The Daily Read @ EOL

Read 'til the End

2012-01-12T12:51:00.001-06:00

The "Real 'til the End" book display on the second floor is partly inspired by multiple viewings of the film Melancholia by several of us up on the second floor, in which a giant rogue planet that had been hiding behind the sun collides with the earth, and is partly inspired by a certain prediction by ancient Mayans. According to some readings of the ancient Maya calendar, 2012 will be the final year in the life of our dear planet. There is sure to be a lot of talk about this prediction this year as we move closer towards the supposed date (December 21, 2012 to be exact), so we thought you might want to read up on various theories regarding the Earth’s demise or its ability to soldier on in the face of turmoil.
Some of the titles we picked out for you include:

The Everything Guide to 2012: all you need to know about the theories, beliefs, and history surrounding the ancient Mayan prophecies by Mark Heley

How It Ends: From You to the Universe by Chris Impey

The End: natural disasters, manmade catastrophes, and the future of human survival by Marq De Villiers

The World Without Us by Alan Weisman

The Wonderful Future That Never Was by Gregory Benford

In related news, In case you haven’t heard, dystopia is HOT right now. Dystopian fiction is set in societies that have gone awry, or the opposite of utopias. You may have heard the buzz about Suzanne Collins’ excellent young adult Hunger Games trilogy which is being adapted into a movie set for release in March, or you may already jumped on the bandwagon like many of us here at the library. The Hunger Games series tells the story of Katniss Everdeen, a teenager living in poverty-stricken District 12 of Panem, the country formed in the ruins of the United States of America. Katniss volunteers to fight in the annual Hunger Games in her younger sister’s place when her sister’s name is chosen. The Hunger Games is an televised event in which two tributes from all 12 of Panem's districts travel to the state-of-the-art Capitol and fight for survival in a treacherous arena until only one tribute remains the victor. Knowing that she can’t effectively fight the totalitarian Capitol outside the arena, Katniss decides to play the game on her own terms, staying true to her own moral code. While The Hunger Games trilogy is categorized as young adult fiction, it is a thrilling read for adults as well.

Although I had read quite a few books last year, I did not realized until I was putting together this display just how many excellent dystopian novels were published in 2011. Here is a quick rundown of my two favorites:

America Pacifica by Anna North - Up on the second floor, we love a good debut novel and Anna North delivers the goods in American Pacifica. North graduated from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop in 2009 (yes, that Iowa Writer’s Workshop whose illustrious alumni include Flannery O’Connor, John Irving, Ann Patchett, and Daniel Woodrell) and her first novel proves that she is a writer to watch. We follow teen-aged Darcy through the underbelly of humid, exploited American Pacifica, a pacific island inhabited by North American refugees after an ice age renders the continent uninhabitable, as she searches for answers to secrets in her murdered mother's past. This story is not for the faint of heart, as North's effective descriptions of the downright nasty conditions of the overcrowded island jump right off the page.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - Even if you don’t have a unhealthy obsession with 1980s pop culture like the characters in this book, Ready Player One (another first novel!) is sure to hook you with its propulsive prose and will have you rooting for the good guys. In 2044, enigmatic bajillionaire and software/game developer James Halliday dies and leaves his company and fortune to the first player that can unlock all of the easter eggs (i.e. hidden messages in video games) that he has hidden in the virtual reality program that he created called OASIS. The ubiquitous OASIS is an escape for most of the world’s population after the Great Recession. Five years after Halliday’s death, Oklahoma high school student Wade Watts, known in OASIS as Perzival, uses his vast knowledge of 1980’s pop culture to find the first hidden egg and start an epic, life-and-death race to the finish line.

Some of the other excellent dystopian titles we picked out for you include:

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan

The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta

Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart

Children of Men by P.D. James

Under the Dome by Stephen King

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

The Taking by Dean Koontz

Obviously, I love a good dystopian novel. If you do, too, don't be afraid to come up to the second floor reference desk to discuss your favorites!

Amanda

GRG Recap - Salon Discussion

2011-12-30T15:14:00.000-06:00

Our Salon Discussion consisted of a small, enthusiastic group of post-holiday readers! We snacked and laughed and discussed a wide variety of books. Our January topic will center on fiction books with animal narrators. I will be very interested to see what threads of discussion emerge from this genre! The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 31st at 6:30 p.m.

Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

Finalist for the 2011 National Book Award
Julie Otsuka’s long awaited follow-up to When the Emperor Was Divine (“To watch Emperor catching on with teachers and students in vast numbers is to grasp what must have happened at the outset for novels like Lord of the Flies and To Kill a Mockingbird” —The New York Times) is a tour de force of economy and precision, a novel that tells the story of a group of young women brought over from Japan to San Francisco as ‘picture brides’ nearly a century ago.

In eight incantatory sections, The Buddha in the Attic traces their extraordinary lives, from their arduous journey by boat, where they exchange photographs of their husbands, imagining uncertain futures in an unknown land; to their arrival in San Francisco and their tremulous first nights as new wives; to their backbreaking work picking fruit in the fields and scrubbing the floors of white women; to their struggles to master a new language and a new culture; to their experiences in childbirth, and then as mothers, raising children who will ultimately reject their heritage and their history; to the deracinating arrival of war.

In language that has the force and the fury of poetry, Julie Otsuka has written a singularly spellbinding novel about the American dream.

(General Discussion)
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

Lily is haunted by memories–of who she once was, and of a person, long gone, who defined her existence. She has nothing but time now, as she recounts the tale of Snow Flower, and asks the gods for forgiveness.

In nineteenth-century China, when wives and daughters were foot-bound and lived in almost total seclusion, the women in one remote Hunan county developed their own secret code for communication: nu shu (“women’s writing”). Some girls were paired with laotongs, “old sames,” in emotional matches that lasted throughout their lives. They painted letters on fans, embroidered messages on handkerchiefs, and composed stories, thereby reaching out of their isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments.

With the arrival of a silk fan on which Snow Flower has composed for Lily a poem of introduction in nu shu, their friendship is sealed and they become “old sames” at the tender age of seven. As the years pass, through famine and rebellion, they reflect upon their arranged marriages, loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their lifelong friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a brilliantly realistic journey back to an era of Chinese history that is as deeply moving as it is sorrowful. With the period detail and deep resonance of Memoirs of a Geisha, this lyrical and emotionally charged novel delves into one of the most mysterious of human relationships: female friendship.

(General Discussion)

The novels of Amy Tan
Novels
 The Joy Luck Club (1989)
 The Kitchen God's Wife (1991)
 The Hundred Secret Senses (1995)
 The Bonesetter's Daughter (2001)
 Saving Fish from Drowning (2005)
 The Valley of Amazement (2012)

Home to Holly Springs by Jan Karon

Readers of the nine bestselling Mitford novels have been captivated by Jan Karon’s “gift for illuminating the struggles that creep into everyday lives—along with a vividly imagined world” (People). They learned quickly that “after you’ve spent time in Mitford, you’ll want to come back” (Chicago Tribune). Millions eagerly awaited the publication of each novel, relishing the story of the bookish and bighearted Episcopal priest and the extraordinary fullness of his seemingly ordinary life.

Now, Jan Karon enchants us with the story of the newly retired priest’s spur-of-the-moment adventure. For the first time in decades, Father Tim returns to his birthplace, Holly Springs, Mississippi, in response to a mysterious, unsigned note saying simply: “Come home.” Little does he know how much these two words will change his life. A story of long-buried secrets, forgiveness, and the wonder of discovering new people, places, and depth of feeling, Home to Holly Springs will enthrall new readers and longtime fans alike.

The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley

"Whatever time we have," he said, "it will be time enough."

Eva Ward returns to the only place she truly belongs, the old house on the Cornish coast, seeking happiness in memories of childhood summers. There she finds mysterious voices and hidden pathways that sweep her not only into the past, but also into the arms of a man who is not of her time.

But Eva must confront her own ghosts, as well as those of long ago. As she begins to question her place in the present, she comes to realize that she too must decide where she really belongs.

From Susanna Kearsley, author of the New York Times bestseller The Winter Sea and a voice acclaimed by fans of Gabaldon, du Maurier, and Niffenegger alike, The Rose Garden is a haunting exploration of love, family, the true meaning of home, and the ties that bind us together.

(General Discussion)
The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley

History has all but forgotten...In the spring of 1708, an invading Jacobite fleet of French and Scottish soldiers nearly succeeded in landing the exiled James Stewart in Scotland to reclaim his crown.
Now, Carrie McClelland hopes to turn that story into her next bestselling novel. Settling herself in the shadow of Slains Castle, she creates a heroine named for one of her own ancestors and starts to write.
But when she discovers her novel is more fact than fiction, Carrie wonders if she might be dealing with ancestral memory, making her the only living person who knows the truth-the ultimate betrayal-that happened all those years ago, and that knowledge comes very close to destroying her...

I am Half Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley

It’s Christmastime, and the precocious Flavia de Luce—an eleven-year-old sleuth with a passion for chemistry and a penchant for crime-solving—is tucked away in her laboratory, whipping up a concoction to ensnare Saint Nick. But she is soon distracted when a film crew arrives at Buckshaw, the de Luces’ decaying English estate, to shoot a movie starring the famed Phyllis Wyvern. Amid a raging blizzard, the entire village of Bishop’s Lacey gathers at Buckshaw to watch Wyvern perform, yet nobody is prepared for the evening’s shocking conclusion: a body found, past midnight, strangled to death with a length of film. But who among the assembled guests would stage such a chilling scene? As the storm worsens and the list of suspects grows, Flavia must use every ounce of sly wit at her disposal to ferret out a killer hidden in plain sight.

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

A mesmerizing, moving, and elegantly written debut novel, The Language of Flowers beautifully weaves past and present, creating a vivid portrait of an unforgettable woman whose gift for flowers helps her change the lives of others even as she struggles to overcome her own troubled past.

The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it’s been more useful in communicating grief, mistrust, and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster-care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings.

Now eighteen and emancipated from the system, Victoria has nowhere to go and sleeps in a public park, where she plants a small garden of her own. Soon a local florist discovers her talents, and Victoria realizes she has a gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But a mysterious vendor at the flower market has her questioning what’s been missing in her life, and when she’s forced to confront a painful secret from her past, she must decide whether it’s worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness.

A Lasting Impression by Tamera Alexander

To create something that will last is Claire Laurent's most fervent desire as an artist. It's also her greatest weakness. When her fraud of a father deals her an unexpected hand, Claire is forced to flee from New Orleans to Nashville, only a year after the War Between the States has ended. Claire's path collides with that of Sutton Monroe, and she considers him a godsend for not turning her in to the authorities. But when they meet again and he refuses to come to her aid, she realizes she's sorely misjudged the man. Trading an unwanted destiny for an unknown future, Claire finds herself in the middle of Nashville's elite society and believes her dream of creating a lasting impression in the world of art may finally be within reach.

All that Sutton Monroe holds dear lies in ruin. He's determined to reclaim his heritage and to make the men who murdered his father pay. But what he discovers on his quest for vengeance reveals a truth that may cost him more than he ever imagined.

Set at Nashville's historical Belmont Mansion, a stunning antebellum manor built by Mrs. Adelicia Acklen, the richest woman in America in the 1860s, A Lasting Impression showcases the deep, poignant, unforgettable characters that set Tamera's stories apart and provides an inspiring love story that will capture readers' hearts and leave them eager for more.

The Sibling Effect by Jeffrey Kluger

A senior writer at Time magazine explores what scientists and researchers are discovering about sibling bonds, the longest- lasting relationships we have in our lives.

Nobody affects us as deeply as our brothers and sisters-not parents, not children, not friends. From the time we-and they-are born, our siblings are our collaborators and co-conspirators, our role models and cautionary tales. They teach us how to resolve conflicts and how not to, how to conduct friendships and when to walk away. Our siblings are the only people we know who truly qualify as partners for life.
In this groundbreaking book, renowned science writer Jeffrey Kluger explores the complex world of siblings in a way that is equal parts science, psychology, sociology, and memoir. Based heavily on new and emerging research, The Sibling Effect examines birth order, twin studies, genetic encoding of behavioral traits, emotional disorders and their effects on-and effects from-sibling relationships, and much more.

What are YOU reading?

The Bookies Discussion: The Buddha In The Attic

2011-12-13T12:56:00.002-06:00

Morning Friends!
The Bookies met this morning to discuss Julie Otsuka's The Buddha In The Attic. It's a brief, but interesting little book, and one for which Otsuka was nominated for a National Book Award. We had a great discussion! The novel is an interesting one, as its told in first person plural, which was really different! Many said they though it was like reading a poem or stream of consciousness writing. Ellen B. said the most interesting thing today, she thought the narrative reminded her of a Greek chorus, which is a cool idea because the whole point of the chorus was to give a voice to the people. The voices you hear are largely those of Japanese women, that is until the book shifts to the internment camps. It's really a cool little book.
We also talked about the differences in cultures and cultural groups as immigrants move into the country. A few Bookies brought up the obvious parallels between Muslim Americans during 9-11 and Hispanic immigrants today. Some novels that we discussed as having parallels to The Buddha In The Attic:

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay which is about the roundup of Jews in Paris during WWII
The Hotel On The Corner of Bitter & Sweet by Jamie Ford which is another great story about the Japanese internment camps in the West during WWII. This is also a previous Bookies title which we all really enjoyed.
East of Eden by John Steinbeck which always comes up when we discuss immigration and the West Coast. This is also another previous Bookies read and one we refer to all the time.
Lisa See's novels, especially Shanghai Girls for its moving story of the immigration experience.

Last, but not least, The Bookies voted on our titles for the first half of 2012. Here's our list:

January 10, 2012
In The Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson

February 14, 2012
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

March 13, 2012
Catherine the Great by Robert K. Massie

April 10, 2012
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
*this month The Bookies and other library book groups will take a trip to the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery on April 21st to see their production of the play*

May 8, 2012
The Greater Journey: Americans In Paris by David McCullough

June 12, 2012
On Canaan's Side by Sebastian Barry

July 10, 2012
The Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

At today's meeting we had three new members, who added a lot to the discussion. So, if you're interested in joining a book group, please consider The Bookies, we'd love to have you!

For more information about The Bookies, please email me, Katie Moellering at kmoellering@bham.lib.al.us.

Happy Reading!
km

Library Elves

2011-12-01T09:57:00.002-06:00

They're hiding...can you find them?

If you do, you get a prize! It's just that simple.

the art & science of happiness

2011-11-30T17:54:00.000-06:00

Just a few housekeeping items before we get down to business. Our next meeting will be Tuesday evening December 27 at 6:30pm. The Library will be on Holiday Hours and closes at 6pm but I will be here to let GRG’ers in the building, so come on down. December is our biannual Salon Discussion so read ANY book(s) you’d like to share with the group as there will be no assigned topic. We’ll also be voting on the next six months of genres at this meeting so if you have any topics you’d like to see on the ballot please do let me know.

This was another exceptional, WOW-factor meeting! Who knew there was so much to discuss about happiness, but I don’t believe we had a lag in conversation the entire evening. What is happiness? How can it be (or can it be at all) codified? Who studies it and how? Should we all be students of it? How do you find it and, more importantly, keep it? Is there a happiness “status quo?” All of this and more was on the discussion table last night.

The Happiness Project; Or, Why I spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin

Gretchen Rubin had an epiphany one rainy afternoon in the unlikeliest of places: a city bus. "The days are long, but the years are short," she realized. "Time is passing, and I'm not focusing enough on the things that really matter." In that moment, she decided to dedicate a year to her happiness project.

In this lively and compelling account, Rubin chronicles her adventures during the twelve months she spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific research, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier. Among other things, she found that novelty and challenge are powerful sources of happiness; that money can help buy happiness, when spent wisely; that outer order contributes to inner calm; and that the very smallest of changes can make the biggest difference.

(Gretchin Rubin’s blog, also called The Happiness Project, is online at www.happiness-project.com. You can sign up for the Moment of Happiness Daily Quotation email by CLICKING HERE.)

The Politics of Happiness: What Government Can Learn from the New Research on Well-Being by Derek Bok

During the past forty years, thousands of studies have been carried out on the subject of happiness. Some have explored the levels of happiness or dissatisfaction associated with typical daily activities, such as working, seeing friends, or doing household chores. Others have tried to determine the extent to which income, family, religion, and other factors are associated with the satisfaction people feel about their lives. The Gallup organization has begun conducting global surveys of happiness, and several countries are considering publishing periodic reports on the growth or decline of happiness among their people. One nation, tiny Bhutan, has actually made "Gross National Happiness" the central aim of its domestic policy. How might happiness research affect government policy in the United States--and beyond? In The Politics of Happiness, former Harvard president Derek Bok examines how governments could use the rapidly growing research data on what makes people happy--in a variety of policy areas to increase well-being and improve the quality of life for all their citizens.

Bok first describes the principal findings of happiness researchers. He considers how reliable the results appear to be and whether they deserve to be taken into account in devising government policies. Recognizing both the strengths and weaknesses of happiness research, Bok looks at the policy implications for economic growth, equality, retirement, unemployment, health care, mental health, family programs, education, and government quality, among other subjects.

Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth by Ed Diener

Is being happy beneficial to your health, wealth, and social relationships? Is there an optimal level of happiness for obtaining your goals? Is there a happiness set-point, and can it change? Do you know your level of psychological wealth?

Utilizing his groundbreaking development of the field of subjective well-being, Dr. Ed Diener, ¬recognized as the world's leading expert on happiness, challenges our modern assumptions about the causes and consequences of happiness. Ed and his son Robert Biswas-Diener share the results of three decades of research on happiness to help unlock the mysteries of this elusive Holy Grail. In Happinessthe father and son team presents scientific evidence revealing that happiness is not overrated, and is good for people’s health, social relationships, job success, longevity, and altruism. They also show why "super-happiness" is not a worthy goal.

Happy for No Reason: Seven Steps to Being Happy from the Inside Out by Marci Shimoff and Carol Kline

From the bestselling coauthor of Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul and a leading contributor to The Secret, comes a fresh, new, practical program for finding and maintaining the happiness we all seek.

(This was a great meeting for quotes and my favorite the reader of this book shared was, “Genuinely happy people are happy for no reason. They bring happiness to their experiences rather than expecting their experiences to bring them happiness.”)

Out of the Blue: Delight Comes into Our Lives by Mark Victor Hansen and Barbara Nichols

In Out of the Blue, Mark Victor Hansen, coauthor of the phenomenal New York Times bestsellers Chicken Soup for the Soul, A 2nd Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul and A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul, and Barbara Nichols show how the experience of delight opens us to compassion and spiritual awareness, and includes 52 "Delight Igniters" -- ways to create happiness and share it with others.

Out of the Blue includes stories by James Michener, Deepak Chopra, Brian Boitano, Wayne Dyer, Cathy Lee Crosby, Victoria Jackson, Wally Amos and other well-known celebrities who have brought delight to the world. It also features stories by ordinary people who found delight in their everyday lives. Their personal stories demonstrate how we can contribute to the creation of a most desirable and entirely possible time -- the Age of Delight.

(My favorite quote from this book is attributed to Abraham Lincoln, “…if at the end…I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside of me.”)

How to Eat a Small Country: A Family’s Pursuit of Happiness, One Meal at a Time by Amy Finley

A professionally trained cook turned stay-at-home mom, Amy Finley decided on a whim to send in an audition tape for season three of The Next Food Network Star, and the impossible happened: she won. So why did she walk away from it all? A triumphant and endearing tale of family, food, and France, Amy’s story is an inspiring read for women everywhere.

While Amy was hoping to bring American families together with her simple Gourmet Next Doorrecipes, she ended up separating from her French husband, Greg, who didn’t want to be married to a celebrity. Amy felt betrayed. She was living a dream—or was she? She was becoming famous, cooking for people out there in TV land, in thirty minutes, on a kitchen set . . . instead of cooking and eating with her own family at home.

In a desperate effort to work things out, Amy makes the controversial decision to leave her budding television career behind and move her family to France, where she and Greg lived after they first met and fell in love. How to Eat a Small Country is Amy’s personal story of her rewarding struggle to reunite through the simple, everyday act of cooking and eating together. Meals play a central role in Amy’s new life, from meeting the bunny destined to become their classic Burgundian dinner oflapin à la moutarde to dealing with the aftermath of a bouillabaisse binge. And as she, Greg, and their two young children wend their way through rural France, they gradually reweave the fabric of their family.

At times humorous and heart-wrenching, and always captivating and delicious, How to Eat a Small Country chronicles the food-filled journey that one couple takes to stay together.

(I compared this book with Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love at the meeting and was delighted to find this review, "How to Eat a Small Country shares a few key traits with Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love in particular an infectiously likeable narrator and mouthwatering descriptions of European food. But Finley’s memoir is less precious, more honest, and ultimately more rewarding." -- Boston Globe)

My Year with Eleanor: A Memoir by Noelle Hancock

After losing her high-octane job as an entertainment blogger, Noelle Hancock was lost. About to turn twenty-nine, she'd spent her career writing about celebrities' lives and had forgotten how to live her own. Unemployed and full of self-doubt, she had no idea what she wanted out of life. She feared change—in fact, she feared almost everything. Once confident and ambitious, she had become crippled by anxiety, lacking the courage required even to attend a dinner party—until inspiration struck one day in the form of a quote on a chalkboard in a coffee shop:

"Do one thing every day that scares you."
—Eleanor Roosevelt

Painfully timid as a child, Eleanor Roosevelt dedicated herself to facing her fears, a commitment that shaped the rest of her life. With Eleanor as her guide, Noelle spends the months leading up to her thirtieth birthday pursuing a "Year of Fear." From shark diving to fighter pilot lessons, from tap dancing and stand-up comedy to confronting old boyfriends, her hilarious and harrowing adventures teach her about who she is, and what she can become—lessons she makes vital for all of us.

