Tuesday, December 11, 2007

The Prarie Area Library System Online Catalog:



The Prairie Area Library System (PALS) includes libraries in most of Northern Illinois and parts of Iowa.


The PALS online catalog is called PrairieCat. You can view it at:

http://216.125.140.44/uhtbin/cgisirsi/396niuNr0a/QLL/22170574/60/1180/X

To search, type in a title or subject and click on Search. Or, you can click on Advance Search.

At the advanced search screen, you can search by words or phrase, author, title, subject, series, or periodical title. On the right, you can click on the arrows and choose from a drop down menu to limit your search to narrow it down to exactly what you want.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Questions to think about

These questions were e-mailed to me by a friend. The original author is unknown.

Haunting Questions

Can you cry under water?

How important does a person have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?

Why do you have to "put your two cents in".. but it's only a "penny for your thoughts"? Where's that extra penny going to?

Once you're in heaven, do you get stuck wearing the clothes you were buried in for eternity?

Why does a round pizza come in a square box?

What disease did cured ham actually have?

How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?

Why is it that people say they "slept like a baby" when babies wake up like every two hours?

If a deaf person has to go to court, is it still called a hearing?

Why are you IN a movie, but you're ON TV?

Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?

Why do doctors leave the room while you change? They're going to see you naked anyway.

Why is "bra" singular and "panties" plural?

Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?

If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a stupid song about him?

Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane ?

If the professor on Gilligan's Island can make a radio out of a coconut, why can't he fix a hole in a boat?

Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're both dogs!

If Wile E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that ACME crap, why didn't he just buy dinner?

If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?

If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

Do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?

Why did you just try singing the two songs above?

Why do they call it an asteroid when it's outside the hemisphere, but call it a hemorrhoid when it's in your butt?

Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him for a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Good Movie Websites:

Movie reviews, trailers, tickets and showtimes:
http://www.movies.com/

Movie trailers (my personal favorite):
http://www.apple.com/trailers

Internet Movie Database:
http://www.imdb.com/

Blockbuster Video:
http://www.blockbuster.com/

Hollywood Video:
http://www.hollywoodvideo.com/

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

More Christmas Books To Read

Santa's Reindeer


by Rod Green









Remember the Reason: focusing on Christ at Christmas


by David C. Cook









The Legend of St. Nicholas


by Dandi Daley Mackall







101 Christmas Dishes


by Angela Nilsen




How Mrs. Clause saved Christmas


by Jeff Quinn





You can find out more about these and other Christmas books at the Prairie Area Library System online catalog (PrarieCat) at: http://216.125.140.44/uhtbin/cgisirsi/Le135buJSU/QLL/288960195/60/1180/X









Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Christmas Mystery Books

Here are some excellent Christmas mystery books by the mother and daughter team of Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark.

The Christmas thief


He sees you when you're sleeping



Santa cruise: a holiday mystery at sea


Silent night


You can find out more about these titles by going to the Prairie Area Library System's online catalog at: http://216.125.140.44/uhtbin/cgisirsi/CzP2pEhoW5/QLL/139940580/60/1180/X

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Places to visit in Chicago

Adler Planetarium
1300 S. Lake Shore Drive
http://www.adlerplanetarium.org/

Art Institute of Chicago
111 S. Michigan Avenue
http://artic.edu/

Chicago Children's Museum
700 E. Grand Avenue at Navy Pier
http://www.chichildrensmuseum.org/

Chicago Cubs Baseball
1060 W. Addison Street
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=chc

Field Museum
1400 S. Lake Shore Drive
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/

Lincoln Park Zoo
2200 N. Cannon Drive
http://www.lpzoo.org/

Museum of Science & Industry
57th & Lake Shore Drive
http://222.msichicago.org/

Navy Pier
600 Grand Avenue
http://www.navypier.com/

Sears Tower Skydeck
233 S. Wacker Drive
http://www.theskydeck.com/

Shedd Aquarium
1200 S. Lake Shore Drive
http://www.sheddaquarium.org/

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Current favorite books




These are some of my current favorite books.
The Cat Who .... series by Lilian Jackson Braun



Journalist James Qwilleran and his two cats Koko and Yum Yum solve mysteries.

Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Join the crew of the Starship Enterprise as they "boldly go where no one has gone before" and save the universe.




Tuesday, November 13, 2007



These are some of my childhood favorite books:

The Boxcar children by Gertrude Chandler Warner.



Four orphans run away and live in an old box car. Eventually they are found by their grandfather and move in with him and keep the boxcar in the backyard. They are very independent and can take of themselves and solve mysteries.


Encyclopedia Brown by Donald J. Sobol



Ten-year-old Encyclopedia Brown is the son of the police chief. When his father can't solve the crime, he tells Encyclopedia about it at the dinner table. Encyclopedia asks his father one question, and solves the crime. During the summer, he runs a detective agency from his garage for 25 cents plus expenses. Each book contains 10 mysteries and the solutions are in the back of the book.


The Hardy Boys by Franklin W. Dixon

Sons of the famous private detective Fenton Hardy, teenage brothers Frank and Joe follow in their father's footsteps solving mysteries.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

The Book Reader's Page

Welcome to The Book Reader's Page.



This is my first blog and I hope you enjoy it.