During the holiday season (heck, on any gift-giving occasion) the present I most look forward to receiving is a book. Somehow, the “newness” of it lasts longer than whatever piece of chocolate I wolf down in five minutes. Its enjoyment is drawn out over many more hours than the latest hit movie and it keeps on giving long after the scented candle burns out. I just love giving and receiving a crisp new book as a gift!

This year for the holidays,my husband gave me a copy of Mr. Churchill’s Secretary, a cozy British spy mystery by Susan Elia MacNeal set in World War II-era London. It’s got a spunky secretary-turned-spy, a fun cast of secondary characters, a dose of actual history, and a tricky whodunit to boot! I gobbled it up over the holiday break and grabbed the sequel from the Library in time to ring in 2013. (Princess Elizabeth's Spy, for those who want to jump on board!)

Did you get any books during the holidays that you just couldn’t put down? We’d love to know!

Last week in my “Best of” daze, I stumbled upon this article in the New York Times about the year’s most notable musical memoirs. I don’t particularly have a thing for celebrity tomes, except for when I go to a concert and subsequently find myself unable to resist learning everything I can about a particular musician or band. And not just the legitimate history: I want the dirt. This was clearly my primary motivation this summer when after seeing a Stevie Nicks concert I grabbed one of the books featured in the Times article: Ken Caillat’s Making Rumours: The Inside Story of the Classic Fleetwood Mac Album  (Was there ever a more drama-filled band? )

After recent outings to see Bob Dylan and The Monkees (it seems I have a thing for oldies but goodies) I hit up the Free Library catalogue was rewarded with a gold mine: autobiographies, music histories, CDs, documentaries. Whatever you want, trust me, we’ve got it. Next up on my list is Bob Dylan in America by noted U.S. historian Sean Wilentz and I’m a Believer: My Life of Monkees, Music, and Madness by Monkees singer and drummer Micky Dolenz.

What celebrity or musical memoirs struck the right chord with you this year?

About a month ago I tagged along on my husband’s business trip to Chicago so that I could check out Ernest Hemingway’s home in Oak Park, Illinois. (More on that another time—Suffice it to say Papa’s pop loved taxidermy and thus a legend was born). But while wandering the streets of the Windy City, I had a literary experience of another nature altogether when I stumbled upon the American Girl store. The company is most well-known for its historic-themed dolls (who doesn’t want to play with a doll who “grew up” during the Great Depression?), who each have a series of books devoted to them and the time periods in which they are supposed to have lived. As a kid, I gobbled up books about the adventures of these fictitious girls. The best part (well, for my parents, not me) was that my parents didn’t have to buy me a doll with accompanying books to learn all about harsh working conditions for children in the early 1900s; life on the homefront during World War II; or what it was like living as a pioneer on the American frontier. Instead, I checked out the American Girl novels for free at my local library—just like kids today can do at the Free Library!

I love when a literary moment from my childhood rears its head in an unexpected way. So if you see me in the children’s department grabbing a book to reminiscence, say hello!

How about you? What books did you love as a child? Do you ever re-read them to revisit your early literary experiences?

Every year at this time, it seems like billions of “best of” lists start peppering blogs, newspapers, magazines, and morning news television shows. I gobble them up, despite the fact that the books I read, movies I see, and music I listen to rarely makes those lists. (Why “Kind of Blue” doesn’t receive a special pass to make these lists annually is beyond me.) As a result, I often experience a weird state of panic and try to jam in a few of the notable “best books” before the clock strikes midnight on December 31. This year it’s all about Detroit is the Place to Be and Broken Harbor. How about you? Any books you just have to check off the list before the calendar flips to 2013?

The Free Library of Philadelphia is moving on to the next phase of renovations at our Parkway Central location, which includes extensive work in the Rare Book Department. This work will include the complete renovation of the Theatre Collection, the creation of a climate controlled storage area for rare books, and a new gallery space east of the main entrance. Before work begins, the collections in these areas are to be moved and stored off-site. The packing and moving will begin the week of November 26, 2012.  In preparation for this, the Theatre Collection will be inaccessible and remain closed all the way through the reconstruction. In addition, from Wednesday, November 28 through Saturday, December 15, the Rare Book Department will be closed to the public.

Thank you for your patience as we continue to improve Parkway Central.