(Outside of the “Do one thing…” quote, which I have on my car in the form of a bumper sticker, my favorite Eleanor Roosevelt quote from this book is “My life can be so arranged that I can live on whatever I have. If I cannot live as I have lived in the past, I shall live differently, and living differently does not mean living with less attention to the things that make life gracious and pleasant or with less enjoyment of things of the mind.”)

Holiday ereader shopping info (just in time for Black Friday)

2011-11-22T16:28:00.002-06:00

Are you interested in getting an ereader as a holiday gift? Lots of people are, so I’ve put together a few thoughts about the ereaders I have used to help you as a shopping guide. Of course, these are just my opinions; I could be wrong. Also, I’m not telling you which ereader to buy. That’s your decision. I’m just offering my experience and opinion to help you with your decision.

I’m not going to focus on the technical details, because honestly most people just don’t care about the operating system or platform or resolution or any of those technical details. If you do, then this isn’t the guide for you. Most people want to know, in plain English, how they can use it, if they can borrow library books on it, and if it is going to be easy to use.

Here at Emmet O’Neal Library, we’ve had a fair amount of experience helping people use ereaders to borrow ebooks from our collection. It’s not as simple as purchasing ebooks, but the price is right (free).

Nook, by Barnes & Noble
You can borrow ebooks from the library to read on all the Nooks, but you will have a few extra steps to go through to make that happen. It will involve downloading a program called Adobe Digital Editions onto your computer and setting up an account with Adobe. This is because Adobe manages the “digital rights” to the ebooks you borrow from our library. You will also need to hook your Nook up to your computer to transfer your ebook to your Nook.

Nook Simple Touch ($99) ereader (on sale at Barnes & Noble on Black Friday for $79)
This is a solid ereader that lets you buy books from Barnes & Noble very easily as long as you are connected to a wifi network (which just happens to be a free service at our library). You can read it outside at the pool or the beach. However, you will need some light source for reading in bed (unlike the tablets that are also ereaders). The battery should last a couple of months, which is a pretty nice feature.

Color Nook ($199) ereader/small tablet computer
This is a small tablet about half the size of an iPad. It is easy to use for buying ebooks just like the Simple Touch. It’s not great for reading outside because it doesn’t use eink. It will overheat in the sun, too. The battery life is about 12 hours or so, so you’ll need to charge it every day or so.
It has a Web browser and a few apps, but I thought the screen was too small to really enjoy the the tablet functionality.

Nook Tablet ($249) ereader/small tablet computer
I haven’t played with one of these, but by all accounts it should be just like the Color Nook, with a nicer screen.

Kindle, by Amazon
You can borrow ebooks from the library now to read on all the Kindles. On any of the ones that are available for purchase now, the process is fairly easy and does not require additional software – you just need an Amazon account and a valid library card. The Kindle Fire allows you to borrow without even needing a separate computer. If you get a Kindle with 3G access, though, you can’t check out public library ebooks on the 3G network – you have to use wifi for that (did I mention we have free wifi at the library?)

However, Penguin recently quit allowing its ebooks to be lent on Kindles through library ebook systems. We don’t know yet what impact that will have. Amazon also has its own lending library through its Amazon Prime Membership. That’s got nothing to do with our library, though.

Kindle ($79 or $109, depending on if you allow ads or not)
The Kindle is the latest generation of the original Amazon ereader. You can read it outside easily, but in bed you’re going to need some light to read it. The battery life is supposed to last up to two months.

Kindle Touch ($99 to $189, depending on if you allow ads and/or want 3G access)
This ereader is comparable to the Nook Simple Touch. You can read it outside easily, but in bed you’re going to need some light to read it. The battery life is supposed to last up to two months. You can get a cheaper version if you’re okay with advertisements being displayed on the screen when you’re not reading.

Kindle Fire ($199) ereader/small tablet computer
The Kindle Fire is a small tablet that is primarily designed to deliver any content available through Amazon (ebooks, movies, music, etc.). Of the various ereaders I’ve examined over the past two or three years, it is the easiest to use right out of the box. Amazon sends it to you, you take it out of the box, it knows who you are and sets itself up with your Amazon account all by itself. You can pretty much start reading right away.
However, it does not have 3G capabilities, so you can’t download new content unless you are in range of a wifi network (which, by the way, we have for free at the library).

Apple iPad2 ($499 and up) tablet
The iPad2 is a full-sized tablet (about twice the screen size of the Kindle Fire and the Color Nook) that has several ereading apps available for free (Nook, Kindle, iBooks, and the Overdrive app that is our library’s -book collection uses). The setup for the iPad is relatively simple, but you will need iTunes installed on a computer plus an iTunes account to get it set up right out of the box. You will then need to download the ereader apps before you can use it as an ereader. On the other hand, you can also use it for email, Web surfing, writing (especially if you get an external keyboard for it), taking pictures, making videos, etc. If you don’t want to be tied to a wifi network to make purchases or use interactive content, you’ll need a 3G model, those are about $650.
For borrowing library ebooks, using the iPad is pretty seamless. You don’t have to use a separate computer or be tethered to a computer.

Please note that the prices above were accurate when I wrote this blog entry - they can change at the discretion of the sellers.

GRG Recap - Alabama Authors

2011-11-15T16:29:00.000-06:00

There’s nothing like local authors to get a spirited discussion going! In anticipation of an author luncheon hosted by Southern Magic, the Birmingham chapter of Romance Writers of America, many of our GRGers read titles from authors scheduled to attend the event, but any book by an Alabama author was eligible for discussion.

On November 29th at 6:30pm, we’ll be discussing books on the art and science of happiness. This should be a very interesting discussion, so don’t miss out! Have company in town for the Thanksgiving holiday? Bring them with you, we all love to see new faces!

On to the list:

When Light Breaks by Patti Callahan Henry
Garnering comparisons to Anne Rivers Siddons and Pat Conroy, Patti Callahan Henry has woven her lyrical Southern voice throughout the Lowcountry landscape. Now, as two women from opposite sides of the same sea meet, a tale unfolds that will draw readers into the heart's remembrances-and the tender awakenings of first love.

Though bogged down in the stress of planning her elaborate wedding to a professional golfer, twenty-seven-year-old Kara Larson still makes time to visit ninety-six-year-old Maeve Mahoney at her nursing home. And as Maeve recounts the rambling story of her first love back in Ireland, Kara is driven to remember her own first love: childhood neighbor Jack Sullivan.

GENERAL DISCUSSION: P.C. Henry’s novel features the popular story-within-a-story plot device and we came up with the following favorites that also feature it.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flag
It’s the story of two women in the 1980s, of gray-headed Mrs. Threadgoode telling her life story to Evelyn, who is in the sad slump of middle age. The tale she tells is also of two women, of the irrepressibly daredevilish tomboy Idgie and her friend Ruth, who back in the thirties ran a little place in Whistle Stop, Alabama, a Southern kind of Cafe Wobegon offering good barbecue and good coffee and all kinds of love and laughter, even an occasional murder. And as the past unfolds, the present, for Evelyn and for us, will never quite be the same. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is folksy and fresh, endearing and affecting, with humor and drama, and with an ending that would fill with smiling tears the Whistle Stop Lake...if they only had a lake....

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, drifters, and misfits, a second-rate circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. A veterinary student who almost earned his degree, Jacob is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her.

The movie, Titanic
Nothing on Earth can rival the epic spectacle and breathtaking grandeur of Titanic the sweeping love story that sailed into the hearts of moviegoers around the world ultimately emerging as the most popular motion picture of all time.Leonardo DiCaprio and Oscar-nominee Kate Winslet light up the screen as Jack and Rose the young lovers who find one another on the maiden voyage of the "unsinkable" R.M.S. Titanic. But when the doomed luxury liner collides with an iceberg in the frigid North Atlantic their passionate love affair becomes a thrilling race for survival.

Keeping the Faith: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives, a Memoir by Wayne Flynt
This historical memoir by the widely recognized scholar, Wayne Flynt, chronicles the inner workings of his academic career at Samford and Auburn Universities, as well as his many contributions to the general history of Alabama. Flynt has traveled the state and the South lecturing and teaching both lay and academic groups, calling on his detailed knowledge of both the history and power structures in Alabama to reveal uncomfortable truths wherever he finds them, whether in academic institutions that fall short of their stated missions, in government and industry leaders who seek and hold power by playing to the fears and prejudices of the public, or in religious groups who abandon their original missions and instead seek financial and emotional comfort in lip service only.

Children’s author Hoyt Wilson
Hoyt Wilson, author, educator and film producer has earned 16 national media awards including four national film awards for a biographical film series from the International Film Festival of New York, National Educational Film Festival, The Independent Film Producers Of America and the US Indusrtrial Film Festival. All his work is of a biographical nature. (amazon.com)

Fly Fishing Through the Midlife Crisis by Howell Raines, who had a brief tenure as editor of the New York Times
Just as Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance used motorcycle repair as a metaphor for the examination of self, Howell Raines uses his lifelong experiences as a fly fisherman to explore his life, politics, gender, roles as a son, husband, father, and journalist, and his attitudes toward aging and mortality. A man who has fished with presidents and Southern friends as well as with his own two sons, Raines chronicles his progress from "the Redneck way of fishing" for quantity and food to the catch-and-release way of his friend and mentor Dick Blalock. Blalock taught Raines that fly fishing is about attitude and friendship, not about catching fish. Raines imparts tips on casting and stream beds gracefully, along with his love for what he calls "waters that move" as he explores the deep funk he fell into at midlife, complete with a divorce, a seven-year feud with his father and brother, and the all-consuming animosity he allowed himself to develop toward his boss at work. By casting into the waters of his own life -- and ultimately reconciling with middle age -- Howell Raines has written a literate, contemplative celebration of life and friendship.

Odd Egg Editor by Kathryn Tucker Windham
Remembering the sting of male discrimination she repeatedly endured during her career as a newspaper-woman, the author wistfully recalls the hurt of being overlooked, snubbed, and ribbed by her male colleagues.

GENERAL DISCUSSION: The Library carries an outstanding documentary film about Windham called “Kathryn: The Story of a Teller.”

Staked by J.F. Lewis
With his Denis Leary–esque wit and misanthropic outlook on (un)life, Eric is a vampire with issues. Take his memory problems, for example. He not only can’t remember who he ate for dinner yesterday, he doesn’t even remember how he became a vampire in the first place. Then his girlfriend, Tabitha, finally convinces him to turn her into a vampire—and when he does, his desire for her fades. And her younger sister Rachel sure is cute...but when Eric kills a werewolf in self-defense, things really get out of hand. Now a pack of born-again lycanthropes is out for holy retribution, while Tabitha and Rachel each have their own agendas...which may or may not include helping Eric stay in one piece. All Eric wants to do is run his strip club, drink a little blood, and be left alone. Instead, he must survive car crashes, sunlight, sex magic, and werewolves on ice—not to mention his own nasty temper and forgetfulness.

GENERAL DISCUSSION:
Reading a story set in a place with which the reader is familiar always sets people off, either in good ways, bad ways, or both. Diane McWhorter’s expose on civil rights in Birmingham, Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama and the Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution, sparked some local controversy when it was published. Linda Howard writes romantic suspense and set one of her thrilling novels, Dying to Please, right here in Mountain Brook. Anne George is a perennial favorite with her Southern Sisters cozy mysteries, beginning with Murder on a Girls’ Night Out, which are set all around our great state from Birmingham to Gulf Shores as well as other Alabama locales.

Parents! Is Money on Your Mind?

2011-10-28T15:54:00.000-05:00

Hi Readers!
If you've been around the library lately I'm sure you've noticed we have money on our minds! We're a few months into our Smart Investing @ EOL series and we're pumped! We've had lots of excitement and great attendance at our programs.
In particular, last week we hosted a seminar on ways parents can save money for their own retirement while saving for their children's education at the same time. I've found a few links lately that I think may be of interest to those of you who attended the program (or really anyone in general!). Check out these links:

Parenting magazine's article on answering kids' tough questions about money.
From Get Rich Slowly blog we have an article on calibrating and circumnavigating the cost of college.

I pulled together some books on the topic from our collection and they're currently on display. Check 'em out:

If you'd like to swing by the library today and check out a title, you'll find the books on the display shelf near the 2nd floor Reference Desk. We have plenty of brochures for our upcoming seminars as well. In fact, we'll host two next week:

November 3rd @ 6:30 p.m.

Banking and Credit

and

November 5th 9:00 am - 12:30 p.m.

Women & Money

Registration is required for both of these free events.

To find out more visit our website or click on this link which will take you straight to the Smart Investing @ EOL page.

Keep reading!

katie m.

Genre Reading Group recap - books & literacy

2011-09-28T12:01:00.001-05:00

Next month's topic is Alabama authors. Drop by the library for a local author selection or please feel free to browse for your own selection. I'm happy to help either way.

Also, next month we'll probably be meeting OFF-SITE! The Children's Department will be hosting their Halloween extravaganza so parking and maneuverability in general will be compromised. I'm working on that and will let you know when I find a spot for us. I'll also bombard you beforehand with Friendly Reminders.

If you or someone you know loves horror movies, make plans to attend the Nightmare on Oak Street Horror Movie Double Feature on Friday, October 21
from 5pm-9pm. Pizza, snacks, and horror...is there any better combination? (ages 18 and up only)

If horror movies are not your bag, plan to visit the Dead Authors' Graveyard on Saturday, October 22. The Graveyard will be open for visitation 10am-4pm so you may visit the graves, learn some cool facts, and eat some snacks...but you might not want to linger much past sunset.

On to the list!

Days of Reading by Marcel Proust
In these inspiring essays about why we read, Proust explores all the pleasures and trials that we take from books, as well as explaining the beauty of Ruskin and his work, and the joys of losing yourself in literature as a child.

The Lost Art of Reading: Why Books Matter in a Distracted Time by David L. Ulin
Reading is a revolutionary act, an act of engagement in a culture that wants us to disengage. In The Lost Art of Reading, David L. Ulin asks a number of timely questions — why is literature important? What does it offer, especially now? Blending commentary with memoir, Ulin addresses the importance of the simple act of reading in an increasingly digital culture. Reading a book, flipping through hard pages, or shuffling them on screen — it doesn’t matter. The key is the act of reading, the seriousness and depth. Ulin emphasizes the importance of reflection and pause allowed by stopping to read a book, and the focus required to let the mind run free in a world that is not one's own. Far from preaching to the choir, The Lost Art of Reading is a call to arms, or rather, pages.

General discusion:
Proust Was a Neuroscientist by Jonah Lehrer
In this technology-driven age, it’s tempting to believe that science can solve every mystery. After all, science has cured countless diseases and even sent humans into space. But as Jonah Lehrer argues in this sparkling debut, science is not the only path to knowledge. In fact, when it comes to understanding the brain, art got there first. Taking a group of artists — a painter, a poet, a chef, a composer, and a handful of novelists — Lehrer shows how each one discovered an essential truth about the mind that science is only now rediscovering. We learn, for example, how Proust first revealed the fallibility of memory; how George Eliot discovered the brain’s malleability; how the French chef Escoffier discovered umami (the fifth taste); how Cézanne worked out the subtleties of vision; and how Gertrude Stein exposed the deep structure of language — a full half-century before the work of Noam Chomsky and other linguists. It’s the ultimate tale of art trumping science. More broadly, Lehrer shows that there’s a cost to reducing everything to atoms and acronyms and genes. Measurement is not the same as understanding, and art knows this better than science does. An ingenious blend of biography, criticism, and first-rate science writing, Proust Was a Neuroscientist urges science and art to listen more closely to each other, for willing minds can combine the best of both, to brilliant effect.

Is Google Making Us Stupid: What the Internet is Doind to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr (Atlantic Monthly, July/August 2008)

Lost Classics: Writers on Books Loved and Lost, Overlooked, Under-read, Unavailable, Stolen, Extinct, or Otherwise Out of Commission edited by Michael Ondaatje, Michael Redhill, Esta Spalding, Linda Spalding
Compiled by the editors of Brick: A Literary Magazine, Lost Classics is a reader’s delight: an intriguing and entertaining collection of eulogies for lost books. As the editors have written in a joint introduction to the book, “being lovers of books, we’ve pulled a scent of these absences behind us our whole reading lives, telling people about books that exist only on our own shelves, or even just in our own memory.” Anyone who has ever been changed by a book will find kindred spirits in the pages of Lost Classics. Each of the editors has contributed a lost book essay to this collection, including Michael Ondaatje on Sri Lankan filmmaker Tissa Abeysekara’s Bringing Tony Home, a novella about a mutual era of childhood. Also included are Margaret Atwood on sex and death in the scandalous Doctor Glas, first published in Sweden in 1905; Russell Banks on the off-beat travelogue Too Late to Turn Back by Barbara Greene–the “slightly ditzy” cousin of Graham; Bill Richardson on a children’s book for adults by Russell Hoban; Ronald Wright on William Golding’s Pincher Martin; Caryl Phillips on Michael Mac Liammoir’s account of his experiences on the set of Orson Welles’s Othello, and much, much more.

The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life: How to Get More Books in Your Life and More Life from Your Books by Steve Leveen
Do not set out to live a well-read life but rather your well-read life. No one can be well-read using someone else's reading list. Unless a book is good for you, you won't connect with it and gain from it. Just as no one can tell you how to lead your life, no one can tell you what to read for your life. How do readers find more time to read? In The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life, Steve Leveen offers both inspiration and practical advice for bibliophiles on how to get more books in their life and more life from their books.
His recommendations are disarmingly refreshing, as when he advises when not to read a book and why not to feel guilty if you missed reading all those classics in school. He helps readers reorganize their bookshelves into a Library of Candidates that they actively build and a Living Library of books read with enthusiasm, and he emphasizes the value of creating a Bookography, or annotated list of your reading life. Separate chapters are devoted to the power of audio books and the merits of reading groups. The author himself admits he came "late to the bookshelf," making this charming little guide all the more convincing.

General discussion: A favored quote from the book above, "Reading groups are health clubs for the mind."

You've Got To Read This Book: 55 People Tell the Story of the Book That Changed Their Life compiled by Jack Canfield, Gay Hendricks with Carol Kline
There's nothing better than a book you can't put down—or better yet, a book you'll never forget. This book puts the power of transformational reading into your hands. Jack Canfield, cocreator of the bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul® series, and self-actualization pioneer Gay Hendricks have invited notable people to share personal stories of books that changed their lives. What book shaped their outlook and habits? Helped them navigate rough seas? Spurred them to satisfaction and success?

The contributors include Dave Barry, Stephen Covey, Malachy McCourt, Jacquelyn Mitchard, Mark Victor Hansen, John Gray, Christiane Northrup, Bernie Siegel, Craig Newmark, Michael E. Gerber, Lou Holtz, and Pat Williams, to name just a few. Their richly varied stories are poignant, energizing, and entertaining. Author and actor Malachy McCourt tells how a tattered biography of Gandhi, stumbled on in his youth, offered a shining example of true humility—and planted the seeds that would help support his sobriety decades later.

Bestselling author and physician Bernie Siegel, M.D., tells how William Saroyan's The Human Comedy helped him realize that, in order to successfully treat his patients with life-threatening illnesses, "I had to help them live—not just prevent them from dying."

Actress Catherine Oxenberg reveals how, at a life crossroads and struggling with bulimia, a book taught her the transforming difference one person could make in the life of another—and why that person for her was Richard Burton.

Rafe Esquith, the award-winning teacher whose inner-city students have performed Shakespeare all over the world, recounts his deep self-doubt in the midst of his success—and how reading To Kill a Mockingbird strengthened him to continue teaching.

Beloved librarian and bestselling author Nancy Pearl writes how, at age ten, Robert Heinlein's science fiction book Space Cadet impressed on her the meaning of personal integrity and gave her a vision of world peace she'd never imagined possible. Two years later, she marched in her first civil rights demonstration and learned that there's always a way to make "a small contribution to intergalactic harmony."

If you're looking for insight and illumination—or simply for that next great book to read—You've Got to Read This Book! has treasures in store for you.

Books: A Memoir by Larry McMurtry
With astonishing charm, grace, and good humor, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Lonesome Dove returns with a fascinating memoir of his lifelong passion of buying, selling, and collecting rare books.

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: the True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession by Allison Hoover Bartlett
Unrepentant book thief John Charles Gilkey has stolen a fortune in rare books from around the country. Yet unlike most thieves who steal for profit, Gilkey steals for love-the love of books. Perhaps equally obsessive is Ken Sanders, the self-appointed "bibliodick" who's driven to catch him. Following this eccentric cat-and-mouse chase with a mixture of suspense, insight and humor, Allison Hoover Bartlett plunges the reader deep into a rich world of fanatical book lust and considers what it is that makes some people stop at nothing to posses the titles they love.

