The Dusty Bookshelf
Time and Again has been hailed as “the great time-travel story” by Stephen King, (his most recent book 11/22/63 took inspiration from this novel). This love torn, decade crossing, New York City adventure is also peppered with photos and illustrations of real and imagined scenes. Take a trip with the protagonist, Si Morely, as he drifts through past and present, only to collide with the future…
You never know what you’ll stumble upon when browsing through the stacks of any library. There’s sure be something interesting, no matter your mood. For example, this crowd pleaser: Kittens, Cats, and Crime. The dust jacket says, “As popular as cats are in fiction, put them anywhere near a crime scene, and the interest rises tenfold.” I don’t know about the popularity of cats in fiction, but felines and felonies do have a certain allure…
There is never not a good time to recommend any book by Shel Silverstein. And, because April is National Poetry Month, Where the Sidewalk Ends is especially just right. Here’s a short teaser called Instructions:
If you should ever choose/ To bathe an armadillo,/ Use one bar of soap/ And a whole lot of hope/ And seventy-two pads of Brillo.
Revisit Wally Lamb’s memorable debut novel She’s Come Undone. The New York Times Books Review writes of it: ” Mr. Lamb gives his vociferous heroine truly heroic proportions, in both the physical and the psychical sense… John Updike once observed that J.D. Salinger loves some of his characters ‘more than God loves them,’ which might be said about Wally Lamb… Those characters are equally endearing to the reader, as Dolores Price is, even in her most self-deprecatory moments: this reader kept rooting for her to overcome all adversity and find peace and happiness.” If you’re coming by to look for She’s Come Undone, you may find it in the wide ranging array of material on display for Women’s History Month.
Whether or not it is true that the reclusive and private Harper Lee has agreed to release a second novel at age 88, 55 years after the release of her best-selling first novel, it is never too late to check-out (or re-visit), To Kill A Mockingbird. Two additional copies have just arrived on the shelves, one in Spanish.
The Newberry Award, given annually by the American Library Association to the author of a “most distinguished contribution to American literature for children”, has been around since 1922! Come browse our Newberry Award section and maybe start with a favorite from 1997: From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.
Stung! was among last year’s offerings for our Adopt-A-Book program. Adopt- A-Book welcomes you to help the library build its book collection. Come in and check out our display and choose a book to donate to the library. (Goes until December 24th!) In Stung! On Jellyfish Blooms and the Future of the Ocean author Lisa-ann Gershwin takes readers back to the Proterozoic era, when jellyfish were the top predator in the marine ecosystem—at a time when there were no fish, no mammals, and no turtles; to the current population bloom of the tenacious species. The story of the jellyfish, is also the story of the world’s oceans, and Stung! provides a unique and urgent look at their inseparable histories—and future.
Earlier this month the Nation Book Foundation awarded Ursula K. Le Guin the 2014 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. According to nationalbook.org, “for more than forty years, Le Guin has defied conventions of narrative, language, character, and genre, as well as transcended the boundaries between fantasy and realism, to forge new paths for literary fiction.”
During her acceptance speech at the awards ceremony, Le Guin used her allotted 3-5 minutes to champion and encourage artistic freedom and the power of literature- “Books aren’t just commodities; the profit motive is often in conflict with the aims of art. We live in capitalism, its power seems inescapable – but then, so did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art. Very often in our art, the art of words.”
We have a few of Ursula Le Guin’s works in the library, come peruse them!
Take a moment to check-out Wild, Cheyl Strayed’s auibiography, just as Hollywood releases a film adaptation starring Reese Witherspoon.
The premise of Wild is Strayed’s impulsive decision to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State. She does so alone and untrained, leaving her crumbling personal life behind for a challenge ahead. As the New York Times describes, “People with any hiking experience (I am not one) will know that this is the backpack of a rank amateur, that setting out on a 1,100-mile trek from the Mojave Desert to the Cascades outfitted in brand-new hiking boots — a size too small, it turned out — and with 24.5 pounds of water in a dromedary bag is a recipe for disaster. Fortunately for the reader, it’s also a recipe for a spectacular book. “Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail” is at once a breathtaking adventure tale and a profound meditation on the nature of grief and survival. ”
Did you know we have tv shows on dvd? Check out Mad Men Season 1 and see where it all began with Don, Betty, Peggy, Roger and the whole gang. Digs into the fascinating world of advertising in the days when long lunch meetings and martinis were the order of the day.