Are you reading Four Corners of the Sky?

Tell us what you think!
During The Big Library Read, we will post discussion questions on Facebook and Twitter, so be sure to follow us and Michael Malone and be a part of the dialogue. In addition, there will be a worldwide conversation using the hashtag #BigLibraryRead, so tweet your thoughts often on Twitter.

The book’s publisher, Sourcebooks and OverDrive, will be hosting a live Facebook chat with author Michael Malone, on Thursday, May 23 at 8pm ET enabling readers to have their questions answered in real time.

If you would like to participate in this chat, please send questions during the week to us on Twitter (@OverDriveLibs) and stay tuned for more information. This program is the first of its kind, so head to our eMedia Catalog  to check out the title and join the #BigLibraryRead conversation!

OverDrive’s Library eBook Tournament: Round 2

Round 1 of our Library eBook Tournament included landslide victories, surprise upsets, and hard-fought battles. The largest margin of victory occurred in the East region, where Jonathan Safran Foer’s “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” (65%) walloped Sonia Sotomayor’s “My Beloved World” (35%). The closest contest took place in the West between Janet Evanovich and Cheryl Strayed. Evanovich’s “Notorious Nineteen” (48%) lost to Strayed’s “Wild” (52%) by only 15 votes out of 351. Also in the West we saw David defeat Goliath, as Linda Lael Miller’s “Big Sky Mountain” took down Stephenie Meyer’s vampire behemoth “Twilight.”

Thanks to everyone who participated in Round 1, and good luck in Round 2. Remember, the library that fields the most participants will receive a Google Nexus 7 tablet. We’re keeping a cumulative list of library participation, so keep those survey responses coming! So far, libraries leading the charge are Shaker Heights Public Library (Ohio), Tolono Public Library (Ill.), Wickliffe Public Library (Ohio), Calcasieu Parish Public Library (La.), Salt Lake County Library Services (Utah), Sacramento Public Library (Calif.), Princeton Public Library(Wisc.) Eckhart Public Library (Ind.).

• To enter Round 2, click here.
• For details about the Library eBook Tournament, click here.

Enter OverDrive’s Library eBook Tournament

March Madness is upon us, and regardless of whether you follow the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship,
here’s your chance to experience the thrill of bracketology. This month, we’re hosting the first-ever OverDrive Library eBook Tournament.

Like the Final Four, the eBook tourney will follow a
single-elimination model, starting with a large, regional field of competitors and culminating in a championship match-up. In this case, the competitors are library eBooks and audiobooks. We’ve selected the entrants based on the most popular eBooks and audiobooks by region, based on OverDrive digital library statistics.  Now it’s up to you to decide which titles advance to the next round! Simply vote for your favorite regional title using our Survey Monkey page. After each week-long round, we’ll tally the votes to determine which titles advance to the next round.

Here’s the best part: we’ll award a Google Nexus 7 tablet to the library that fields the most participants!

Enter Round 1 of the OverDrive Library eBook Tournament to help determine which books advance to Round 2!

BrainTeaser: General Knowledge

This one is about all kinds of subjects – to test the breadth as well as depth of your knowledge. Need help? Use Credo Reference Online.

1. Which US television series starred six people including Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow and David Schwimmer?

2. Which of these is not an island: Mauritius, Madagascar, or Mauritania?

3. Who wrote a famous 1892 poem about Gunga Din?

4. A regicide is someone who kills what sort of person?

5. Who directed the films “Rear Window”, “Notorious” and “The Birds”?

6. Which poet called autumn the “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness”? Was it Keats, Shakespeare or Wordsworth?

7. The Frenchman Jean-Claude Killy was famous in which sport?

8. Is toothwort a disease, a plant, or an insect?

9. Is “K” the chemical symbol for krypton, iron, or potassium?

10. The balls used in snooker have eight different colours. Name six of them.

How did you do?

0 – 1 Mmmm, not exactly brilliant.
2 – 5 A reasonable stab.
6 – 8 A good showing. But there’s still room for improvement!
9 – 10 You really know your stuff. Well done!

Questions set by Tony Augarde (www.augardebooks.co.uk)

Brain Teaser – Christmas Songs

Christmas is a time for music! Here’s a brainteaser about Christmas songs. Want to download these songs for the holidays? Get 5 free songs each week from our Freegal Music service. Yes, they are FREE with your library card and PIN!

1. Which British rock group returned its 1973 Christmas chart-topper “Merry Xmas Everybody’ to the British charts no less than eight times?

2. Which Christmas song is about a reindeer who is chosen by Santa because his red nose lights up the night?

3. What is the English title of the Christmas hymn “Stille Nacht”?

4. Name one of the two singers who composed “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” for Band Aid in 1984.

5. Which former member of the Beatles had a hit several times with “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”?

6. Which song was a No. 1 hit all over Europe for Boney M at Christmas 1978, having previously been recorded by Harry Belafonte?

7. Who wrote the song “White Christmas”: Irving Berlin, Cole Porter or George Gershwin?

8. Which group released the song “Last Christmas” in 1984?

9. Which singer-songwriter’s second album included a modern Christmas song, “A Spaceman Came Travelling”?

10. What Christmas song did Judy Garland sing to comfort Margaret O’Brien in the 1944 film “Meet Me in St Louis”?

How did you do?

0 – 1 Mmmm, not exactly brilliant.
2 – 5 A reasonable stab.
6 – 8 A good showing. But there’s still room for improvement!
9 – 10 You really know your stuff. Well done!

Questions set by Tony Augarde (www.augardebooks.co.uk)