The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel
Inspired by the process of creating a library for his fifteenth-century home near the Loire, in France, Alberto Manguel, the acclaimed writer on books and reading, has taken up the subject of libraries. “Libraries,” he says, “have always seemed to me pleasantly mad places, and for as long as I can remember I’ve been seduced by their labyrinthine logic.” In this personal, deliberately unsystematic, and wide-ranging book, he offers a captivating meditation on the meaning of libraries.

Manguel, a guide of irrepressible enthusiasm, conducts a unique library tour that extends from his childhood bookshelves to the “complete” libraries of the Internet, from Ancient Egypt and Greece to the Arab world, from China and Rome to Google. He ponders the doomed library of Alexandria as well as the personal libraries of Charles Dickens, Jorge Luis Borges, and others. He recounts stories of people who have struggled against tyranny to preserve freedom of thought—the Polish librarian who smuggled books to safety as the Nazis began their destruction of Jewish libraries; the Afghani bookseller who kept his store open through decades of unrest. Oral “memory libraries” kept alive by prisoners, libraries of banned books, the imaginary library of Count Dracula, the library of books never written—Manguel illuminates the mysteries of libraries as no other writer could. With scores of wonderful images throughout, The Library at Night is a fascinating voyage through Manguel’s mind, memory, and vast knowledge of books and civilizations.

What is YOUR favorite book about books?

do YOU love your librarians?

2011-09-07T16:35:00.001-05:00

we're on tv

2011-08-31T14:46:00.001-05:00

the best wine tasting in town

2011-08-31T12:48:00.000-05:00

We'd love to see you on Friday, September 23rd from 6pm-9pm at the Birmingham Zoo for Western's Food & Wine Festival so buy your tickets today. Proceeds benefit the Library.

Advance - $45
At the door the night of the event - $55
Group discount for buying 10 or more tickets together - $40 each

Tickets are available at Emmet O'Neal Library, any Western Supermarkets location, and..................drum roll...................you can now purchase them online!

GRG Recap - School Days Classics

2011-08-31T10:28:00.006-05:00

I always make a small bookmark for our Genre Reading Group meetings; something to sort of tie all the different books together. The books don't really have to be similar as most of the fun of our discussions come from searching for, and often finding, a thread of cohesion among the disparate topics. The bookmark is simply intended to help readers get into a helpful frame of mind for making the connections. I am particularly pleased with the selection I found for our discussion of the classics.

"A book is never a masterpiece: it becomes one. Genius is the talent of a dead man."

Edmond de Goncourt

"Do not suppose, however, that I intend to urge a diet of classics on anybody. I have seen such diets at work. I have known people who have actually read all, or almost all, the guaranteed Hundred Best Books. God save us from reading nothing but the best."

Robertson Davies

"A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read."

Mark Twain

I like these quotes most because I don't necessarily agree with them. I do believe a book becomes a masterpiece but don't believe that an author's death is a necessary ingredient. I agree wholeheartedly that reading tastes should range wide and be varied, but the classics can offer that as well. I myself don't read a strict diet of the classics, but I wouldn't frown upon someone who did. And lastly, I disagree with Mr. Twain on his assumption that nobody wants to read the classics. I believe we think we don't want to read them. That was certainly the case with the book I chose to read for our meeting, Moby Dick by Herman Melville.

I decided to read it after hearing an author, Nathaniel Philbrick, talk about his experiences as the disgruntled son of a Melville scholar. He refused to read anything by Melville on general teenage and young adult principles, then ended up really loving the work on its own merits when he finally got around to it as a more mature reader. I decided to give it a try and can honestly say I had a similar experience.

I don't believe I would have ever managed to finish it as a hurried, distracted undergraduate, but as a fairly well read 30-something, it was beautiful and harsh and wonderfully dated all at the same time. Several others who were re-reading something from their own school days had the same impression. It was a vastly different read when viewed through the lens of life experience. I believe that is why the classics are the classics and I look forward to seeing what new classics rise to the top over the course of my life.

Were any of the books listed below among YOUR required reading in school? What did you read during school that you loved? Were there any books you didn't care for at the time but would like to re-visit now?

Our Town by Thornton Wilder

Our Town was first produced and published in 1938 to wide acclaim. This Pulitzer Prize–winning drama of life in the town of Grover's Corners, an allegorical representation of all life, has become a classic. It is Thornton Wilder's most renowned and most frequently performed play.

In general discussion, we talk briefly about another book by Wilder, The Bridge of San Luis Rey.

"On Friday noon, July the twentieth, 1714, the finest bridge in all Peru broke and precipitated five travelers into the gulf below." With this celebrated sentence, Thornton Wilder begins The Bridge of San Luis Rey, one of the towering achievements in American fiction and a novel read throughout the world. By chance, a monk witnesses the tragedy. Brother Juniper seeks to prove that it was divine intervention rather than chance that led to the deaths of those who perished in the tragedy. His study leads to his own death -- and to the author's timeless investigation into the nature of love and the meaning of the human condition.

The Pearl by John Steinbeck

Kino is a desperately poor Mexican-pearl diver. When he finds 'The Pearl of the World' he believes that his life will be magically transformed. Obsessed by his dreams, Kino is blind to the greed, fear and even violence the pearl arouses in his neighbours - and himself. This is a haunting and timeless tale of wealth and the evil it can bring.

Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck

With his dog Charley, John Steinbeck set out in his truck to explore and experience America in the 1960s. As he talked with all kinds of people, he sadly noted the passing of region speech, fell in love with Montana, and was appalled by racism in New Orleans.

In general discussion, Steinbeck was a heavy hitter. We also talked about two of his other novels:

The Red Pony

Young Jody Tiflin lives on his father's California ranch. He is thrilled when his father gives him a red pony, and later promises him the colt of a bay mare. Both these gifts bring joy to Jodi's life - but tragedy soon follows. As Jodi begins to learn the harsh lessons of life and death, he starts to understand what growing-up and becoming an adult really means.

The Grapes of Wrath

At once naturalistic epic, captivity narrative, road novel, and transcendental gospel, Steinbeck's, The Grapes of Wrath is perhaps the most American of American classics. Although it follows the movement of thousands of men and women and the transformation of an entire nation during the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s, The Grapes of Wrath is also the story of one Oklahoma farm family, the Joads, who are driven off their homestead and forced to travel west to the promised land of California. From their trials and their repeated collisions against the hard realities of this new America, Steinbeck creates a drama that is intensely human yet majestic in its scale and moral vision, tragic but ultimately stirring in its insistence on human dignity.

And of course, for epic struggles, there's always Hemingway too.

The Old Man and the Sea

Told in language of great simplicity and power, it is the story of an old Cuban fisherman, down on his luck, and his supreme ordeal -- a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. Here Hemingway recasts, in strikingly contemporary style, the classic theme of courage in the face of defeat, of personal triumph won from loss. Written in 1952, this hugely successful novella confirmed his power and presence in the literary world and played a large part in his winning the 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Awe and exhiliration--along with heartbreak and mordant wit--abound in Lolita, Nabokov's most famous and controversial novel, which tells the story of the aging Humbert Humbert's obsessive, devouring, and doomed passion for the nymphet Dolores Haze. Lolita is also the story of a hypercivilized European colliding with the cheerful barbarism of postwar America. Most of all, it is a meditation on love--love as outrage and hallucination, madness and transformation.

In general discussion, the audio version of another of Nabokov's novels, Pnin, was mentioned. We almost unanimously decided we wanted to see the 1962 movie adaptation of Lolita. Plus, did you know that Nabokov was an amateur butterfly expert? Butterflies were all the time popping up in Pnin and in Lolita, quite possibly in all of his other works as well.

Anne's House of Dreams by L.M. Montgomery

This is Lucy Montgomery's last book of the Anne series. Gilbert has become a doctor and now Anne has a wedding day set. Anne has found her "House of Dreams" and decides to leave Green Gables. The story is filled with a cast of quirky small town characters sure to delight.

Don't let the "Anne of Green Gables" moniker fool you. Some other great classics are quoted and/or referenced in this rather sweet and lighthearted work: James Joyce's Ulysses, the works of Robert & Elizabeth Browning, Shakespeare's Hamlet, and Tennyson's "Crossing the Bar." Classics within classics!

What a treat! One reader brought in a vintage (1950's) oversize New Basic Readers edition of Sally, Dick, and Jane! Boy, did that bring back memories for us all. I remember clearly the delight I felt when I got my first reader in elementary school and could read the adventures of that happy little trio all by myself, without help. Thanks MFJ!

Moby Dick by Herman Melville (The audio edition narrated by William Hootkins is spectacularly done!)

A masterpiece of storytelling and symbolic realism, this thrilling adventure and epic saga pits Ahab, a brooding sea captain, against the great white whale that crippled him. More than just the tale of a hair-raising voyage, Melville's riveting story passionately probes man's soul. A literary classic first published in 1851, Moby Dick represents the ultimate human struggle.

What are YOU reading?

Cabinet of Curiosities

2011-08-02T13:57:00.003-05:00

Temperatures are rising making it neccessary to spend some of those precious summer days and nights (gasp) indoors. Not willing to let a retreat indoors bring on summer doldrums, Holley and I have scoured the stacks for some of the most intriguing books here at EOL.

Seeking inspiration from the Cabinets of Curiosities, or Wunderkammer (meaning "wonder-rooms") of Renaissance Europe, we set up our very own curio of curiosities display featuring wondrous books that upon opening, take you to a whole other time, place, and even world.

Here is just of the sampling of the offerings:

Lewis Carroll: Photographer by Roger Taylor and Edward Wakeling

Through the Lens: National Geographic Greatest Photographs

Mythical Beasts of Japan by Kano Hiroyuki

Voyages of Discovery: a Visual Celebration of Ten of the Greatest Natural History Expeditions by Tony Rice

America in Space: NASA's First Fifty Years edited by Stephen J. Dick

The Poster in History by Max Gallo

Ice Palaces by Fred Anderes and Ann Agranoff

Holy Terrors: Gargoyles on Medieval Buildings by Jenetta Rebold Benton

Monuments by Judith Dupre

Amanda

GRG Recap - Salon Discussion

2011-07-20T10:12:00.002-05:00

What books were required reading when you were in school? Have a favorite you want to revisit? Do you remember one that was awful at the time but which you would like to reassess now? Here’s your chance! The August 30th (6:30pm) meeting topic is School Day Classics! Fiction or nonfiction, you decide! I have a small selection pulled, but as always you are free to make your own selection! If you’d like some help making your selection, I’m happy to assist!

Last evening we met for our biannual Salon Discussion. During our Salons, readers bring any book they’d like to discuss and we had a great variety at the table last night!

Last Night at Chateau Marmont by Lauren Weisberger
Brooke loved reading the dishy celebrity gossip rag Last Night. That is, until her marriage became a weekly headline. Brooke was drawn to the soulful, enigmatic Julian Alter the very first time she heard him perform “Hallelujah” at a dark East Village dive bar. Now five years married, Brooke balances two jobs—as a nutritionist at NYU Hospital and as a consultant to an Upper East Side girls’ school, where privilege gone wrong and disordered eating run rampant—in order to help support her husband’s dream of making it in the music world. Things are looking up when after years of playing Manhattan clubs and toiling as an A&R intern, Julian finally gets signed by Sony. Although no one’s promising that the album will ever hit the airwaves, Julian is still dedicated to logging in long hours at the recording studio. All that changes after Julian is asked to perform on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno—and is catapulted to stardom, literally overnight. Amazing opportunities begin popping up almost daily—a new designer wardrobe, a tour with Maroon 5, even a Grammy performance. At first the newfound fame is fun—who wouldn’t want to stay at the Chateau Marmont or visit the set of one of television’s hottest shows? Yet it seems that Brooke’s sweet husband—the man who can’t handle hot showers and wears socks to bed—is increasingly absent, even on those rare nights they’re home together. When rumors about Brooke and Julian swirl in the tabloid magazines, she begins to question the truth of her marriage and is forced to finally come to terms with what she thinks she wants—and what she actually needs.

Shattered by Dick Francis
When jockey Martin Stukely dies after falling in a steeplechase at Cheltenham races, he accidentally embroils his friend Gerard Logan in a perilous search for a stolen video tape. Logan, half artist, half artisan, is a glass blower on the verge of widespread acclaim for the originality and ingenuity of his work. Long accustomed to the frightful dangers inherent in molten glass and in maintaining a glass-making furnace at never less than eighteen hundred degrees Fahrenheit, Logan is suddenly faced with a series of unexpected and terrifying new threats to his business, his courage and his life. Believing the missing video tape to hold some sort of key to a priceless treasure, and wrongly convinced that Logan knows where to find it, a group of villains sets out to force from him the information he doesn't have. Narrowly escaping these attacks, Logan reckons that to survive he must himself find out the truth. The journey is thorny, and the final race to the tape throws more hurdles and more hazards in Logan's way than his dead jockey friend could ever have imagined. Glass shatters. Logan doesn't...but it's a close run thing.

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
Hailed by NPR’s Fresh Air as part Testament of Youth, part Dorothy Sayers, and part Upstairs, Downstairs, this astonishing debut has already won fans from coast to coast and is poised to add Maisie Dobbs to the ranks of literature’s favorite sleuths. Maisie Dobbs isn’t just any young housemaid. Through her own natural intelligence—and the patronage of her benevolent employers—she works her way into college at Cambridge. When World War I breaks out, Maisie goes to the front as a nurse. It is there that she learns that coincidences are meaningful and the truth elusive. After the War, Maisie sets up on her own as a private investigator. But her very first assignment, seemingly an ordinary infidelity case, soon reveals a much deeper, darker web of secrets, which will force Maisie to revisit the horrors of the Great War and the love she left behind.

The Meaning of Night: A Confession by Michael Cox
"After killing the red-haired man, I took myself off to Quinn's for an oyster supper." So begins the "enthralling" (Booklist, starred review) and "ingenious" (Boston Globe) story of Edward Glyver, booklover, scholar, and murderer. As a young boy, Glyver always believed he was destined for greatness. A chance discovery convinces him that he was right: greatness does await him, along with immense wealth and influence. Overwhelmed by his discovery, he will stop at nothing to win back a prize that he knows is rightfully his. Glyver's path to reclaim his prize leads him from the depths of Victorian London, with its foggy streets, brothels, and opium dens, to Evenwood, one of England's most beautiful and enchanting country houses, and finally to a consuming love for the beautiful but enigmatic Emily Carteret. His is a story of betrayal and treachery, of death and delusion, of ruthless obsession and ambition. And at every turn, driving Glyver irresistibly onward, is his deadly rival: the poet-criminal Phoebus Rainsford Daunt. The Meaning of Night is an enthralling novel that will captivate readers right up to its final thrilling revelation.

The Passage by Justin Cronin
An epic and gripping tale of catastrophe and survival, The Passage is the story of Amy—abandoned by her mother at the age of six, pursued and then imprisoned by the shadowy figures behind a government experiment of apocalyptic proportions. But Special Agent Brad Wolgast, the lawman sent to track her down, is disarmed by the curiously quiet girl—and risks everything to save her. As the experiment goes nightmarishly wrong, Wolgast secures her escape—but he can’t stop society’s collapse. And as Amy walks alone, across miles and decades, into a future dark with violence and despair, she is filled with the mysterious and terrifying knowledge that only she has the power to save the ruined world.

In the Woods by Tana French
As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled sneakers, and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours. Twenty years later, the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret. But when a twelve-year-old girl is found murdered in the same woods, he and Detective Cassie Maddox—his partner and closest friend—find themselves investigating a case chillingly similar to the previous unsolved mystery. Now, with only snippets of long-buried memories to guide him, Ryan has the chance to uncover both the mystery of the case before him and that of his own shadowy past. Richly atmospheric, stunning in its complexity, and utterly convincing and surprising to the end, In the Woods is sure to enthrall fans of Mystic River and The Lovely Bones.

Free-Born John: A Biography of John Lilburne by Pauline Gregg
This is the biography of the leader of the Levellers, whose unflagging opposition to authority resulted from a fight for civil liberty. Although pilloried by the Star Chamber, imprisoned by the Long Parliament and twice put on trial for his life, he never ceased his fight for the ordinary citizen.

During the discussion of this book, the reader mentioned an oft-ignored event in British history, the Putney Debates.

Here is an article from the Guardian newspaper on the 360th anniversary of the debates.

Here is a webpage on British civil wars.

If you are really interested, here is a link to a 78 page transcript of the debates.

Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife's grave. Then he joined the army. The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarce--and alien races willing to fight us for them are common. So: we fight. To defend Earth, and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate. Far from Earth, the war has been going on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding. Earth itself is a backwater. The bulk of humanity's resources are in the hands of the Colonial Defense Force. Everybody knows that when you reach retirement age, you can join the CDF. They don't want young people; they want people who carry the knowledge and skills of decades of living. You'll be taken off Earth and never allowed to return. You'll serve two years at the front. And if you survive, you'll be given a generous homestead stake of your own, on one of our hard-won colony planets. John Perry is taking that deal. He has only the vaguest idea what to expect. Because the actual fight, light-years from home, is far, far harder than he can imagine--and what he will become is far stranger.

The Flavia de Luce mysteries of Alan Bradley
The first in the series is The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, followed by The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag and A Red Herring Without Mustard.
It is the summer of 1950–and at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, young Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is intrigued by a series of inexplicable events: A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Then, hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath. For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. “I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn’t. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life.”

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; and a determined woman undertakes the most treacherous of journeys. Amid plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, the fate of the Starks, their allies, and their enemies hangs perilously in the balance, as each endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.

What have YOU been reading lately?

Potluck Movie tomorrow afternoon!

2011-07-15T11:45:00.004-05:00

Attention adult Summer Readers!

Bring a dish to share and join us tomorrow for our summer Potluck Movie, the film adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's book, "Eat, Pray, Love." The film is PG-13 but this is an Adult Summer Reading Program, so adults only!

GRG Recap - Biographical Fiction

2011-06-29T10:53:00.002-05:00

Our topic last night was biographical fiction, which are novels based on real people. This is another of my favorite types of novels to read because I love to see in what ways an author’s imagination will twist and bend perceived reality. I would consider alternate history, like Naomi Novik’s wonderful Temeraire series (the Napoleonic Wars fought with dragon air forces), to be offshoots of both biographical fiction and science fiction/fantasy.

Next month’s topic, or rather non-topic, is our biannual Salon Discussion! Please make a note on your calendars that our July meeting has been moved up one week to July 19^th at 6:30pm. Bring any book (on any topic) you would like to share with the group! I am in the process of tallying the votes for our next six months of reading, so I should have an August selection of books ready to go when we meet on July 19^th!

The World Before Her by Deborah Weisgall

A stunning novel about two women and two marriages -- George Eliot at the end of her life, and another woman a century later.

The year is 1880 and the setting is Venice. Marian Evans -- whose novels under the pen name George Eliot have placed her among the famed Englishwomen of her time -- has come to this enchanted city on her honeymoon. Newly married to John Cross, twenty years her junior, she hopes to put her guilt to rest. Marian lived, unmarried, with George Henry Lewes for twenty-five years, until his death. She took a tremendous risk and paid a high price for that illicit union, but she also achieved happiness and created art. Now she wants to love again. In this new marriage, in this romantic place, can this writer give herself the happy ending that she provided for Middlemarch’s Dorothea Brooke?

The parallel story of a sculptor named Caroline Spingold brings us to Venice one hundred years later, in 1980. Caroline’s powerful, wealthy older husband has brought her to the city against her will, to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary. Having spent a perfect childhood summer in Venice with her parents, before her father left her mother, Caroline had vowed never to return.

In alternating chapters linked by the themes of art, love, and marriage, The World Before Her tells of these two women -- and their surprising similarities. In a city where the canals reflect memory as much as light, they both confront desire and each assesses what she has and who she is. At the heart of this sumptuously and evocatively written novel lies the eternal dilemma of how to find love and sustain it, without losing one’s self.

The reader’s description of this novel, both the topics and format, brought to mind several other great reads! Loving Frank by Nancy Horan chronicles the long-term affair between renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick Cheney, the wife of one of his clients. Michael Cunningham’s The Hours (movie adaptation available) is formatted in a similar way to Weisgall’s novel, reflecting on the last days of Virginia Wolff while paralleling her tale with a contemporary plotline. This novel is beautifully written but does not contain any happily-ever-afters. Shopgirl (movie adaptation available), by comedian/actor/musician Steve Martin, explores the complexities of a modern relationship between Mirabelle, a lowly salesclerk at a department store glove counter, and Ray Porter, a wealthy businessman almost twice her age. In Tracy Chevalier’s first novel, The Virgin Blue, the New York Times best-selling author of Girl With a Pearl Earring (movie adaptation available) relates the parallel stories of a young girl involved in the Huguenot-Calvinist conflicts of the 16^th century and a modern American woman unhappy with her transplanted life in southwestern France.

Speaking of George Eliot and Steve Martin in the same conversation also brought to mind Martin’s excellent movie adaptation of Eliot’s Silas Marner, A Simple Twist of Fate. This is not the only book-to-movie adaptation in which Martin has been involved. His film Roxanne was an adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac.

