This weekend, the New Orleans Saints take on the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV. I enjoy watching the Super Bowl, but my enjoyment comes mainly from watching the commercials and eating snacks. Even if my home team, The Vikings, had made it into game, I have to admit I'm not the biggest sports fan. Thankfully, Animal Planet has continued its tradition of giving us an adorable alternative: PUPPY BOWL VI!!! They posted the starting lineup of 20 totally cute puppies today. I'm rooting for Jake, the 12-week-old "chug" (half chihuahua, half pug). Look how cute he is!! Who are your favorites?

WestportREADS is upon us again and this year we are reading Yoko Ogawa's The Housekeeper and The Professor. The book follows the relationship between a brilliant math professor with no short-term memory (in fact, his memory erases itself every 80 minutes), his housekeeper, and the housekeeper's son. The son and the professor have a shared love of baseball and the professor's passion for math is infectious.

You might have noticed a display of books in the Staples High School Media Center, like student Jack Roche, shown here. Many copies are available for checkout at Staples and there are dozens available here at the Westport Library. The book is also only 180 pages, so it is a quick read. We are doing several events throughout the month, including one with the Staples High School Math Team on Wednesday, January 27th at 7:30PM, in which they will talk about math and the new ways that students are learning and using math to enrich their lives. Another fun program is taking place on Wednesday, January 20th at 7:30 when Harry Sakamaki, President of the Japan Society in Greenwich, will be here talking about Japanese baseball.

For a complete listing of all our WestportREADS events, visit our Events Blog. Happy reading!

A TOTORO SNOW SCULPTURE!!!! You're welcome.

Since my Twilight

readalikes list hasn't been updated in awhile, I like to keep all of you current on awesome new vampire books that I find. If you enjoyed the Twilight saga and are looking for some new reads, check out L.J. Smith's Night World series. You might recognize the author's name, since she also wrote the Vampire Diaries series. Each book contains three different stories about the Night World, a secret society filled with vampires, werewolves, witches, shapeshifters. These creatures live amongst regular people, but adhere to the strict rules of the society, the first one being not to fall in love with humans. Check them out!

Tags: books twilight vampires

If you haven't checked out the website CakeWrecks yet, you should do so immediately. Better yet, we have author Jen Yate's new Cake Wrecks book at the library! What is a "cake wreck" you ask? Yates defines it as "any cake that is unintentionally sad, silly, creepy, inappropriate - you name it. A Wreck is not necessarily a poorly-made cake; it's simply one I find funny, for any of a number of reasons. Anyone who has ever smeared frosting on a baked good has made a Wreck at one time or another, so I'm not here to vilify decorators: Cake Wrecks is just about finding the funny in unexpected, sugar-filled places." Some cakes are creepy, some are misspelled, some are unappetizing, and some are just plain wrong. But, they are all hilarious.