Like a Brick to the Head?

Scott Brick is a super-prolific audiobook narrator and a favorite among Main library staff. He’s narrated books by just about everyone – people like Steve Berry, Terry Brooks, Harlan Coben, Philip K. Dick, John Grisham, Frank Herbert, Jon Krakauer, Erik Larson, and Brad Meltzer, to name a few (really, that’s the short list).

Most of those authors fall into the category of Manly Adventure, which really isn’t my thing. But I do quite enjoy alarming and/or depressing nonfiction, and Scott Brick does that, too. Here are a few examples!

I never noticed the eyes at the top before and now I’m all creeped out.

In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote – Truman Capote set off the whole true-crime-genre thing with his account of the murder of the Clutter family of Holcomb, Kansas and the flight, capture, trial, and execution of their killers. Whenever I can’t decide what to listen to next, I just grab this one – it’s hypnotic, in an occasionally creepy way.

Just by looking at the cover, you can tell that this won’t end well.

Dead Wake, by Erik Larson – I’ve just finished listening to this book, which is about the sinking of the Lusitania. It was really interesting: Winston Churchill attempted to drive an old admiral batty, a German submarine had a litter of puppies, Woodrow Wilson tried to get some, and more! You’ll even learn the fate of the One Hot Dude That Everyone Remembered – apparently he was having a great time on the old Lusitania, up until that whole torpedo thing.

Conserving electricity obviously wasn’t a thing back then.

The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson – The book that every librarian is obliged to write about. It’s the story of the architect who designed the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and of the serial killer who stalked its grounds. You’ll probably end up fascinated by architecture. Or serial killers. Or both (I went with both).

Check out the print book for a handy diagram of a Titan II missile silo.

Command and Control, by Eric Schlosser – This super long audio book is a terrifying catalog of America’s near-misses with nuclear weapons accidents – everything from a dropped wrench that lead to a fuel tank explosion to the tale of a warhead (undetonated, obviously and thankfully) that’s still lost somewhere in North Carolina. It’s a great book for anyone who has fond memories of the Cold War (I rather miss the James Bond villians; they were better then) or who is just wondering what all the fuss was about.

All of the links above point to books on CD in our catalog, but you can also find tons of downloadable Bricky goodness in our OverDrive collection – a simple search for his name pulls up 171 titles!

– Amy

Revenge of the Digital Bookmobile

Well, I don’t necessarily think that it’s out for revenge, but OverDrive’s Digital Bookmobile will be visiting Pittsburgh once more this week. We’ll have two full days of bookmobile goodness, where you can stop by and learn about the library’s downloadable ebooks, audio books, and videos (you can also enjoy their refreshing air conditioning).

Friday, August 5th – Market Square, 10 AM – 3 PM

Saturday, August 6th – Pittsburgh Public Market, 10 AM – 4 PM

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's free downloadable content!

Super-friendly OverDrive staff will be on hand to tell you just how to get that book onto your nook. And when I say super-friendly, boy do I mean it. Those OverDrive people make us look like grumpy jerks, and that takes some doing. Heck, even their truck driver is a cool guy. I love OverDrive, and they’re not paying me to say that, either (though they once bribed me with an orange frisbee).

So stop by on Friday or Saturday, and see what we have to offer!

– Amy, not a grumpy jerk, but a rather pleasant librarian

OMG PBS

Tired of watching internet videos of skateboard accidents on your smartphone? Looking for something a little more educational? Check out our massive new collection of super awesome* downloadable PBS videos, now available to us through OverDrive. There are 538 different titles to choose from (or from which to choose, if you prefer), and at approximately one hour each, that’s more than three weeks of solid public television goodness.

Here are some of the super awesome things that I found when I did an advanced search and chose PBS as the publisher (from that super awesome list of 49 publishers):

          

• If you think Ian McKellen is good as Magneto, be sure to check him out as King Lear.
• The Secrets of the Dead series is full of crazy things, like this documentary about the mysteries of female East German Olympic athletes. (We have more of this series on DVD, mainly because I’m in charge of buying nonfiction and I think they’re interesting.)
• If you’ve ever wanted to learn way too much about life on an aircraft carrier but just can’t bring yourself to join the navy, try the series Carrier.

         

• If that’s not enough overkill for you, we’ve got 62 episodes of Scientific American Frontiers. Learning about nerve regeneration, killer algae, and Viking longboats should keep you off the streets for a while.
• This one is billed as “the thinking person’s reality show,” but as a self-proclaimed thinking person, I think I wouldn’t be hanging out in Death Valley.
• Finally, keep this one in mind when Black History Month rolls around again. It’s a new spin on an old subject. (Bad puns, sorry.)

And just so you remember, OverDrive videos only work on Windows based computers and Windows compatible smart phones. Be sure to check out OverDrive’s FAQ page for more details.

– Amy

*apologies to Julie.

What’s a Digital Bookmobile?

On Monday, October 5th from 11:30 – 2:30, OverDrive’s Digital Bookmobile will visit Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Main.

 

But what exactly is a Digital Bookmobile?

The Digital Bookmobile is much larger in person.

According to OverDrive (and they should know), it’s a “high-tech update of the traditional bookmobile that has served communities for decades…equipped with broadband Internet-connected PCs, high-definition monitors, premium sound systems, and a variety of portable media players. Interactive computer stations give visitors an opportunity to search the digital media collection, use supported mobile devices, and download and enjoy audiobooks and video from the library.”

Basically, it’s a huge trailer full of really cool toys. I should know, as I visited it in Cleveland last July. Admittedly, at the time I was most struck by the air conditioning, but it was the height of summer.

You can enjoy both downloadable audiobooks and climate control in the Digital Bookmobile.

Inside the digital bookmobile there are all sorts fun things – you can explore our downloadable audio and video collections, play with different MP3 and media players (a great hands-on experience for those who still aren’t sure what to buy), watch downloadable videos in action, and talk to staff from Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and OverDrive. And not that librarians aren’t nice, but those OverDrive staffers are some of the nicest people ever – when I went to their conference in Cleveland, they gave me a frisbee. That was awesome.

But I digress. Forget my new frisbee and my obsession with air conditioning, and remember the important part: OverDrive’s Digital Bookmobile will visit CLP – Main from 11:30 – 2:30 on Monday, October 5th. We hope to see you there!

– Amy

New York City loves the Digital Bookmobile and you should, too!