The Blood Countess by Andrei Codrescu

Andrei Codrescu, NPR commentator and journalist, has written a fascinating first novel based on the life of his real-life ancestor, Elizabeth Bathory, the legendary Blood Countess. Codrescu expertly weaves together two stories in this neo-gothic work: that of the 16th-century Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Bathory, a beautiful and terrifying woman who bathes in the blood of virgin girls; and of her distant descendent, a contemporary journalist who must return to his native Hungary and come to terms with his bloody and disturbing past.

Drake Bathory-Kereshtur, a Hungarian-born journalist who has lived in the United States, returns to his native Hungary, only to be the target for recruitment among a patriotic group that wants to restore the glory--and the horror--of the Hungarian aristocracy. As a descendent of the Countess Elizabeth Bathory, he is heir to all that is wonderful and terrible about his country and his family's past. Codrescu brilliantly explores Drake's anguish, as he realizes the truth behind his gruesome family history. But more importantly, Codrescu also creates a convincing and historically accurate picture of a sadistic woman obsessed with youth, vigor, beauty, and blood – a woman with enough power to order the deaths of 650 virgins so that she could bathe in their blood.

The Blood Countess is a bizarre and compelling book about the horrors of the past, shown so effectively in the monstrous yet attractive personality of Elizabeth, and what pull these horrors have on those who live now.

Tilting at Windmills: A Novel of Cervantes and the Errant Knight by Julian Branston

In seventeenth-century Valladolid, Spain’s new capital, Miguel de Cervantes is busy writing episodes of his comic masterpiece, Don Quixote. His comedy is quickly making him the most popular author in the country, when three potential disasters strike: Cervantes discovers that there is a real Don Quixote, exactly like the character he thought he’d invented; a jealous poet’s plots involving one of the novel’s other characters make Cervantes a laughingstock; and Cervantes falls in love with a beautiful, widowed, but unavailable duchess. Many duels, misunderstandings, and betrayals later, Don Quixote himself comes to Cervantes’ rescue.

This sparkling tale of crazed knights, thwarted love, and literary rivalry is imbued with all of the spirit, verve, and humor of the classic novel to which it pays playful tribute. Tilting at Windmills is a dazzling evocation of Cervantes’ life and times, and a brilliant weave of fact, fiction, and farce.

Happy reading!

Holley

June is National Audiobook Month!

2011-06-21T14:09:00.007-05:00

June is almost over but you still have time to celebrate National Audiobook Month! If you've never listened to an audiobook, now is a great time to check one out. Audiobooks are perfect for entertainment on a road trip or daily commutes, but you can also enjoy them while exercising, cooking, crafting, and relaxing at home. The possibilities are endless!

At EOL, audiobooks come in a few different forms. Not only can you

check out compact disc audiobooks, we have Playaways as well. Playaways are pre-loaded digital audiobook players -the audiobook is loaded onto a portable device, complete with earphones and battery.

Don't forget that you can now enjoy downloaded audiobooks on your computer, mp3 player, or smartphone from our growing downloadable collection! Also, you can stay informed of the latest and greatest audiobooks by signing up for our monthly audiobook newsletter here.

To celebrate National Audiobook Month I've asked Holley and Katie for a few of their favorite audiobooks and I have added some of my favorite listens as well.

Holley's Faves:

Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov

The Incorrigible Children of Ashden Place: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Woods (juvenile title)

Naked in Death by J.D. Robb

Sabriel by Garth Nix (YA title, narrated by Tim Curry!!!)

Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova

Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey & Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell (neither are for sensitive listeners)

Katie's Faves:

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke (GREAT reader!)

The Song of Ice & Fire series by George R.R. Martin - start with Game of Thrones.

The Ramona books by Beverly Cleary - Katie says, "The stories are timeless and funny and Stockard Channing reads them and is more amazing than amazing! The voices she can do make this series great for any age REALLY!!!"

Amanda's Faves:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (YA title)

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris (not for sensitive listeners!)

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

My Name is Memory by Anne Brashares

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

Amanda

What is a Locavore?

2011-06-18T14:40:00.009-05:00

Around this time of year, many Alabamians are starting to satisfy their cravings for the sweet taste of Chilton County peaches. But what about the fresh flavor of say. . . Shelby Co. tomatoes or Bibb Co. strawberries?

In today's increasingly connected world, we have grown apart from our food. You may be surprised to discover that your food has clocked more frequent flyer miles than you have! According to Sustainabletable.org, "a typical carrot has to travel 1,838 miles to reach your dinner table." Locavores, or those who try to eat mostly local food, swear by a diet of fresh, seasonal food. Eating locally grown food will reinvigorate your dinner table with fresh, vibrant flavors while closing the gap between food production and the community.

We have created a display, as well as a brochure to take home, with locavore titles including cookbooks, how-to, memoirs, books on food politics, and DVDs including:

Clean Food by Terry Walters

The Locavore Way by Amy Cotler

The Garden

The Town that Food Saved by Ben Hewitt

In the Green Kitchen by Alice Waters

American Terroir by Rowan Jacobsen

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

King Corn

The Pepper Place Market has been a Saturday morning staple of fresh-food lovers for over ten years now. Find other farmers markets, roadside stands, and U-Pick farm operators listed by county at the State of Alabama's Farmers Market Authority.

Have you ever seen a box of fresh veggies on your neighbors doorstep and wondered where it came from? CSA stands for Community-supported Agriculture and it works by letting you buy "shares" from a farm in exchange for produce or other food products. Grow Alabama is a multi-farm CSA offering locally grown vegetables, fruits and eggs delivered to your home, office, or to a central pick-up point near you. Localharvet.org maintains a comprehensive CSA finder here.

Still hungry for locally grown food? Get involved! Birmingham has its own Slow Food Movement convivium, or chapter. The Slow Food Movement is a "global global, grassroots organization with supporters in 150 countries around the world who are linking the pleasure of good food with a commitment to their community and the environment." Visit Slow Food Birmingham to join and view upcoming events.

Locavore foodies in Alabama have documented their tasty journeys from farm to fork in these two blogs: Eating Alabama and Gulf Coast Local Food. Take a look and be inspired to start your own!

Visit us at the Reference Desk for a comprehensive list of locavore titles and websites! For more great food titles, sign up for our monthly Food & Cooking newsletter here!

Amanda

Bad Art Night

2011-06-11T13:17:00.006-05:00

It is almost time for one of the Library's most beloved, highly anticipated programs, Bad Art Night!

Each year during the Adult Summer Reading Program, we pull out the crayons, glue, pipe cleaners, stickers, paint, googley eyes, and more so that adults everywhere may get back in touch with their inner rapscallion!

Bring a friend and head on over to the Library's Community Meeting Room on Tuesday, June 14th at 6:30pm. There'll be some good eats and chilled wine to get the creativity flowing! If you've signed up for Adult Summer Reading, or you sign up at the program, you'll get another entry in the drawing for the Nook Color as well as being able to mark a square on your Bingo card, getting yourself one step closer to a BINGO and another entry in the drawing for the iPad 2 3G!

There will be four categories of creation available: painting, sculpture, collage, and mixed media. Participants will vote for the absolute worst work of art in each category and winners get a prize! One lucky winner will be awarded a prize for Worst Art of the Night! For more information, contact the Adult Dept at 205-445-1121!

Stay cool!

Holley

Images from the Museum of Bad Art (http://www.museumofbadart.org/)

Genre Reading Group recap - sports writing

2011-06-01T17:33:00.003-05:00

I loved, Loved, LOVED yesterday’s meeting about sports writing! We had THE best time AND one of our best discussions! Sports, in all of its many variations, frequently play such a big role in the average American life and this variety was well represented among GRG participants. We discussed cycling, golf, soccer, NASCAR, football game tailgating, running, horseracing, and a host of other topics that cropped up during the course of our meandering discussion!

June’s topic is biographical fiction: a novel based on true events and/or real people. I have a huge selection of them pulled for your perusal, but you are always welcome to research and select your own title and I am always happy to help should you want assistance in selecting a book. So, read what you pick and come tell us about it, plus get ideas from other readers! You owe it to yourself to join the most fun book group in town!

Don’t forget to sign up for the Adult Summer Reading program if you’ve not done so already. Our first program will be on Tuesday, June 14^th at 6:30pm, Bad Art Night! The worst artist in each category wins a prize! We’re also giving away a Nook Classic, a Nook Color, and an iPad 2 3G at the end of the summer and the more frequently you participate, the better your chances of winning! Call 205-445-1121 for more information about GRG and our Adult Summer Reading program!

On to the list!

Positively False: The Real Story of How I Won the Tour de France by Floyd Landis with Loren Mooney
The series of events surrounding Floyd Landis's 2006 Tour de France was as improbable as anything in the history of sports: He showed up nine seconds late for the race's opening prologue, donned the leader's yellow jersey twelve days later, and lost his lead only to regain it in remarkable fashion just before the Tour's final stage into Paris. Winning the Tour should have been the culmination of a life's dream, but a mere three days later, Landis was accused of using banned performance-enhancing drugs. Released by his team and threatened with the removal of his Tour title, Landis went from winning the most prestigious race of his career to being unfairly labeled as a cheater, a liar, and a doper.

Positively False is at once a memoir and a powerful indictment of the unchecked governing bodies of cycling that have compromised theintegrity of the sport as a whole. From leaving the Mennonite community of his youth in order to pursue his passion for cycling, to riding alongside Lance Armstrong for three years -- with whom he shared the same work ethic and competitive desire -- Floyd Landis details the highs and lows of his career with unabashed honesty. It is this same honesty with which he will clear his name once and for all, as he lays bare the inner workings of the cycling world -- a place where athletes are subject to the antiquated science, flawed interpretive protocols, and draconian legal processes of the anti-doping agencies -- and finally lays to rest the scandal that threatened to destroy everything he's worked so hard to achieve....

Down the Fairway: The Golf Life and Play of Robert T. Jones, Jr. by Robert T. Jones, Jr. and O.B. Keeler
A classic memoir from Bobby Jones, the only person to ever win the Grand Slam, on life and golf.

The reader mentioned a couple of people Jones’ wrote about in the book who figured prominently in Jones’ career while he was in Birmingham but with which all of us were unfamiliar. Alexa Stirling, the “empress of golf” to Robert Trent Jones, Jr.’s “emperor” title, was RTJ, Jr.’s childhood golfing partner and dear friend. I could not find any extensive information on “the Birmingham Slugger,” Charlie Hall, outside of mentions in other books via Google Books, but he also mentored and guided the young golfing celebrity during the early days of his career.

Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town by Warren St. John
Clarkston, Georgia, was a typical Southern town until it was designated a refugee settlement center in the 1990s, becoming the first American home for scores of families in flight from the world’s war zones—from Liberia and Sudan to Iraq and Afghanistan. Suddenly Clarkston’s streets were filled with women wearing the hijab, the smells of cumin and curry, and kids of all colors playing soccer in any open space they could find. The town also became home to Luma Mufleh, an American-educated Jordanian woman who founded a youth soccer team to unify Clarkston’s refugee children and keep them off the streets. These kids named themselves the Fugees.

Set against the backdrop of an American town that without its consent had become a vast social experiment, Outcasts United follows a pivotal season in the life of the Fugees and their charismatic coach. Warren St. John documents the lives of a diverse group of young people as they miraculously coalesce into a band of brothers, while also drawing a fascinating portrait of a fading American town struggling to accommodate its new arrivals. At the center of the story is fiery Coach Luma, who relentlessly drives her players to success on the soccer field while holding together their lives—and the lives of their families—in the face of a series of daunting challenges.

This fast-paced chronicle of a single season is a complex and inspiring tale of a small town becoming a global community—and an account of the ingenious and complicated ways we create a home in a changing world.

Recently, all incoming fall freshmen at UAB were required to read this title.

One Helluva Ride: How NASCAR Swept the Nation by Liz Clarke
From its raw beginnings on Southern dirt tracks, NASCAR smacked of a slightly depraved spectacle, as if nothing but trouble could come from the unbridled locomotion of a V8 engine. By the time NASCAR roared into the twenty-first century, it had grown into a billion-dollar sports and marketing colossus, its races attended by hundreds of thousands of fans on any given weekend from mid-February through mid-November, watched on television by the second-largest viewing audience in sports, and bankrolled by the marketing largesse of the Fortune 500’s elite.

One Helluva Ride, a full-throttle account of the rise and reign of NASCAR nation, is award-winning motorsports reporter Liz Clarke’s chronicle of how stock car racing exploded from regional obsession to national phenomenon. In covering the sport for more than fifteen years, Clarke has developed a strong rapport with NASCAR’s drivers, team owners, and hard-core fans. Through her reporting and analysis, we get to know the public and private sides of NASCAR’s most iconic figures, including seven-time champion Richard Petty, who set the standard for treating fans with respect, and the late Dale Earnhardt, whose brazen, bullying tactics wreaked havoc on the track, but whose heart was as big as Daytona’s infield.

The sports world stopped in its tracks the day Earnhardt was killed on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Some feared that NASCAR’s soul would die with him. But it has raced on, steered by visionary promoters, the all-controlling France family (who founded the sport), and, above all, the next generation of drivers to stir fans’ passions: Dale Earnhardt, Jr., son of the NASCAR legend and now, like his father before him, the circuit’s most popular driver; Jeff Gordon, the beloved but oft-maligned outsider, bred from the cradle to be NASCAR’s winningest modern champion; and Kasey Kahne, a reluctant heartthrob whose confidence derives entirely from an accelerator pedal. Clarke also brings us inside NASCAR’s most triumphant and tragic dynasties: the Pettys, the Earnhardts, and the Allisons–and reveals how faith, family, and a deep-seated love of their sport helps them cope with grief and loss.

Clarke shows NASCAR to be at a crossroads. In pursuit of a broader audience, NASCAR has severed its sponsorship ties to Big Tobacco, abandoned racetracks in small markets in favor of speedways near glitzy major cities, and welcomed Japan’s Toyota into a sport traditionally restricted to American-made sedans. As NASCAR races toward mass appeal, some suggest it is leaving its roots behind. To others, it is boldly extending its reach from the Southern workingman to every man, woman, and child in the world.

Whether you’re one of the die-hard NASCAR faithful or just a casual follower, nobody brings you closer to the sport and business of big-time stock car racing than Liz Clarke. This book, like the phenomenon it profiles, really is One Helluva Ride.

Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer: A Journey into the Heart of Fan Mania by Warren St. John
What is it about sports that turns otherwise sane people into raving lunatics? Why does winning compel people to tear down goal posts, and losing, to drown themselves in bad keg beer? In short, why do fans care?

In search of answers, Warren St. John seeks out the roving community of RVers who follow the Alabama Crimson Tide from game to game. A movable feast of Weber grills and Igloo coolers, these are hard-core football fans who arrive on Wednesday for Saturday’s game: The Reeses, who skipped their own daughter’s wedding because it coincided with a Bama game; Ray Pradat, the Episcopal minister who watches the games on a television beside his altar while performing weddings; and John Ed, the wheeling and dealing ticket scalper whose access to good seats gives him power on par with the governor. In no time at all, St. John buys an RV (a $5,500 beater named The Hawg) and joins the caravan for a full football season, chronicling the world of the extreme fan and learning that in the shadow of the stadium, it can all begin to seem strangely normal.

Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer is not only a hilarious travel story, but a cultural anthropology of fans that goes a long way toward demystifying the universal urge to take sides and to win.

I was compelled to point out that the only two nouns I could think of with which we use the word “rabid” are “animal” and “fan.”

Personal Record: A Love Affair with Running by Rachel Toor

Rachel Toor was a bookish egghead who ran only to catch a bus. How such an unlikely athlete became a runner of ultramarathons is the story of Personal Record, an exhilarating meditation on the making, and the minutiae, of a runner’s life. The food, the clothes, the races, the injuries, and the watch are all essential to the runner, as readers discover here, and discover why.

A chronicle of Toor’s relationship with the sport of running, from her early incarnation as an Oreo-eating couch potato to her emergence as a hard-bodied marathoner, this book explores the sport of running, the community it brings into being, and the personal satisfaction of pursuing it to its limit. An homage to running, a literary take on how an activity can turn into a passion and how a passion can become a way of life, Toor’s book runs all the way from individual achievement—a personal record—to the world of friendship and community.

Man O’ War: A Legend Like Lightning by Dorothy Ours
His trainer said that managing him was like holding a tiger by the tail. His owner compared him to "chain lightning." His jockeys found their lives transformed by him, in triumphant and distressing ways. All of them became caught in a battle for honesty.

Born in 1917, Man o' War grew from a rebellious youngster into perhaps the greatest racehorse of all time. He set such astonishing speed records that The New York Times called him a "Speed Miracle." Often he won with so much energy in reserve that experts wondered how much faster he could have gone. Over the years, this and other mysteries would envelop the great Man o' War.

The truth remained problematic. Even as Man o' War---known as "Big Red"---came to power, attracting record crowds and rave publicity, the colorful sport of Thoroughbred racing struggled for integrity. His lone defeat, suffered a few weeks before gamblers fixed the 1919 World Series, spawned lasting rumors that he, too, had been the victim of a fix.

Tackling old beliefs with newly uncovered evidence, Man o' War: A Legend Like Lightning shows how human pressures collided with a natural phenomenon and brings new life to an American icon. The genuine courage of Man o' War, tribulations of his archrival, Sir Barton (America's first Triple Crown winner), and temptations of their Hall of Fame jockeys and trainers reveal a long-hidden tale of grace, disgrace, and elusive redemption.

What excellent works of sports journalism did we miss?

Happy reading!

Holley

Memorial Day Holiday Closing!

2011-05-27T22:55:00.004-05:00

In observance of the Memorial Day Holiday, the library will be closed on the following dates:

Saturday, May 28th

Sunday, May 29th

Monday, May 30th.

We will open on Tuesday, May 31st at 9:00 a.m.

Tuesday is also the beginning of summer hours!

The library's hours this summer are as follows:

Mon. 9-6

Tues. 9-9

Wed. 9-6

Thurs. 9-6

Fri. 9-5

Sat. 9-5

Sunday Closed

Have a great weekend, and happy reading!

Genre Reading Group Reminder

2011-05-25T11:07:00.002-05:00

Once again, it's time for your official "Friendly Reminder" that our GRG meeting is next Tuesday evening May 31st at 6:30pm! We'll be discussing nonfiction sports writing so I hope everyone can make it! Next month's topic is biographical fiction, which are novels that deal with real people or situations with which the author has taken artistic license. :-)

In June, we'll be voting for the rest of the year's genres so if you want to throw any ideas in the hopper, bring them with you next week! I'll begin preparing the ballot for the June meeting so that I'll know what to bring to the July meeting for August.

Whew! All this advanced planning is making me tired!

See you next week! Holley

GRG Recap - Audiobooks

2011-05-10T20:21:00.002-05:00

What an eclectic bunch! Every month, I am astounded anew at how fearless my readers are in getting out of their comfort zone. While audiobooks are a lifeline for me, spending at least two hours in the car each day, this genre was a reach for those who don't have the time or circumstances conducive to listening to an entire book, especially if they are limited to CDs.

Of course, there are other audio options: downloadable digital audiobooks and Playaways! Visit the Library's website at www.eolib.org and click "Downloadable Collection" to learn what devices are compatible with Overdrive Media Console and how to get started. The Library is happy to offer downloadable collection demonstrations by appointment (205-445-1121). Playaways are self-contained digital audiobooks. The books are preloaded on a small MP3-player-sized device that is incredibly portable and versatile. Listen to the book using earbuds, portable speakers, or simply plug it in to your car's audio port! No software to download, no CDs to keep up with, easy peasy lemon squeezy!

May's topic is nonfiction sportswriting and the meeting will be on May 31st at 6:30pm. There is a selection of books on display at the Reference Desk on the second floor, but your are free to make your own selection. Also, I am happy to assist you in selecting a book if the number of choices is overwhelming!

Now, on to the list of audiobooks we discussed!

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow (Narrated by Erik Singer)

A lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?

When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave--"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"--wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have...and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.

In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Narrated by Jenna Lamia, Bahni Turpin, Octavia Spencer, and Cassandra Campbell)

Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen’s best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody’s business, but she can’t mind her tongue, so she’s lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women—mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends—view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don’t.

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag: A Flavia de Luce Mystery by Alan Bradley (Narrated by Jayne Entwistle)

From Dagger Award–winning and internationally bestselling author Alan Bradley comes this utterly beguiling mystery starring one of fiction’s most remarkable sleuths: Flavia de Luce, a dangerously brilliant eleven-year-old with a passion for chemistry and a genius for solving murders. This time, Flavia finds herself untangling two deaths—separated by time but linked by the unlikeliest of threads.

Flavia thinks that her days of crime-solving in the bucolic English hamlet of Bishop’s Lacy are over—and then Rupert Porson has an unfortunate rendezvous with electricity. The beloved puppeteer has had his own strings sizzled, but who’d do such a thing and why? For Flavia, the questions are intriguing enough to make her put aside her chemistry experiments and schemes of vengeance against her insufferable big sisters. Astride Gladys, her trusty bicycle, Flavia sets out from the de Luces’ crumbling family mansion in search of Bishop’s Lacey’s deadliest secrets.

