- new DVDs

Okay, okay! We get it. You want a copy of Twilight in the library DVD collection.

But it’s not out on DVD yet, so puh-leez stop cramming the suggestion box with Twilight recommendations. We’ll add a copy as soon as it’s available.
Really. We promise.

In the meantime, consider a few of these DVDs – we’ve got it all: vampires, witches and spoiled rotten bi----s (hint: it rhymes), plus a little Cartman for good measure.

Recent additions to the DVD collection:
Dark Knight, 1628V
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – complete series, 1612 – 1618V
Charmed – complete series, 1619 – 1626V, 2035V
South Park – seasons 1-11, 1627V – 1637V
Burn After Reading, 1644V
The O.C. – complete series, 1608-1611V

And for something with more depth and less lip gloss:
When Did You Last See Your Father?, 1627V
Taxi to the Dark Side, 1595V
John Adams – miniseries, 1564V
Traitor, 1642V
The Duchess, 1647V

The DVD collection is located on the 2nd floor of the library, adjacent to the Leisure Reading Collection. DVDs circulate for one week, at no charge. It’s a bargain -- @YourLibrary!