Does the madwoman who lives in Gibbet Wood know more than she’s letting on? What of the vicar’s odd ministrations to the catatonic woman in the dovecote? Then there’s a German pilot obsessed with the Brontë sisters, a reproachful spinster aunt, and even a box of poisoned chocolates. Most troubling of all is Porson’s assistant, the charming but erratic Nialla. All clues point toward a suspicious death years earlier and a case the local constables can’t solve—without Flavia’s help. But in getting so close to who’s secretly pulling the strings of this dance of death, has our precocious heroine finally gotten in way over her head?

City of Masks: A Cree Black Thriller by Daniel Hecht (Narrated by Anna Fields)

Introducing Cree Black, a parapsychologist with a haunted past.

The 150-year-old Beauforte House, located in the Garden District in New Orleans, has some secrets. When Lila Beauforte takes up residence in her ancestral home as an adult she begins to see some of those secrets literally come to life. Terrified by an insidious and ultimately violent presence, Lila is losing her characteristic tenacity. Fearing for his sister's sanity, Ronald Beauforte reluctantly calls Cree Black for help.

Based out of Seattle, Cree Black and her partner take on the world beyond our senses. Detectives of the spirit, the so-called ghostbusters are able to conjure ghosts with the hope of exorcising them out of people's lives. A natural empath with a Ph.D. in psychology, Cree is susceptible to the emotional vulnerability of her clients. As she gets closer to the truth, the proverbial bones in the closet of the prestigious New Orleans family come crashing down around them, and Cree must fight to keep her own ghosts from destroying her.

In this first of a series novels featuring Cree Black, Daniel Hecht has created an entirely plausible heart-stopping ghost thriller. Hecht is a master storyteller and this intelligent, unusual take on the supernatural tale combines a traditional mystery with a compassionate exploration of life's real emotional passages and existential questions. Relying on the science of parapsychology to spine-tingling effect, he brings to life a remarkably compelling character in Cree Black-as well as the ghosts she confronts.

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua (Narrated by the author)

All decent parents want to do what's best for their children. What Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother reveals is that the Chinese just have a totally different idea of how to do that. Western parents try to respect their children's individuality, encouraging them to pursue their true passions and providing a nurturing environment. The Chinese believe that the best way to protect your children is by preparing them for the future and arming them with skills, strong work habits, and inner confidence. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother chronicles Chua's iron-willed decision to raise her daughters, Sophia and Lulu, her way-the Chinese way-and the remarkable results her choice inspires.

Here are some things Amy Chua would never allow her daughters to do:

• have a playdate

• be in a school play

• complain about not being in a school play

• not be the #1 student in every subject except gym and drama

• play any instrument other than the piano or violin

• not play the piano or violin

The truth is Lulu and Sophia would never have had time for a playdate. They were too busy practicing their instruments (two to three hours a day and double sessions on the weekend) and perfecting their Mandarin. Of course no one is perfect, including Chua herself. Witness this scene:

"According to Sophia, here are three things I actually said to her at the piano as I supervised her practicing:

1. Oh my God, you're just getting worse and worse.

2. I'm going to count to three, then I want musicality.

3. If the next time's not PERFECT, I'm going to take all your stuffed animals and burn them!"

But Chua demands as much of herself as she does of her daughters. And in her sacrifices-the exacting attention spent studying her daughters' performances, the office hours lost shuttling the girls to lessons-the depth of her love for her children becomes clear. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is an eye-opening exploration of the differences in Eastern and Western parenting- and the lessons parents and children everywhere teach one another.

I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak (Narrated by Marc Aden Gray)

protect the diamonds

survive the clubs

dig deep through the spades

feel the hearts

Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He's pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery.

That's when the first ace arrives in the mail.

That's when Ed becomes the messenger.

Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary) until only one question remains: Who's behind Ed's mission?

A 2005 Michael L. Printz Honor Book and recipient of five starred reviews, I Am the Messenger is a cryptic journey filled with laughter, fists, and love.

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova (Narrated by Trent Williams, Anne Heche, Erin Cottrell, Sarah Zimmerman, and John Lee)

Andrew Marlow, a psychiatrist, has a perfectly ordered life--solitary, perhaps, but full of devotion to his profession and the painting hobby he loves. This order is destroyed when the renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes Marlow's patient.

When Oliver refuses to talk or cooperate, Marlow finds himself going beyond his own legal and ethical boundaries to understand the secret that torments this silent genius, a journey that will lead him into the lives of the women closest to Robert Oliver and toward a tragedy at the heart of French Impressionism.

Moving from American museums to the coast of Normandy, from the late nineteenth century to the late twentieth, from young love to last love, THE SWAN THIEVES is a story of obsession, the losses of history, and the power of art to preserve human hope.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (Narrated by Bianca Amato and Jill Tanner)

Sometimes, when you open the door to the past, what you confront is your destiny.

Reclusive author Vida Winter, famous for her collection of twelve enchanting stories, has spent the past six decades penning a series of alternate lives for herself. Now old and ailing, she is ready to reveal the truth about her extraordinary existence and the violent and tragic past she has kept secret for so long. Calling on Margaret Lea, a young biographer troubled by her own painful history, Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good. Margaret is mesmerized by the author's tale of gothic strangeness -- featuring the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess,a topiary garden and a devastating fire. Together, Margaret and Vida confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves.

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen (Narrated by Rachel Botchan)

Ever since her parents began fighting, Auden has been unable to sleep at night. Now, spending a summer at a charming beach town with her father and his new family, she has to find new places to pass the time she spends awake. And so she meets Eli, a fellow insomniac who becomes her nighttime guide. Together, they embark on parallel quests: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she has missed; for Eli, to come to terms with the death of a friend. In her trademark blockbuster-style, Sarah Dessen creates a powerful and irresistible story of two people learning how to connect.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (Narrated by Ruby Dee)

One of the most important works of twentieth-century American literature, Zora Neale Hurston's beloved 1937 classic, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is an enduring Southern love story sparkling with wit, beauty, and heartfelt wisdom. Told in the captivating voice of a woman who refuses to live in sorrow, bitterness, fear, or foolish romantic dreams, it is the story of fair-skinned, fiercely independent Janie Crawford, and her evolving selfhood through three marriages and a life marked by poverty, trials, and purpose. A true literary wonder, Hurston's masterwork remains as relevant and affecting today as when it was first published -- perhaps the most widely read and highly regarded novel in the entire canon of African American literature.

From the Library of Congress website:

"The Zora Neale Hurston Plays at the Library of Congress present a selection of ten plays written by Hurston (1891-1960), author, anthropologist, and folklorist. Deposited as typescripts in the United States Copyright Office between 1925 and 1944, most of the plays remained unpublished and unproduced until they were rediscovered in the Copyright Deposit Drama Collection in 1997. The plays reflect Hurston's life experience, travels, and research, especially her study of folklore in the African-American South. Totaling 1,068 images, the scripts are housed in the Library's Manuscript, Music, and Rare Book and Special Collections divisions."

Happy reading,

Holley

Great American Novel Knock-out

2011-05-10T15:56:00.003-05:00

Before we take a trip around the world for Summer Reading, let's reflect one the greatest literary debates this side of the Atlantic- the Great American Novel.

There is more criteria to the Great American Novel than just masterful writing.
The Great American Novel should capture the most elusive of literary elements - the spirit of the age in which it was written.

Many novels have been called the Great American Novel through the years, and more will be added to the list as contemporary writers tap into the zeitgeist of American life in the here and now. We've created a display with some of the major contenders alongside Great American Novel favorites William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway including members of the old guard:

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

And the new guard:

The Human Stain by Philip Roth

The Naked and the Dead by Normal Mailer

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow

as well as some of the latest writers to enter the ring:

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

What do you think is the Great American Novel?

Tornado Disaster Relief

2011-05-03T16:33:00.006-05:00

It has been nearly a week since tornadoes ravaged our state and victims of the storms are still in need of basic necessities.

I talked to the businesses here in Crestline Village that are serving as drop-off spots for donations to tornado victims to find out what items they are accepting.

Anna, the owner of Grandmother's Joy has posted a complete list of needed items but she also stressed the need for particular items such as garbage bags, can openers, medical supplies such as bandages and antiseptics, toiletries and feminine hygiene products.

Snoozy's Kids is accepting donations, particularly non-perishable goods, bottled water, flashlights, batteries, tarps, baby supplies, toys and other items to meet the immediate needs of children and families affected by the tornadoes.

You can also drop off donations at the Realty South office on Euclid Avenue. Items needed in particular include tarps and clothing in large sizes. Katherine at Reality South said that monetary donations are also appreciated for the purchase of relief supplies.

The Pants Store is another drop location accepting any donated items during their regular hours. Donations will be sent to a different city affected by the storms each week.

The Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce has a list of other donation drop-off points at Mountain Brook businesses and religious organizations here.

Other ways to donate:

Donate to the American Red Cross by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS or text “REDCROSS” to 90999 to make a $10 donation (after you send the text, you will receive a reply asking if you would like to specify your gift for tornado relief)

To support The Salvation Army by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY or text “GIVE” to 80888 to make a $10 donation.

You can donate to the United Way of Central Alabama during the 22 hour United Way Tornado Relief Telethon from 4 a.m. CDT, Wednesday, May 4 to 2 a.m. CST, Thursday, May 5.
Call 1-855- 205-HELP/1-855-205-4357. (Note: The phone line will only be active during the Telethon, 4 a.m. CDT, Wednesday May 4 to 2 a.m. CDT Thursday, May 5)
or online here. You can also text TORNADO to 50555 to donate $10.

Donate to the United Way of West Alabama by calling 205-345-6640 during regular business hours to process a donation over the phone or online here.

For volunteer opportunities, check out Hands On Birmingham.

Amanda

Motherwalk

2011-04-30T11:57:00.005-05:00

We here at the library are gearing up for the 8th annual Motherwalk on Saturday, May 7th. This community-wide walk and 5K in support of The Norma Livingston Ovarian Cancer Foundation will take place in Crestline Village. Go here to register for Motherwalk. Whether you walk as a part of team or as an individual, you are helping make strides in the fight against ovarian cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society, ovarian cancer ranks fifth in cancer deaths among women, and is the deadliest cancer of the female reproductive system. The Norma Livingston Ovarian Cancer Foundation is helping to break that cycle by supporting ovarian cancer research, raising awareness, and educating the public about ovarian cancer.

At the library, we strive to support our community's health by providing access to health information that concerns you and your family. In step with Motherwalk, we have created a display on ovarian cancer as well as other women's health issues. Here is a sampling of the titles we have on display for you:

Ovarian Cancer: Your Guide to Taking Control by Kristine Conner

Women's Health Encyclopdia by Sandhya Pruthi

Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips by Kris Carr

The Complete Cancer Survival Guide by Peter Teeley

The Secret History of the War on Cancer by Devra Lee Davis

Women's Health For Life edited by Donnica Moore

We hope to see you at Motherwalk!

Amanda

Open and kicking!

2011-04-28T09:38:00.001-05:00

The Library is open for business. It's cool, dry, and the internet is speedy! Come see us!

Severe Weather!

2011-04-27T12:22:00.001-05:00

Due to the threat of severe weather, the Library is closing today at 1pm! We anticipate opening on schedule tomorrow!

Pulitzer Winners @ EOL

2011-04-21T09:38:00.005-05:00

The Pulitzer Prize winners were announced earlier this week, and we've got them at the library - check it out:

Fiction - A Visit From the Good Squad by Jennifer Egan

General Non-Fiction -The Emperor of All Maladies:A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Biography - Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow

History - The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery by Eric Foner

Poetry - The Best of It: New and Selected Poems by Kay Ryan

We also have many of the finalists including:

Fiction

The Privileges by Jonathan Dee

The Surrendered by Chang-rae Lee

Non-Fiction

Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S.C. Gwynne

The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brain by Nicholas Carr

History

Confederate Reckoning: Power and Politics in the Civil War South by Stephanie McCurry

Biography

The Publisher: Henry Luce and His American Century by Alan Brinkley

Mrs. Adams in Winter: A Journey in the Last Days of Napoleon by Michael O'Brien

Poetry

The Common Man by Maurice Manning

There's something here for everyone, stop by and check one out!

-katie m.

What They're Reading @ Snoozy's Kids

2011-04-14T09:11:00.002-05:00

Hi Readers!

To feed my incessant problem with bookish related nosy-ness, I visited our friends up atSnoozy's Kids to find out what they're reading.

Y'all know Snoozy's, I'm sure, they have great toys, jewelry and treats year round (right now they're getting ready for Easter!). Speaking of Easter, Snoozy's will create any sort of basket you want, for any budget. George showed me a really cute one that had a base of BOOKS people! It wasn't even a basket. They'll fill your Easter "basket" with anything, and look at these cute treats (Forget the kids, I think I want one).

Too cute!

Also? I have a bad habit of buying their jewelry, 'cause it's AWESOME. So I just had to include pictures.

But you're here to find out what they're reading, right? Check it out:

Emily is reading Breaking Free by Beth Moore

Leighanne is readingJeannette Wall's book Half Broke Horses

Desiree is working onGrowing Kids God's Way

Anna's reading The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks

Cathy's working on Water for Elephants

and last, but not least, George is reading a book on Napoleon by Emil Ludwig which was written in 1926.

I hope you're having fun discovering what our friends in the Village are reading. I have plans to visit Renasant Bank and Crestline Bagel, do you have a favorite spot? I'll be glad to ask for reading suggestions from any shop in ANY of the villages in Mountain Brook, please comment and let me know!

Until then, Happy Reading!

Parkinson's Awareness Month

2011-04-12T18:53:00.004-05:00

Did you know that April is Parkinson's Awareness Month?

According to the Parkinson's Disease Foundation, "Parkinson's disease (PD) is a movement disorder that is chronic and progressive, meaning that symptoms continue and worsen over time." It affects the central nervous system, in particular, a section of the brain called the substania nigra. While PD is primarily diagnosed in elderly patients, it can affect people of all ages, and an estimated 60,000 people are diagnosed in the United States each year.

At this time, there is no known cause nor cure for Parkinson's disease. Fortunately, the Parkinson's Disease Foundation has taken up the campaign for increased research of this disease, as well as educating the public about PD.

We have created a display of our materials regarding Parkinson's disease and other brain health issues. We also have Parkinson's Awareness Month calendars for you to take home. Come to the second floor to check out the display and help us shatter the myths about Parkinson's Disease!

Here are just a few of the books we have on display:

Understanding Parkinson's Disease by Richard Rosenbaum

Saving Milly by Morton Kondracke

Lucky Man by Michael J. Fox

Parkinson's Disease: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed by Jackie Hunt Christensen

Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks

Amanda

Time Lapse Videos of City Hall Construction

2011-04-10T16:41:00.007-05:00

This is a little project of which I am very proud these days. On the request of our City Manager and our Fire Chief, we agreed to set up a Webcam and record construction on the new Mountain Brook Municipal Complex. Easier said than done, right? Well, you can see our latest video below, and you can subscribe to the YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/user/mtnbrookconstruction).

Let me explain a little about how we're doing this and some of the problems we've encountered. We started off with a small Webcam connected to a laptop, running a program called YAWCAM, which stands for (and I couldn't make this up) Yet Another WebCAM. YAWCAM is a free program that allows you to record video or photographs through a Webcam. Because construction is a very slow process, we decided to record still photographs at 5 minute intervals every day and turn those photographs into time-lapse movies using YAWCAM.

We didn't just come up with this on our own. The good people at Kinetic Communications (http://www.kinetic.com/) pointed us toward YAWCAM and the idea of doing time lapse video based on still photographs based on their experience helping Railroad Park. So, once we got started with the Webcam and the YAWCAM software, it's just a matter of making sure everything is running and capturing the pictures.

We've had a few hiccups because sometimes the computer restarts due to updates and I have to remember to restart YAWCAM. So we've missed a few days here and there. We also relocated the setup from a public area to a staff office, because some people wanted to mess with the setup and I didn't really care for that. Anyway, I wanted to share the progress with you! Enjoy the videos!

-marylyn, EOL IT Manager

New Video from City Hall Construction:

Genre Reading Group recap - Women's History/Issues

2011-04-03T15:28:00.004-05:00

I believe each of us truly felt the power of women at last week's GRG meeting. Our topic was Women's History and Women's Issues and group members really stepped up to the plate with their selections! Next month's topic is audiobooks, fiction or nonfiction. If you are new to audiobooks, feel free to stop by and chat with me! I'm confident that together we can find something enjoyable for your listening entertainment!

I usually create a bookmark each month for participants to ponder as they make judgements about their selections but I let it slip by me for the March topic. Since I'm not certain that everyone noticed the bookmarks I prepared for the last meeting, I'm including the quotes here as well!

For our women's history/issues meeting:

"Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood." - Marie Curie

To ponder for our April 26th meeting on audiobooks:

"Words are the voice of the heart." - Confucius

Also, I had two suggestions to add to our next ballot for genre picks: YA books and women tycoons. I'm eager to keep this group fresh and interesting so I'm always open to ballot suggestions! Send them my way!

Now, on to the list!

Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff

Her palace shimmered with onyx, garnets, and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator.

Though her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world. She was married twice, each time to a brother. She waged a brutal civil war against the first when both were teenagers. She poisoned the second. Ultimately she dispensed with an ambitious sister as well; incest and assassination were family specialties. Cleopatra appears to have had sex with only two men. They happen, however, to have been Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, among the most prominent Romans of the day. Both were married to other women. Cleopatra had a child with Caesar and--after his murder--three more with his protégé. Already she was the wealthiest ruler in the Mediterranean; the relationship with Antony confirmed her status as the most influential woman of the age. The two would together attempt to forge a new empire, in an alliance that spelled their ends. Cleopatra has lodged herself in our imaginations ever since.

Famous long before she was notorious, Cleopatra has gone down in history for all the wrong reasons. Shakespeare and Shaw put words in her mouth. Michelangelo, Tiepolo, and Elizabeth Taylor put a face to her name. Along the way, Cleopatra's supple personality and the drama of her circumstances have been lost. In a masterly return to the classical sources, Stacy Schiff here boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the magnetic queen whose death ushered in a new world order. Rich in detail, epic in scope, Schiff 's is a luminous, deeply original reconstruction of a dazzling life.

Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran

The marriage of Marc Antony and Cleopatra is one of the greatest love stories of all time, a tale of unbridled passion with earth-shaking political consequences. Feared and hunted by the powers in Rome, the lovers choose to die by their own hands as the triumphant armies of Antony’s revengeful rival, Octavian, sweep into Egypt. Their three orphaned children are taken in chains to Rome; only two– the ten-year-old twins Selene and Alexander–survive the journey. Delivered to the household of Octavian’s sister, the siblings cling to each other and to the hope that they will return one day to their rightful place on the throne of Egypt. As they come of age, they are buffeted by the personal ambitions of Octavian’s family and court, by the ever-present threat of slave rebellion, and by the longings and desires deep within their own hearts.

The fateful tale of Selene and Alexander is brought brilliantly to life in Cleopatra’s Daughter. Recounted in Selene’s youthful and engaging voice, it introduces a compelling cast of historical characters: Octavia, the emperor Octavian’s kind and compassionate sister, abandoned by Marc Antony for Cleopatra; Livia, Octavian's bitter and jealous wife; Marcellus, Octavian’s handsome, flirtatious nephew and heir apparent; Tiberius, Livia’s sardonic son and Marcellus’s great rival for power; and Juba, Octavian’s watchful aide, whose honored position at court has far-reaching effects on the lives of the young Egyptian royals.

Selene’s narrative is animated by the concerns of a young girl in any time and place–the possibility of finding love, the pull of friendship and family, and the pursuit of her unique interests and talents. While coping with the loss of both her family and her ancestral kingdom, Selene must find a path around the dangers of a foreign land. Her accounts of life in Rome are filled with historical details that vividly capture both the glories and horrors of the times. She dines with the empire’s most illustrious poets and politicians, witnesses the creation of the Pantheon, and navigates the colorful, crowded marketplaces of the city where Roman-style justice is meted out with merciless authority.

Based on meticulous research, Cleopatra’s Daughter is a fascinating portrait of imperial Rome and of the people and events of this glorious and most tumultuous period in human history. Emerging from the shadows of the past, Selene, a young woman of irresistible charm and preternatural intelligence, will capture your heart.

Einstein's Wife: Work and Marriage in the Lives of Five Great Twentieth Century Women by Andrea Gabor

Inspired by her generation's experiences juggling career and home life, journalist Andrea Gabor set out to define the unique stuff of which great women are made and chart the often tangled territory in which love and ambition intersect. Among the women she profiles are Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, architect and urban planner Denise Scott Brown, and Mileva Maric Einstein, the scientist whose marriage to Einstein ended in tragedy.

Extraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family by Condoleezza Rice

Condoleezza Rice has excelled as a diplomat, political scientist, and concert pianist. Her achievements run the gamut from helping to oversee the collapse of communism in Europe and the decline of the Soviet Union, to working to protect the country in the aftermath of 9-11, to becoming only the second woman - and the first black woman ever -- to serve as Secretary of State.

But until she was 25 she never learned to swim.

Not because she wouldn't have loved to, but because when she was a little girl in Birmingham, Alabama, Commissioner of Public Safety Bull Connor decided he'd rather shut down the city's pools than give black citizens access.

Throughout the 1950's, Birmingham's black middle class largely succeeded in insulating their children from the most corrosive effects of racism, providing multiple support systems to ensure the next generation would live better than the last. But by 1963, when Rice was applying herself to her fourth grader's lessons, the situation had grown intolerable. Birmingham was an environment where blacks were expected to keep their head down and do what they were told -- or face violent consequences. That spring two bombs exploded in Rice’s neighborhood amid a series of chilling Klu Klux Klan attacks. Months later, four young girls lost their lives in a particularly vicious bombing.

So how was Rice able to achieve what she ultimately did?

Her father, John, a minister and educator, instilled a love of sports and politics. Her mother, a teacher, developed Condoleezza’s passion for piano and exposed her to the fine arts. From both, Rice learned the value of faith in the face of hardship and the importance of giving back to the community. Her parents’ fierce unwillingness to set limits propelled her to the venerable halls of Stanford University, where she quickly rose through the ranks to become the university’s second-in-command. An expert in Soviet and Eastern European Affairs, she played a leading role in U.S. policy as the Iron Curtain fell and the Soviet Union disintegrated. Less than a decade later, at the apex of the hotly contested 2000 presidential election, she received the exciting news – just shortly before her father’s death – that she would go on to the White House as the first female National Security Advisor.

As comfortable describing lighthearted family moments as she is recalling the poignancy of her mother’s cancer battle and the heady challenge of going toe-to-toe with Soviet leaders, Rice holds nothing back in this remarkably candid telling. This is the story of Condoleezza Rice that has never been told, not that of an ultra-accomplished world leader, but of a little girl – and a young woman -- trying to find her place in a sometimes hostile world and of two exceptional parents, and an extended family and community, that made all the difference.

A Mouthful of Rivets: Women at Work in World War II by Nancy Baker Wise and Christy Wise

A Mouthful of Rivets is the oral history of the women who took part in World War II on the homefront. In more than one hundred interviews, Nancy Baker Wise and Christy Wise create a textured portrait of the challenges and triumphs these powerful women experienced. Each woman vividly describes how she overcame discrimination, harassment, emotional and physical challenges, and inadequate training to successfully meet the needs of defense production while bringing the American economy to its height.

Discussion of this book, and of the group member's friend who was one of these women who went to work during WWII, brought to mind a great documentary film, Fly Girls! During WWII, more than a thousand women signed up to fly with the U.S. military. Wives, mothers, actresses and debutantes who joined the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPS) test-piloted aircraft, ferried planes and logged 60 million miles in the air. Thirty-eight women died in service. But the opportunity to play a critical role in the war effort was abruptly canceled by politics and resentment, and it would be 30 years before women would again break the sex barrier in the skies.

Thanks for the Memories, Mr. President: Wit and Wisdom from the Front Row at the White House by Helen Thomas

In a natural follow-up to her national bestseller Front Row at the White House, the dean of the White House press corps presents a vivid and personal presidential chronicle. Currently a columnist for Hearst and a former White House bureau chief for UPI, Helen Thomas has covered an unprecedented nine presidential administrations, endearing herself with her trademark "Thank you, Mr. President," at the conclusion of White House press conferences. Thomas has amassed many wonderful tales about her personal interactions with and observations of the presidents and their families that can all be found in Thanks for the Memories, Mr. President.

In nine riveting chapters -- one for each administration -- Thomas delights, informs, spins yarns, and offers opinions on the commanders in chief, from Kennedy through George W. Bush. In these accounts, Thomas reveals Kennedy's love of sparring with the press, the unique invitation LBJ extended to Hubert Humphrey to become his running mate, and Reagan's down-home ways of avoiding the press's tougher questions. This book is as entertaining and compelling as Helen Thomas herself.

War Paint: Madame Helena Rubinstein and Miss Elizabeth Arden: Their Life, Their Times, Their Rivalry by Lindy Woodhead

Bold, brilliant, and utterly ruthless, Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden spawned the modern beauty industry and forever changed the way women think about cosmetics, salons, and wrinkles. Along the way, they rubbed elbows with many of the greats in the worlds of the arts and fashion and helped launch several brilliant careers. Yet, other than official press releases and autobiographical accounts that tend to be more fluff than fact, little has been written about the two. Now, nearly forty years after their deaths, War Paint goes behind the gloss and glamour to tell the riveting true story of these remarkable women and their epic achievements–and no less epic rivalry.

In the late nineteenth century, good girls didn’t want careers–and they certainly didn’t paint their faces. Business, like politics and every other field of serious endeavor, was considered inherently unsuited for a member of the fair sex. In War Paint, Lindy Woodhead reveals how two unlikely young women, Chaja Rubinstein and Florence Nightingale Graham, both born into poverty–one in the Krakow Ghetto, the other in rural Canada–and lacking any formal education, defied nineteenth-century notions of class and gender and went on to become two of the twentieth century’s most powerful business tycoons.

A story of unquenchable ambition and unbendable wills, of bitchy turf wars and grand obsessions, and, above all, of true business genius, War Paint reveals how "Madame" and "Miss Arden" (or "that woman!" and "the other one," as each was known to the other, respectively) transformed the piddling toiletries trade of the 1890s into today’s insatiable, multibillion-dollar market for dreams in creams–and how, in the process, they pioneered modern advertising, product packaging, consumer public relations, and direct marketing.

From the Montparnasse of Hemingway and Picasso and the Greenwich Village of E. E. Cummings and Djuna Barnes to the ballrooms and boardrooms of New York, Paris, and London, War Paint weaves a vivid tapestry of intersecting lives and warring ambitions in the early decades of the twentieth century.

An engrossing dual biography set against the grand sweep of two world wars and the birth of the modern consumer culture, War Paint is at once a master stroke of scholarship and a good, old-fashioned, juicy tell-all about the supremely talented, deeply flawed doyennes of the modern culture of beauty.

The member who read this book informed us that a documentary film had been made based on this book. The title is The Powder and the Glory and you can only get it here at Emmet O'Neal!

Women for President: Media Bias in Eight Campaigns by Erika Falk

When Hillary Clinton announced her 2008 bid for president she was the Democratic front-runner. Despite this, she received less coverage than Barack Obama, who trailed her in the polls. Such a disparity is indicative of the gender bias the media has demonstrated in covering women candidates since the first woman ran for America’s highest office in 1872. Tracing the campaigns of eight women who ran for president through 2004--Victoria Woodhull, Belva Lockwood, Margaret Chase Smith, Shirley Chisholm, Patricia Schroeder, Lenora Fulani, Elizabeth Dole, and Carol Moseley Braun--Erika Falk finds little progress in the fair treatment of women candidates. A thorough comparison of the women’s campaigns to those of their male opponents reveals a worrisome trend of sexism in press coverage--a trend that still persists today.

While women have been elected to the highest offices in countries such as England, Germany, and India, the idea that a woman could be president of the United States provokes scoffs and ridicule. The press portrays female candidates as unviable, unnatural, and incompetent, and often ignores or belittles women instead of reporting their ideas and intent. Since voters learn most details about presidential candidates through media outlets, Falk asserts that this prevailing bias calls into question the modern democratic assumption that men and women have comparable access to positions of power.

This book has been updated. The new edition has the same title but the subtitle is "Media Bias in Nine Campaigns." Newly updated to examine Hillary Clinton's formidable 2008 presidential campaign, Women for President analyzes the gender bias the media has demonstrated in covering women candidates since the first woman ran for America's highest office in 1872.

The Most Evil Women in History by Shelley Klein

This book details the lives and careers of fifteen women whose crimes have, at one time or another, stained the pages of history. Parricide, fratricide and, most terrible of all, infanticide; murder under trust; serial murder, including the stalking and killing of men; torture, persecution, massacre and judicial murder; sexually motivated killings; murders for gain or to conceal other crimes- all these and others are detailed in this fascinating study of the manifestation of true evil in women over some 2,000 years. From Roman empresses to jealous daughters and bored housewives, they have all been responsible for terrible crimes.

Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern by Joshua Zeitz

Blithely flinging aside the Victorian manners that kept her disapproving mother corseted, the New Woman of the 1920s puffed cigarettes, snuck gin, hiked her hemlines, danced the Charleston, and necked in roadsters. More important, she earned her own keep, controlled her own destiny, and secured liberties that modern women take for granted. Her newfound freedom heralded a radical change in American culture.

Whisking us from the Alabama country club where Zelda Sayre first caught the eye of F. Scott Fitzgerald to Muncie, Indiana, where would-be flappers begged their mothers for silk stockings, to the Manhattan speakeasies where patrons partied till daybreak, historian Joshua Zeitz brings the era to exhilarating life. This is the story of America’s first sexual revolution, its first merchants of cool, its first celebrities, and its most sparkling advertisement for the right to pursue happiness.

The men and women who made the flapper were a diverse lot.

There was Coco Chanel, the French orphan who redefined the feminine form and silhouette, helping to free women from the torturous corsets and crinolines that had served as tools of social control.

Three thousand miles away, Lois Long, the daughter of a Connecticut clergyman, christened herself “Lipstick” and gave New Yorker readers a thrilling entrée into Manhattan’s extravagant Jazz Age nightlife.

In California, where orange groves gave way to studio lots and fairytale mansions, three of America’s first celebrities—Clara Bow, Colleen Moore, and Louise Brooks, Hollywood’s great flapper triumvirate—fired the imaginations of millions of filmgoers.

Dallas-born fashion artist Gordon Conway and Utah-born cartoonist John Held crafted magazine covers that captured the electricity of the social revolution sweeping the United States.

Bruce Barton and Edward Bernays, pioneers of advertising and public relations, taught big business how to harness the dreams and anxieties of a newly industrial America—and a nation of consumers was born.

Towering above all were Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald, whose swift ascent and spectacular fall embodied the glamour and excess of the era that would come to an abrupt end on Black Tuesday, when the stock market collapsed and rendered the age of abundance and frivolity instantly obsolete.

With its heady cocktail of storytelling and big ideas, Flapper is a dazzling look at the women who launched the first truly modern decade.

The Accidental Adventurer: Memoirs of the First Woman to Climb Mt. McKinley by Barbara Washburn

Barbara Washburn never set out to become a mountaineering pioneer, but she wasn't content to be a stay-at-home wife, either. In 1947, defying social convention, the mother of three became the first woman to climb Mt. McKinley.

What are YOU reading?

Holley

What are these funky black and white dotted pictures I keep seeing?

2011-03-26T13:16:00.007-06:00

You may have noticed these things popping up all over your life:

What the heck are they?

Funny you should ask! I just attended a conference called Computers in Libraries 2011 where I learned all about these things. They are called QR codes. QR stands for "Quick Response." That clears it all up, doesn't it?

Okay, the deal with these things is that they are like bar codes on steriods. You know how at stores, when a clerk scans an item and the price automatically pops up on the screen? Well, these QR codes work sort of like that. Basically, they turn your smartphone (or iPad2, if you're really fancy) into a bar-code reader. But here's the coolest part: the bar code doesn't just contain a price and a name! It can contain any information you want it to: a phone number, a Website address, an electronic business card, etc. If you install a QR app (a little piece of software) on your smartphone, you can read these codes in magazines, at stores, or anywhere you see them (like at your LIBRARY) and connect to the digital information in them.

How do I engage with this fascinating technology?

The easiest thing to do is just get started! Download a QR reader (BeeTagg is an easy one to use) and start scanning those funky black and white dotted pictures. Here's a list of all the smartphones that BeeTagg supports.

What's a situation in which I would be likely to use these things?

Well, let's just say you were at the library, and you wanted to make sure you had the library Website bookmarked on your smartphone so that you could renew your books online because you were going to be at the beach for the entire summer (aren't we all so lucky?). In the past, you would have to search for the site online or ask a librarian to tell you the Website and then even (*gasp*) type in the address. Now, you just scan the little code up there at the top of the page and it takes you directly to our mobile Website (www.eolib.org/mobile). You can bookmark it in your browser and you're all done!

Hey, do me a favor and drop me a comment if you enjoyed learning about this stuff. I like to share information, but I really like to know if someone is listening.

-marylyn, EOL IT manager

What They're Reading @ Dyron's

2011-03-16T13:22:00.004-06:00

You know, readers, I get curious when I'm out and about in the Village. Last time I was at Dyron's (about a month ago) I started wondering what my friends were reading. So, I emailed my favorite bartender (Ryan) and asked for a list.

Check out what the staff at Dyron's Lowcountry is reading now!

Dillon - Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris

Keri - A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving

Sara - The Fever Series Karen Moning - Sara says she loves it. Captivating story.

(Sara's not the only reader loving this series - it's got lots of fans!)

Patrick - The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich

Ryan - The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Also?
Dyron's has a new head chef! That's him in the picture. Here's what Dyron's website has to say about him:

Randall Baldwin will be starting March 1st. Randall has worked under Frank Stitt at Highlands Bar & Grill, Bottega, and Chez Fonfon. Originally from Mobile County, he loves coastal cuisine and has a passion for the local farming community. He plans to bring the freshest ingredients to Dyron’s in order to create exciting new dishes while keeping our Lowcountry attitude that food should be simple and uncontrived.

And?
3rd Thursday is tomorrow dear readers! What does it mean you ask? Every THIRD THURSDAY Dyron's donates 10% of the days' proceeds to the library. This has been a GREAT fundraiser for the library - so please - if you're hungry this Thursday, visit Dyron's!!!!!!
Lastly, you can find Dyron's on Facebook here AND you can find the library here on Facebook - like us!
Happy Reading :)
km

Genre Reading Group - Debut Novels

2011-02-26T13:42:00.003-06:00

I really love debut novels. They often offer new stories and new perspectives in addition to a sometimes less polished writing style. I appreciate the slightly less glossy experience for the bravery and effort on the part of the new novelist. Some have published in arts journals, short story collections and anthologies, poetry publications, etc but that first novel length work of fiction, no doubt their baby for many a year, is truly a first outing. I don't claim to like them all, but I do appreciate each and every one because that is a person who doesn't sit around and say, as I do, "I really need to get started on that idea and write," but rather steps up to the keyboard and does the heavy lifting.

Consequently, it was with delight that I tallied the votes for the GRG's last round genre picks and saw that they wanted debut novels on the list! In doing a bit of cautious searching, I found that Paste magazine had posted a list of the top 10 debut novels of the decade, 2000-2009 and our library owned a copy of each and every one!

One topic of discussion that got everyone talking was exactly how much of your time to give to a book you may be struggling with, or just to any book in general if you've got a lot to read. Former librarian Nancy Pearl (She even has an action figure, shown above! I have two, one with Deluxe Reference Desk!) offers her Rule of 50: if you are 50 or younger, give it 50 pages. Readers 51 and over subtract their age from 100 and that is the number of pages you should read before giving up should you be struggling through a book.

At the GRG meeting last week, members brought in a wide variety of books to discuss and our meeting lasted almost two hours! Read through our list and pick your next great read!

Riding Lessons by Sara Gruen

As a world-class equestrian and Olympic contender, Annemarie Zimmer lived for the thrill of flight atop a strong, graceful animal. Then, at eighteen, a tragic accident destroyed her riding career and Harry, the beautiful horse she cherished.

Now, twenty years later, Annemarie is coming home to her dying father's New Hampshire horse farm. Jobless and abandoned, she is bringing her troubled teenage daughter to this place of pain and memory, where ghosts of an unresolved youth still haunt the fields and stables—and where hope lives in the eyes of the handsome, gentle veterinarian Annemarie loved as a girl . . . and in the seductive allure of a trainer with a magic touch.

But everything will change yet again with one glimpse of a white striped gelding startlingly similar to the one Annemarie lost in another lifetime. And an obsession is born that could shatter her fragile world.

Gruen wrote a sequel to this book, Flying Changes. She is also the author of the New York Times best-selling Water for Elephants, coming soon to the big screen starring Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon, and Christoph Waltz, and Ape House.

Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Once in a generation a novel comes along that taps a vein of universal human experience, resonating with readers of all ages. THE LOVELY BONES is such a book -- a #1 bestseller celebrated at once for its artistry, for its luminous clarity of emotion, and for its astonishing power to lay claim to the hearts of millions of readers around the world.

"My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973."

So begins the story of Susie Salmon, who is adjusting to her new home in heaven, a place that is not at all what she expected, even as she is watching life on earth continue without her -- her friends trading rumors about her disappearance, her killer trying to cover his tracks, her grief-stricken family unraveling. Out of unspeakable tragedy and loss, THE LOVELY BONES succeeds, miraculously, in building a tale filled with hope, humor, suspense, even joy.

Peter Jackson directed the film adaptation to this book. One of our GRG members commented on one of the most interesting points of the book, personally: how families deal with grief. Our GRG member mentioned another book that handles this topic well, Judith Guest's Ordinary People.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

The most talked about—and praised—first novel of 2007, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize.

Oscar is a sweet but disastrously overweight ghetto nerd who—from the New Jersey home he shares with his old world mother and rebellious sister— dreams of becoming the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien and, most of all, finding love. But Oscar may never get what he wants. Blame the fukú—a curse that has haunted Oscar’s family for generations, following them on their epic journey from Santo Domingo to the USA. Encapsulating Dominican-American history, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao opens our eyes to an astonishing vision of the contemporary American experience and explores the endless human capacity to persevere—and risk it all—in the name of love.

This debut novel won a Pulitzer Prize! Well done Mr. Diaz! Those interested in reading more about the culture of the Dominican Republic might enjoy In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez. This book was adapted to film in 2001.

The Wives of Henry Oades by Johanna Moran

n 1899 Henry Oades discovers he has two wives -- and many dilemmas! In 1890, Henry Oades decided to undertake the arduous sea voyage from England to New Zealand in order to further his family's fortunes. Here they settled on the lush but wild coast -- although it wasn't long before disaster struck in the most unexpected of ways. A local Maori tribe, incensed at their treatment at the hands of the settlers, kidnapped Mrs Oades and her four children, and vanished into the rugged hills surrounding the town. Henry searched ceaselessly for his family, but two grief-stricken years later was forced to conclude that they must be dead. In despair he shipped out to San Francisco to start over, eventually falling in love with and marrying a young widow.

In the meantime, Margaret Oades and her children were leading a miserable existence, enslaved to the local tribe. When they contracted smallpox they were cast out and, ill and footsore, made their way back to town, five years after they were presumed dead. Discovering that Henry was now half a world away, they were determined to rejoin him. So months later they arrived on his doorstep in America and Henry Oades discovered that he had two wives and many dilemmas! This is a darkly comic but moving historical fiction debut about love and family, based on a controversial newspaper account from the early 1900s.

The GRG member who brought this book shared that it was almost based on a true story. An 1870's newspaper published the sad tale of the Oades but MUCH later the story was revealed to be false. Unfortunately, it had already made it's way into legal textbooks by that time! Read more about this story from the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and The Museum of Hoaxes.

The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean

Bit by bit, the ravages of age are eroding Marina's grip on the everyday. An elderly Russian woman now living in America, she cannot hold on to fresh memories—the details of her grown children's lives, the approaching wedding of her grandchild—yet her distant past is miraculously preserved in her mind's eye.

Vivid images of her youth in war-torn Leningrad arise unbidden, carrying her back to the terrible fall of 1941, when she was a tour guide at the Hermitage Museum and the German army's approach signaled the beginning of what would be a long, torturous siege on the city. As the people braved starvation, bitter cold, and a relentless German onslaught, Marina joined other staff members in removing the museum's priceless masterpieces for safekeeping, leaving the frames hanging empty on the walls to symbolize the artworks' eventual return. As the Luftwaffe's bombs pounded the proud, stricken city, Marina built a personal Hermitage in her mind—a refuge that would stay buried deep within her, until she needed it once more. . . .

While not a debut novel, it was impossible for me not to think of David Benioff's City of Thieves. This fast-paced thriller is also set in occupied Leningrad but is about two unlikely allies who must find one dozen eggs to escape begin executed. It may sound amusing, but this cold, gritty novel is anything but comical.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

In the small village of Edgecombe St. Mary in the English countryside lives Major Ernest Pettigrew (retired), the unlikely hero of Helen Simonson’s wondrous debut. Wry, courtly, opinionated, and completely endearing, the Major leads a quiet life valuing the proper things that Englishmen have lived by for generations: honor, duty, decorum, and a properly brewed cup of tea. But then his brother’s death sparks an unexpected friendship with Mrs. Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village. Drawn together by their shared love of literature and the loss of their spouses, the Major and Mrs. Ali soon find their friendship blossoming into something more. But village society insists on embracing him as the quintessential local and regarding her as the permanent foreigner. Can their relationship survive the risks one takes when pursuing happiness in the face of culture and tradition?

Do you have a favorite first novel? Tell us about it here or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/emmetoneallibrary!

Happy reading!

Holley

Annual Book Sale this weekend

2011-02-24T16:01:00.003-06:00

It's that time again and you know you look forward to it every year! The Annual Friends of the Emmet O'Neal Library Book Sale kicks off this evening at the Preview Party! Anyone who makes a monetary donation to the library of $25 or more is invited!

You'll get first pick of the over 18,000 items for sale AND enjoy some superior snackage!

The Sale opens to the public tomorrow and the hours are as follows:

Friday, 2/25: 10am - 5pm

Saturday, 2/26: 10am - 5pm

Sunday, 2/27: 1pm - 4pm

For more information, contact the Library at 205/879-0459!

Happy buying!

Holley

eBooks and iPads

2011-02-21T14:16:00.003-06:00

Jefferson County public libraries now provide direct ebook downloads to the iPad® with the free OverDrive® Media Console™ app. OverDrive's optimized app for iPad gives users wireless access to Jefferson County library’s eBooks and MP3 audiobook catalog without a PC. Users can find their library using the app's "Get Books" feature, then browse for titles, check out with a valid library card, and download directly to the iPad. Brightness and text-size controls allow them to customize their eBook reading experience. The eBook and audiobook titles from the library automatically expire in the app, so there is never a late fee.

The free OverDrive Media Console app for iPad is available in the App Store (http://bit.ly/OverDriveApp) along with the previously released OverDrive apps for iPhone® and Android™. The Jefferson County Library Cooperative’s OverDrive website provides access to thousands of ebooks and audiobooks (http://downloadable.jclc.org).

OverDrive provides digital distribution services for more than 13,000 libraries, retailers, and schools worldwide with support for Windows®, Mac®, iPod®, iPhone, iPad, Sony® Reader, NOOK™, Android, and BlackBerry®.

The Jefferson County Library Cooperative (JCLC) is a non-profit 501(c) (3) organization composed of the 39 public libraries throughout Jefferson County. These include the 21 municipal libraries, the 19 locations of the Birmingham Public Library System, as well as The Library at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. The mission of JCLC is to link our member libraries to provide better, more efficient centralized services for all county residents. Visit our website @ www.jclc.org

Click here to access the JCLC downloadable collection hompage!

Happy reading!

Holley

eBook App optimized for iPads, updates for Overdrive iPhone app

2011-02-16T16:48:00.002-06:00

Via http://bplolinenews.blogspot.com/

The OverDrive Media Console for iPad/iPhone v2.2 has been released, and it will optimize the eBook reading and OverDrive library browsing experience by utilizing the full iPad screen. Additionally, the app for iOs devices—including iPhone and iPod touch—now supports landscape and portrait orientation, and a new calendar icon displays the number of days remaining until the title expires.

OverDrive's app for iPad gives users wireless access to their library's EPUB eBook and MP3 audiobook catalog without a PC. Users can find their library using the app's "Get Books" feature, then browse for titles, check out with a valid library card, and download directly to the iPad. Brightness and text-size controls allow them to customize their eBook reading experience. Users can also create bookmarks and resume from the last point accessed. The eBook and audiobook titles from the library automatically expire in the app, so there is never a late fee.

The free app is available in the App Store, and can be installed on Apple devices running iOS v4.0 (or newer). Users with OverDrive Media Console already installed will be notified that an update is available.

OverDrive provides digital distribution services for more than 13,000 libraries, retailers, and schools worldwide with support for Windows®, Mac®, iPod®, iPhone, iPad, Sony® Reader, NOOK™, Android, and BlackBerry®.

Library closing early 2/3/11!

2011-02-03T14:28:00.004-06:00

Due to the hazardous conditions, the Library will be closing at 5pm today Thursday February 3rd. Depending on conditions tomorrow, the Library MAY open late.

Getting started in the Fantasy Book Group

2011-01-29T14:49:00.004-06:00

Six people journeyed out into the wintry night questing to find our little library in the Village and I am quite pleased with the discussions that sprung up in our little group. We discussed George R.R. Martin and his work, primarily A Game of Thrones, the first in his A Song of Ice and Fire series. We will not meet in February as our hardworking Friends of the Emmet O'Neal Library group will take over our meeting spaces to transform the Library for the Annual Book Sale February 25-27th but we will meet monthly starting in March.

March and April's meetings are devoted to talking about the other three books in ASoIaF (A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, and A Feast for Crows) as well as the series as whole. If you've read this series and love it, no doubt you are as excited as we are about the HBO miniseries adaptation debuting in April of this year!

These books are long, complex, and peopled with many different characters, many of whom get to tell the story from their point of view. Previously, I described the story this way:

The novel is set in the land of Westeros which, with its royal intrigues, calculated sexual affairs, and political maneuverings, is reminiscent of medieval Europe at its most brutal. Deadly human forces opposing the crown are gathering in the lands beyond Westeros and sinister creatures with no such human allegiances are held at bay in the frozen reaches of the north only by the Kingdom’s aging Wall and a ragtag band of elderly men, landless younger sons, and criminals. Coming in at over 700 pages, this hefty tome will keep you reading far into the night discovering how holding the throne in Westeros truly requires power, deceit, and lethal cunning!

I can only just begin to describe the richness and complexity of these novels. Mr. Martin has spent, and continues to spend, a great deal of time making the places and people of this imaginary world come to life in a way that grounds it firmly in an achingly familiar historical reality. If you enjoy sagas, historical fiction, magical realism, court intrigue, espionage, romance, adventure, or thrills and chills, this is definitely a series to put on your to-be-read list!

Why not read it sooner rather than later and join us for the discussion?

Here is our tentative meeting schedule for 2011:

March 24

April 28

May 26

June 23

July 21

August 25

September 22

October 27

November 24

December 22

We brainstormed some titles to read for the rest of the year, but we are always on the lookout for more so comment with suggestions

A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin (I know, I know, it'll be published when it's published, but I'm doing this as a sort of rain dance. I would rather have a great book than a quick one, but George...you're killing us!)

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

A novel by Patricia McKillip

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Swords & Dark Magic edited by Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders

The Cup of the World by John Dickinson

Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan

All of our book groups heartily welcome new members, so please drop by! If you'd like more information, please call (205/445-1117) or email me (hwesley@bham.lib.al.us!

the NEW Mountain Brook City Hall Complex, day by day!

2011-01-27T11:20:00.008-06:00

Subscribe to the MtnBrookConstruction channel and keep up with the progress!

Genre Reading Group recap - cults & secret societies

2011-01-26T10:43:00.005-06:00

Don’t forget that the Library’s new fantasy book group will have its very first meeting on Thursday evening, January 27th at 6:30pm in the Library's Administration area on the second floor. We will be discussing George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones, the first in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. This series is coming to HBO in April 2011 so there’s no time like the present to get started on the source material!

Our genre for next month is the debut novel, an author’s first novel length work of fiction. I have a few set aside on the usual shelf at the Reference Desk on the second floor but, as usual, you are welcome to research and select your own title! If you have any questions or would like suggestions, call or email me and I will be thrilled to assist you. We will again be meeting in the second floor administration area for this meeting due to preparations for the annual Friends of the Emmet O'Neal Library Book Sale taking place February 25th-27th! All monetary donations of $25 or more to the Library net the giver an invitation to the private Preview Party on Thursday evening, February 24th!

There was a brief discussion on the films nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture that have been adapted from books.

The Social Network was adapted from The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal by Ben Mezrich.

True Grit (the most current adaptation is still in theaters and stars Jeff Bridges) was adapted from the novel of the same name by Charles Portis.

Winter’s Bone was adapted from the novel of the same name by Daniel Woodrell.

127 Hours (the adaptation was released in theaters in early January 2011) was adapted from Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston

Our discussion this month was on nonfiction about cults and secret societies, so here’s the list!

The Freemasons in America: Inside the Secret Society by H. Paul Jeffers

What Is Their Secret And What Are They Hiding? Step inside the secret world of the Masons and discover:

How such pivotal American documents as the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights reflect Masonic principles and influence. How Freemasons became the world's oldest and largest fraternal organization. If Freemasons rule the world--or want to. Why Masonic symbolism appears on American currency. Why the opposition groups, from conspiracists to the Catholic Church, fear Freemasons. Why Texas has been called "the Masonic Republic." How to recognize Masonic rings, pins, and other symbols. From George Washington to Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, the Freemasons have influenced the United States in many surprising ways. With nearly half the world's six million Freemasons--some twenty-five U.S. presidents and thirty-five Supreme Court justices among them--America has felt the group's impact more deeply and broadly than any other country. Using historical anecdotes and incisive analysis, this timely and insightful portrait separates the myths surrounding Freemasonry from the facts, offering a unique insider's view into what American Freemasonry was, is, and will be tomorrow.

The secrecy and mystery surround freemasonry is a popular topic for novelists and filmmakers. Dan Brown's most recent book, The Lost Symbol, centers on the organization and both of his other books (also adapted for film) in that series touch on it (Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code), as do the National Treasure movies starring Nicholas Cage.

Children of Darkness by Ruth Gordon

Ruth felt lost and rejected: they offered her acceptance, caring, and a way to find God. So she joined "the family" and found everything she'd ever wanted: friends, encouragement, a husband-love. All the COG asked for in return was Ruth's unquestioning devotion and her total submission to "the family" and it's founder, David "Moses" Berg-a man who considered himself God's end-time prophet. But something went wrong. Ruth was asked to do things that were tearing her marriage apart, and suddenly she and her husband were faced with some agonizing questions: Was the COG, through which they had both found God,really a cult? Was the only way they could save their marriage to leave the very group that had brought them together? And, if they left the COG, would they be abandoning God's will for their lives? The true story of a woman's search for love, and how she joined and ultimately escaped from the Children of God.

While a member of Children of God, Ruth married an Alabamian. While I can find no information on where she currently lives, she has written about her time with the cult on the Cult Awareness and Information Library website. This website has a current copyright but I can find little information on their research methods so please do be analytical if you choose to look around.

Escape by Carolyn Jessop

The dramatic first-person account of life inside an ultra-fundamentalist American religious sect, and one woman’s courageous flight to freedom with her eight children. When she was eighteen years old, Carolyn Jessop was coerced into an arranged marriage with a total stranger: a man thirty-two years her senior. Merril Jessop already had three wives. But arranged plural marriages were an integral part of Carolyn’s heritage: She was born into and raised in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), the radical offshoot of the Mormon Church that had settled in small communities along the Arizona-Utah border. Over the next fifteen years, Carolyn had eight children and withstood her husband’s psychological abuse and the watchful eyes of his other wives who were locked in a constant battle for supremacy. Carolyn’s every move was dictated by her husband’s whims. He decided where she lived and how her children would be treated. He controlled the money she earned as a school teacher. He chose when they had sex; Carolyn could only refuse—at her peril. For in the FLDS, a wife’s compliance with her husband determined how much status both she and her children held in the family. Carolyn was miserable for years and wanted out, but she knew that if she tried to leave and got caught, her children would be taken away from her. No woman in the country had ever escaped from the FLDS and managed to get her children out, too. But in 2003, Carolyn chose freedom over fear and fled her home with her eight children. She had $20 to her name. Escape exposes a world tantamount to a prison camp, created by religious fanatics who, in the name of God, deprive their followers the right to make choices, force women to be totally subservient to men, and brainwash children in church-run schools. Against this background, Carolyn Jessop’s flight takes on an extraordinary, inspiring power. Not only did she manage a daring escape from a brutal environment, she became the first woman ever granted full custody of her children in a contested suit involving the FLDS. And in 2006, her reports to the Utah attorney general on church abuses formed a crucial part of the case that led to the arrest of their notorious leader, Warren Jeffs.

The Hell Fire Clubs: Sex, Satanism, and Secret Societies by Evelyn Lord

The Hell-Fire Clubs scandalized eighteenth-century English society. Rumors of their orgies, recruitment of prostitutes, extensive libraries of erotica, extreme rituals, and initiation ceremonies circulated widely at the time, only to become more sensational as generations passed. This thoroughly researched book sets aside the exaggerated gossip about the secret Hell-Fire Clubs and brings to light the first accurate portrait of their membership (including John Wilkes, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the Prince of Wales), beliefs, activities, and the reasons for their proliferation, first in the British Isles and later in America, possibly under the auspices of Benjamin Franklin. Hell-Fire Clubs operated under a variety of titles, but all attracted similar members—mainly upper-class men with abundant leisure and the desire to shock society. The book explores the social and economic context in which the clubs emerged and flourished; their various phases, which first involved violence as an assertion of masculinity, then religious blasphemy, and later sexual indulgence; and the countermovement that eventually suppressed them. Uncovering the facts behind the Hell-Fire legends, this book also opens a window on the rich contradictions of the Enlightenment period.

New book group meets this week!

2011-01-24T10:21:00.004-06:00

(The text of this article also appears in the January 2011 issue of Village Living, the community newspaper of Mountain Brook,AL.)

Peruse any recent New York Times bestseller list in the children’s category and you are likely to see many fantasy titles. Harry Potter, the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Percy Jackson, Frodo Baggins, Aslan, pretty much anything in the Disney catalog – all of these wildly popular cinema sensations have their roots in literature and myth. Children just seem to gravitate towards stories which transport them to new worlds populated by strange creatures, unknown languages, and alien landscapes and fantasy fiction certainly fits the bill. Unfortunately, it seems as if many adults lose their affection for magical creatures and enchanted swords as the years go by but we would love to have the opportunity to change your mind or perhaps introduce you to this type of fiction for the first time!

The last Thursday of this month, January 27^th, the Library is pleased to host its first fantasy fiction meeting at 6:30pm! Our debut selection is George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones, the first novel in the terrific A Song of Ice and Fire series. The novel is set in the land of Westeros which, with its royal intrigues, calculated sexual affairs, and political maneuverings, is reminiscent of medieval Europe at its most brutal. Deadly human forces opposing the crown are gathering in the lands beyond Westeros and sinister creatures with no such human allegiances are held at bay in the frozen reaches of the north only by the Kingdom’s aging Wall and a ragtag band of elderly men, landless younger sons, and criminals. Coming in at over 700 pages, this hefty tome will keep you reading far into the night discovering how holding the throne in Westeros truly requires power, deceit, and lethal cunning!

If you would like to start out with something lighter, try Maria V. Snyder’s Poison Study. A young woman wrongly imprisoned is offered a bleak choice: die for her supposed crime or take on the job of poison study. Choosing life as a food taster over immediate death, Yelena soon stumbles upon to a nasty plot to assassinate the Commander and must work to keep herself from being eliminated along with the potential target. Galen Beckett’s The Magicians and Mrs. Quent is an engagingly clever novel ideal for grown up fans of Harry Potter or Jane Austen. This fantasy novel of manners set in Regency London is part historical fiction, part fantasy, part romance, and 100% delightful!

For more information about the new book group or any of the Library’s regularly scheduled programming, contact us at 205/445-1121 or find us on Facebook!

Happy reading!

Holley

excellent audiobooks for adults

2011-01-20T14:02:00.001-06:00

via the Editor's Choice Media section of Booklist magazine!

Audio for Adults

The Brutal Telling. By Louise Penny. Read by Ralph Cosham. 2009. 13hr. Blackstone, CS, $72.95 (9781433297083); CD, $105 (9781433297090).

Cosham’s confident, thoughtful reading captures this compelling tale filled with dark secrets, seductive prose, complex characterizations, and a multilayered plot. Cosham’s mesmerizing performance is sure to touch listeners’ intellect, heart, and soul.

The Coral Thief. By Rebecca Stott. Read by Simon Prebble. 2010. 9hr. Tantor, CD, $69.99 (9781400143382).

Prebble transports listeners to a richly detailed post-Napoleonic Paris, teeming with adventure and scientific discovery and debate. His polished reading underscores the dark, dangerous tone, bringing out Stott’s gorgeous imagery and elegant language.

The Eyre Affair. By Jasper Fforde. Read by Susan Duerden. 2010. 12hr. Books on Tape, CD, $90 (9781415966648).

Plucky Special Operative Thursday Next sets off to rescue Jane Eyre and preserve the iconic narrative in this literary romp. Duerden’s matter-of-fact take on the reality-bending events is most delightful.

Fault Lines. By Nancy Huston. Read by Edwina Wren. 2010. 10hr. Bolinda, CD, $87.95 (9781742140926).

Structured as a reverse recitation of four generations of hidden family secrets, this is read by Wren, whose voice fluidly morphs between genders, time shifts, and accents in this emotional saga.

Freedom. By Jonathan Franzen. Read by David Ledoux. 2010. 25hr. Macmillan/AudioGO, CD, $99.95 (9780792773214).

Oprah’s newest book-club pick is a natural for audio. Ledoux does a terrific job with the massive plot, making the best-seller accessible through his steady, consistent reading.

The Girl Who Fell from the Sky. By Heidi W. Durrow. Read by Emily Bauer and others. 2010. 7hr. HighBridge, CD, $29.95 (9781598879230).

Centering on Rachel, the daughter of a black serviceman and a Danish mother, this powerful novel is told from multiple viewpoints, aptly recorded by three readers, with Bauer playing Rachel. The narrators eloquently capture the characters’ emotions and subtle maturation.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. By Stieg Larsson. Read by Simon Vance. 2010. 20hr. Books on Tape, CD, $40 (9780307735010).

Vance’s masterful reading of this final title in the acclaimed trilogy highlights the complex plot, breakneck pace, and irresistible characters (good and bad). This dark story of abuse, violence, conspiracy, and corruption is flavored by Vance’s outstanding reading and authentic accents. To appreciate the full impact of his performance, begin with the first title, also available from Books on Tape. (Top of the List winner—Audio.)

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. By Rebecca Skloot. Read by Cassandra Campbell and Bahni Turpin. 2010. 12.5hr. Books on Tape, CD, $100 (9780307712523).

Campbell calmly reads this compelling account of Henrietta Lacks, whose cells were removed and cultured without her knowledge and used for medical research. Campbell personalizes Lacks’ story, with Turpin’s rich voice portraying Henrietta’s adult daughter. The book is the 2010 Booklist Top of the List Adult Nonfiction title.

Juliet. By Anne Fortier. Read by Cassandra Campbell. 2010. 20hr. Books on Tape, CD, $40 (9780307701930).

Julie Jacobs’ deceased aunt bequeaths her a passport and the key to a safe-deposit box in Italy, prompting Julie to embark on a journey of self-discovery. Campbell seamlessly switches among characters, both contemporary and fourteenth-century Americans and Italians.

Rain Gods. By James Lee Burke. Read by Tom Stechschulte. 2009. 16hr. Recorded Books, CS, $113.75 (9781440727047); CD, $123.75 (9781440727054).

Aging lawman Hackberry Holland is anticipating retirement until a truckload of Thai women is slaughtered in his district. Stechschulte moves smoothly and convincingly between Holland’s gruff been-to-hell-and-back growl and a criminal mastermind’s textured voice.

The Scent of Rain and Lightning. By Nancy Pickard. Read by Tavia Gilbert. 2010. 9hr. Blackstone, CS, $65.95 (9781441747716); CD, $90 (9781441747723).

Most of the action takes place in a rural Kansas town shimmering with secrets, and Gilbert brings emotion and finesse to her performance, superbly differentiating the richly drawn characters as they weave in and out of the unfolding plot.

Secrets of Eden. By Chris Bohjalian. Read by Mark Bramhall and others. 2010. 11.5hr. Books on Tape, CD, $100 (9780307705051).

The murder of an abused wife and the apparent suicide of her husband leave their 15-year-old daughter devastated and the family pastor suffering. Four excellent readers, including Rebecca Lowman as the teen, contribute to this taut mystery.

Wolf Hall. By Hilary Mantel. Read by Simon Slater. 2009. 23hr. Macmillan/AudioGO, CD, $129.95 (9780792771159).

Historical-fiction fans will enjoy this novel told through commoner Thomas Cromwell’s viewpoint. The characters ring true, from British gentry and royalty to Italian and French diplomats, and all read with convincing accents and shifting tones.

two great online resources!

2011-01-19T14:43:00.001-06:00

Access tutorials for downloading digital ebooks and audiobooks from the Hoover Library website by clicking here!

Access job searching resources from the Birmingham Public Library website by clicking here!

More wintry weather!

2011-01-11T15:06:00.001-06:00

Today (Tues, Jan 11th), the Library will be closing at 4pm.

Tomorrow (Wed, Jan 12th), the Library will open late morning at 11am.

Stay warm!

Holley

Winter Weather Advisory

2011-01-10T09:56:00.003-06:00

According to the Mountain Brook Police, all roads in Mountain Brook are closed until further notice! The Library will NOT be open unless conditions improve. Check our website or this blog for updated information!

For a complete list of road closures around the state, check ALDOT!

It's a great time to catch up on your reading!

;-)

Stay safe and warm!

Holley

Genre Reading Group Recap: Salon Discussion

2011-01-05T16:36:00.003-06:00

We had some truly varied selections this holiday season and they all made for entertaining discussions! January's topic is nonfiction on world cults. Read any book about any cult or secret society and come tell us about it Tuesday, January 25th at 6:30pm!

My Reading Life by Pat Conroy

Pat Conroy, the beloved American storyteller, is also a voracious reader. He has for years kept a notebook in which he notes words or phrases, just from a love of language. But reading for him is not simply a pleasure to be enjoyed in off-hours or a source of inspiration for his own writing. It would hardly be an exaggeration to claim that reading has saved his life, and if not his life then surely his sanity. In My Reading Life, Conroy revisits a life of passionate reading. He includes wonderful anecdotes from his school days, moving accounts of how reading pulled him through dark times, and even lists of books that particularly influenced him at various stages of his life, including grammar school, high school, and college. Readers will be enchanted with his ruminations on reading and books, and want to own and share this perfect gift book for the holidays. And, come graduation time, My Reading Life will establish itself as a perennial favorite, as did Dr. Seuss’s Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

Royal Affairs: A Lusty Romp Through the Extramarital Adventures That Rocked the British Monarchy by Leslie Carroll

A funny, raucous, and delightfully dirty history of 1,000 years of bedroom-hopping secrets and scandals of Britain’s royals. Insatiable kings, lecherous queens, kissing cousins, and wanton consorts—history has never been so much fun. Royal unions have always been the stuff of scintillating gossip, from the passionate Plantagenets to Henry VIII’s alarming head count of wives and mistresses, to the Sapphic crushes of Mary and Anne Stuart right on up through the scandal-blighted coupling of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Thrown into loveless, arranged marriages for political and economic gain, many royals were driven to indulge their pleasures outside the marital bed, engaging in delicious flirtations, lurid love letters, and rampant sex with voluptuous and willing partners. This nearly pathological lust made for some of the most titillating scandals in Great Britain’s history. Hardly harmless, these affairs have disrupted dynastic alliances, endangered lives, and most of all, fed the salacious curiosity of the public for centuries. Royal Affairs will satiate that curiosity by bringing this arousing history alive.

Queen Elizabeth II: A Woman Who Is Not Amused by Nicholas Davies
An expert royalty watcher exposes the private lives of Britain's ruling dynasty, detailing Elizabeth's celibacy, Prince Philip's adulterous affairs, and the demise of Charles and Diana's and Andrew and Fergie's marriages.

The Little Princesses: The Story of the Queen's Childhood by Marion Crawford

Once upon a time, in 1930s England, there were two little princesses named Elizabeth and Margaret Rose. Their father was the Duke of York, the second son of King George V, and their Uncle David was the future King of England. We all know how the fairy tale ended: When King George died, “Uncle David” became King Edward VIII---who abdicated less than a year later to marry the scandalous Wallis Simpson. Suddenly the little princesses’ father was King. The family moved to Buckingham Palace, and ten-year-old Princess Elizabeth became the heir to the crown she would ultimately wear for over fifty years. The Little Princesses shows us how it all began. In the early thirties, the Duke and Duchess of York were looking for someone to educate their daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret, then five- and two-years-old. They already had a nanny---a family retainer who had looked after their mother when she was a child---but it was time to add someone younger and livelier to the household. Enter Marion Crawford, a twenty-four-year-old from Scotland who was promptly dubbed “Crawfie” by the young Elizabeth and who would stay with the family for sixteen years. Beginning at the quiet family home in Piccadilly and ending with the birth of Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace in 1948, Crawfie tells how she brought the princesses up to be “Royal,” while attempting to show them a bit of the ordinary world of underground trains, Girl Guides, and swimming lessons. The Little Princesses was first published in 1950 to a furor we cannot imagine today. It has been called the original “nanny diaries” because it was the first account of life with the Royals ever published. Although hers was a touching account of the childhood of the Queen and Princess Margaret, Crawfie was demonized by the press. The Queen Mother, who had been a great friend and who had, Crawfie maintained, given her permission to write the account, never spoke to her again. Reading The Little Princesses now, with a poignant new introduction by BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond, offers fascinating insights into the changing lives and times of Britain's royal family.

The Uncommon Reader: A Novella by Alan Bennett

From one of England's most celebrated writers, the author of the award-winning The History Boys, a funny and superbly observed novella about the Queen of England and the subversive power of reading. When her corgis stray into a mobile library parked near Buckingham Palace, the Queen feels duty-bound to borrow a book. Discovering the joy of reading widely (from J. R. Ackerley, Jean Genet, and Ivy Compton-Burnett to the classics) and intelligently, she finds that her view of the world changes dramatically. Abetted in her newfound obsession by Norman, a young man from the royal kitchens, the Queen comes to question the prescribed order of the world and loses patience with the routines of her role as monarch. Her new passion for reading initially alarms the palace staff and soon leads to surprising and very funny consequences for the country at large.

The Queen starring Helen Mirren

Winner of the Academy Award® for Best Actress, Dame Helen Mirren gives a spellbinding performance in THE QUEEN, the provocative story behind one of the most public tragedies of our time — the sudden death of Princess Diana. In the wake of Diana's death, the very private and tradition-bound Queen Elizabeth II (Mirren) finds herself in conflict with the new Prime Minister, the slickly modern and image-conscious Tony Blair. THE QUEEN, also starring Academy Award® Nominee James Cromwell (Best Supporting Actor, BABE, 1995), takes you inside the private chambers of the Royal Family and the British government for a captivating look at a vulnerable human being in her darkest hour, as a nation grieving for its People's Princess waits to see what its leaders will do. Suspenseful, heartfelt and riveting, it's a fascinating story you won’t soon forget.

Petty Magic: Being the Memoirs and Confessions of Miss Evelyn Harbinger, Temptress and Troublemaker by Camille deAngelis

Evelyn Harbinger sees nothing wrong with a one-night stand. At 149 years old, Eve may look like she bakes oatmeal cookies in the afternoon and dozes in her rocking chair in the evening, but once the gray hair and wrinkles are traded for jet-black tresses and porcelain skin, she can still turn heads as the beautiful girl she once was. Can’t fault a girl for having a little fun, can you? This is all fine and well until Eve meets Justin, who reminds her so much of a former lover that one night is no longer enough. Eve’s coven has always turned a blind eye to her nighttime mischief, but this time they think she’s gone too far—and they certainly don’t hesitate to tell her so. Dodging the warnings of family and friends, Eve must also defend her sister, Helena, when another beldame accuses Helena of killing her own husband sixty years before. As the evidence against Helena begins to pile up, Eve distracts herself by spending more and more nights—and days—romancing Justin as her former self. There are so many peculiar ways in which Justin is like Jonah, her partner behind enemy lines in World War II and the one true love of her life. Experts in espionage, Jonah and Eve advanced the allied cause at great personal sacrifice. Now Eve suspects that her Jonah has returned to her, and despite the disapproval of her coven and the knowledge that love with a mortal man can only end in sorrow, she can’t give him up. But can she prove it’s really him? In this captivating tale of adventure and timeless romance, novelist Camille DeAngelis blends World War II heroics with witchcraft and wit, conjuring a fabulously rich world where beldames and mortal men dare to fall in love.

In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer by Irene Gut Opdyke

Irene Gut was just 17 in 1939, when the Germans and Russians devoured her native Poland. Just a girl, really. But a girl who saw evil and chose to defy it.

The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls

Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn't stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an "excitement addict." Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever. Later, when the money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls retreated to the dismal West Virginia mining town -- and the family -- Rex Walls had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents' betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home. What is so astonishing about Jeannette Walls is not just that she had the guts and tenacity and intelligence to get out, but that she describes her parents with such deep affection and generosity. Hers is a story of triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that despite its profound flaws gave her the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms. For two decades, Jeannette Walls hid her roots. Now she tells her own story. A regular contributor to MSNBC.com, she lives in New York and Long Island and is married to the writer John Taylor.

Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel by Jeannette Walls

"Those old cows knew trouble was coming before we did." So begins the story of Lily Casey Smith, Jeannette Walls’s no-nonsense, resourceful, and spectacularly compelling grandmother. By age six, Lily was helping her father break horses. At fifteen, she left home to teach in a frontier town—riding five hundred miles on her pony, alone, to get to her job. She learned to drive a car and fly a plane. And, with her husband, Jim, she ran a vast ranch in Arizona. She raised two children, one of whom is Jeannette’s memorable mother, Rosemary Smith Walls, unforgettably portrayed in The Glass Castle. Lily survived tornadoes, droughts, floods, the Great Depression, and the most heartbreaking personal tragedy. She bristled at prejudice of all kinds—against women, Native Americans, and anyone else who didn’t fit the mold. Rosemary Smith Walls always told Jeannette that she was like her grandmother, and in this true-life novel, Jeannette Walls channels that kindred spirit. Half Broke Horses is Laura Ingalls Wilder for adults, as riveting and dramatic as Isak Dinesen’s Out of Africa or Beryl Markham’s West with the Night. Destined to become a classic, it will transfix readers everywhere.

The show about people who remember every detail of every day of their lives was "Endless Memory" on CBS 60 Minutes. Click here to watch. Thanks Mary!

A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg

With the same incomparable style and warm, inviting voice that have made her beloved by millions of readers far and wide, New York Times bestselling author Fannie Flagg has written an enchanting Christmas story of faith and hope for all ages that is sure to become a classic. Deep in the southernmost part of Alabama, along the banks of a lazy winding river, lies the sleepy little community known as Lost River, a place that time itself seems to have forgotten. After a startling diagnosis from his doctor, Oswald T. Campbell leaves behind the cold and damp of the oncoming Chicago winter to spend what he believes will be his last Christmas in the warm and welcoming town of Lost River. There he meets the postman who delivers mail by boat, the store owner who nurses a broken heart, the ladies of the Mystic Order of the Royal Polka Dots Secret Society, who do clandestine good works. And he meets a little redbird named Jack, who is at the center of this tale of a magical Christmas when something so amazing happened that those who witnessed it have never forgotten it. Once you experience the wonder, you too will never forget A Redbird Christmas.

Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell

Ree Dolly's father has skipped bail on charges that he ran a crystal meth lab, and the Dollys will lose their house if he doesn't show up for his next court date. With two young brothers depending on her, 16-year-old Ree knows she has to bring her father back, dead or alive. Living in the harsh poverty of the Ozarks, Ree learns quickly that asking questions of the rough Dolly clan can be a fatal mistake. But, as an unsettling revelation lurks, Ree discovers unforeseen depths in herself and in a family network that protects its own at any cost.

The Electric Michelangelo by Sarah Hall

Cy Parks is the Electric Michelangelo, an artist of extraordinary gifts whose medium happens to be the pliant, shifting canvas of the human body. Fleeing his mother's legacy -- a consumptives' hotel in a fading English seaside resort -- Cy reinvents himself in the incandescent honky-tonk of Coney Island in its heyday between the two world wars. Amid the carnival decadence of freak shows and roller coasters, enchanters and enigmas, scam artists and marks, Cy will find his muse: an enigmatic circus beauty who surrenders her body to his work, but whose soul tantalizingly eludes him.

Stay by Allie Larkin

Savannah "Van" Leone has been in love with Peter Clarke ever since she literally fell head over heels in front of him on the first day of college. Now, six years later, instead of standing across from him at the altar, Van's standing behind her best friend Janie as maid of honor, trying to mask her heartache and guilt as Janie marries the only man Van's ever loved. Before Van's mother died, she told Van never to let Peter go, but as the couple exchanges vows, Van wonders if her fairy tale ending will ever come true. After the wedding, Van drowns her sorrows in Kool-Aid-vodka cocktails and reruns of Rin Tin Tin, and does what any heartbroken woman in her situation would do: She impulsively buys a German Shepherd over the Internet. The pocket-size puppy Van is expecting turns out to be a clumsy, hundred-pound beast who only responds to commands in Slovak, and Van is at the end of her rope... until she realizes that this quirky giant may be the only living being who will always be loyal to her, no matter what. Van affectionately names her dog Joe, and together, they work to mend the pieces of Van's shattered heart. And it certainly doesn't hurt that Joe's vet is a rugged sweetheart with floppy blond hair and a winning smile. But when the newlyweds return from their honeymoon, Van is forced to decide just how much she's willing to sacrifice in order to have everything she ever wanted, proving that sometimes life needs to get more complicated before it can get better. Warm and witty, poignant and funny, Stay is an unforgettable debut that illuminates the boundlessness of love and marks the arrival of an irresistible new voice.

Genre Reading Group - Folktales, fables, and myths

2010-12-07T14:02:00.003-06:00

This year has flown by at warp speed so here we find ourselves once again getting ready for Salon Discussion on Tuesday evening, December 28th at 6:30pm. The Library will be on Holiday Hours, closing at 6pm, but I will be here to let you in! Pick ANY book you'd like and come tell us about it!

Folktales, fables, and myths are handed down generation to generation in every part of the world and we learned about this first hand at the last Genre Reading Group (GRG) discussion! From childhood rhymes to vengeful Japanese ghosts to Lewis Carroll's literary menagerie, we explored vast worlds outside the one we inhabit every day. Have a look at the books we shared and explore these worlds for yourself!

Pirates, Ghosts, and Coastal Lore: The Best of Judge Whedbee by Charles Harry Whedbee

In 1963, Judge Charles Whedbee was asked to substitute on a morning show called Carolina Today on Greenville, North Carolina's, television station while one of the program's regulars was in the hospital. Whedbee took the opportunity to tell some of the Outer Banks stories he'd heard during his many summers at Nags Head. The station received such a volume of mail in praise of his tale-telling that he was invited to remain even after the man he was substituting for returned to the air. "He had a way of telling a story that really captured me," said one of the program's co-hosts. "Whether he was talking about a sunset, a ghost, or a shipwreck, I was there, living every minute of it." Word traveled as far as Winston-Salem, where John F. Blair proposed to Whedbee that he compile his stories in book form. Whedbee welcomed the challenge, though his expectations for the manuscript that became Legends of the Outer Banks and Tar Heel Tidewater were modest. "I wrote it out of a love for this region and the people whom I'd known all my life," he said. "I didn't think it would sell a hundred copies." The Lost Colony, Indians, Blackbeard, an albino porpoise that guided ships into harbor-the tales in that volume form the core of Outer Banks folklore. Whedbee liked to tell people that his stories were of three kinds: those he knew to be true, those he believed to be true, and those he fabricated. But despite much prodding, he never revealed which were which.

Flights of Fancy: Birds in Myth, Legend, and Superstition by Peter Tate

The perfect bedside companion for every bird-watcher and nature lover, inside Flights of Fancy you’ll find:

Cranes

“Don’t promise the crane in the sky, but give the titmouse in your hand.”

Russian proverb

Magpies

“One for sorrow, two for joy…”

Traditional English rhyme

Owls

“The owl shrieked at thy birth, an evil sign.”

Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part III

Peacocks

“The peacock is ashamed of its large black feet.”

Medieval Persian tradition

Ravens

“When the raven tried to bring fire to the world, ash turned its feathers black.”

Cherokee Indian legend

Swans

“Sewing a swan’s feather into your husband’s pillow will keep him faithful.”

British superstition

The Magic Zoo: The Natural History of Fabulous Animals by Peter Costello

Fabulous animals and birds have fascinated and intrigued men from the earliest times: the Greeks had their centaurs and satyrs, the Chinese their qilin and fenghuang, and today we have Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster. But is there any truth in these myths? Do real animals or real animal behavior lurk behind the legends? In this engrossing and highly readable book, author Peter Costello examines a wide range of strange creatures in his attempt to uncover the truth.

Aesop's Fables selected by Joseph Jacobs

Aesop's Fables or Aesopica refers to a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and story-teller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BCE. His fables are some of the most well known in the world.

Squids Will Be Squids: Fresh Morals, Beastly Fables by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith

A collection of new and wacky fables with fresh morals, which are about all kinds of bossy, sneaky, funny and annoying people. A general moral offered by the book is, "If you are planning to write fables, don't forget to change people's names and avoid places with high cliffs".

The Three Questions written and illustrated by Jon J. Muth

What is the best time to do things? Who is the most important one? What is the right thing to do? Nikolai knows that he wants to be the best person he can be, but often he is unsure if he is doing the right thing. So he goes to ask Leo, the wise turtle. When he arrives, the turtle is struggling to dig in his garden, and Nikolai rushes to help him. As he finishes work, a violent storm rolls in. Nikolai runs for Leo's cottage, but on his way, he hears cries for help from an injured panda. Nikolai brings her in from the cold, and then rushes back outside to rescue her baby too.

Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts: The Subversive Folklore of Childhood by Josepha Sherman and T.K.F. Weisskopf

From Booklist

This unusual collection will elicit gasps of recognition, if not downright guffaws. It is irreverent, earthy, and gross as well as funny. In three sections--"Getting Down to Basics," "Dealing with Authority," and "The Commercial World" --the authors insightfully explore a variety of songs, insults, gruesome jokes, and offensive, bawdy rhymes (including some raunchy anatomical ones) invented by or passed around among children. Although the folklore here is from North America, the introduction points out that similar songs and sayings are shared by adults and children the world over. Opening with 20 versions of the familiar "greasy, grimy gopher guts" rhyme, the book combines hilarity and serious commentary as it proceeds through subject areas ranging from bodily functions, death, pregnancy, and school to parents, friends, and "The Life and Deaths of Barney." Extensive source notes and a bibliography round out a fascinating look at the culture of childhood, which should be required reading for anyone working with young people. Kids will like the book, too. Janice del Negro

Zickary Zan: Childhood Folklore compiled by Jack and Olivia Solomon

Alabama authors discuss childhood folklore and the process of collecting stories and histories.

Folk Toys Around the World and How to Make Them by Joan Joseph

1970's title which introduces toys from various countries, gives directions for constructing them, and discusses the materials needed. (not available in the JCLC system)

The Foxfire series of books compiled from Foxfire magazine, a 1960’s survey of Appalachian culture

Kwaidan: Japanese Ghost Stories by Lafcadio Hearn

During the latter half of the 19th century, American journalist Lafcadio Hearn became our nation's great interpreter of all things Japanese. His superb translation of 20 supernatural tales teems with undead samurais, man-eating goblins, and other terrifying demons. These classic ghost stories inspired the Oscar®-nominated 1964 film of the same name. (neither is available in the JCLC system)

Mythical Beasts of Japan: From Evil Creatures to Sacred Beings by Koichi Yumoto, Hiroyuki Kano, and Akiko Taki

A collection of glorious imaginary beings from Japanese mythology. The newest volume in the Traditional Patterns series, this book is a visual introduction to a variety of Japanese mythical beasts. Japanese imaginary creatures, such as Byakko (White Tiger), Suzaku (Vermilion Bird), Genbu (Black Tortoise), and Ryu (Japanese Dragon), were handed down from ancient Chinese mythology. Prayers were often offered to these beings since they are believed to cause mischief among ordinary mortals. Most of the featured works, mainly from the 12th century to the 19th century, feature motifs of sacred animals painted by artists such as Kawanabe Kyosai, Ito Jakuchu, Utagawa Kuniyoshi ,and more. Moreover, all kinds of the evil creatures, such as devils and goblins, and the deities from Japanese folklore are depicted in all their splendid glory in paintings, carved wood, decorative art pieces such as mirrors, incense burners, and much more.

The Folklore of American Weather by Eric Sloane

Among contemporary artists the undisputed master of preindustrial Americana is Eric Sloane, whose wistful, bitter-sweet paintings and precise drawings preserve for us and for posterity a loving reflection of a rural way of life that has for the most part vanished.

The Mythology of Native North America by David Leeming and Jake Page

The authors have provided an introduction and commentary on seventy-two myths drawn from a variety of cultures and language groups. They honor the Native pantheons, cosmologies, heroes, and heroines first as cultural expressions, then as variations on other mythic narrative to which they may be related, and ultimately as expression of the larger human experience of myth making.

Wildflower Folklore by Laura C. Martin

Engaging legends, medicinal uses, myths, and stories about 105 North American wildflowers along with botanical information and accurate illustrations.

Reading, wireless-like!

2010-12-01T12:51:00.002-06:00

Finally, you can break out your iPad and read free ebooks courtesy of the Public Libraries of Jefferson County! Overdrive and Apple are still hammering out the details on an official app to make this work, but in the meantime this is the temporary solution they've come up with:

How to download and read eBooks on an iPad, iPhone or iTouch

Installation:

1. On your computer, download Adobe Digital Editions and create an account. Authorize

the Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) program with your Adobe ID. ADE will act as “home

base” and authenticate your eBooks.

2. On your Apple device, download the free BlueFire Reader app (iTunes App Store) and

create an account.

3. Launch BlueFire Reader. Tap “Info” and authorize the app with your Adobe Digital

Editions ID.

Download an eBook:

1. On your computer, open a browser, go to the JCLC downloadable website and log in.

2. Check out an eBook. Click Download. A dialog box will open, select “Open with Adobe

Digital Editions”. This will download the .epub (the actual book) file to your computer.

The eBook will appear in ADE.

3. On your computer, locate the .epub file in the (My) Documents/My Digital Editions

folder (or the equivalent on a Mac). Send yourself an email, with that .epub file as an

attachment.

4. On your Apple device, check your email.

5. Tap on and hold the attachment’s icon until the fly-out menu appears which says “Open

with BlueFire Reader”, then select it. The attachment’s icon will change to the BlueFire

Reader logo.

6. The BlueFire Reader app will now launch and you can start reading! Once the checkout

period has expired the file will deactivate from your device and your computer desktop.

Happy reading!

Holley

Genre Reading Group meets night!

2010-11-30T10:59:00.002-06:00

Dare I say this GRG meeting will be epic? I mean that in a quite literal sense.

Tonight we will be discussing folklore, fable, and mythology and frequently those are composed in the form of epic poetry. Ok! That was a bit of a stretch but if this sounds like a meeting in which you'd like to participate, drop by the Library's conference room at 6:30pm and join the fun! The GRG LoVeS new members and, though I am biased, it's the most fun book group in town!!!

For more information, give me call/email or drop by the meeting tonight!

Happy reading,

Holley

hwesley@bham.lib.al.us

205/445-1117

This week @ EOL!

2010-11-15T12:18:00.002-06:00

Tuesday (11/16) at 6:30pm
The Documentaries After Dark film will examine the life and work of American photographer Ansel Adams

Wednesday (11/17) at 12:30pm
The Brown Bag Lunch Series film will the documentary "Open Secret" based on actual transcripts from Alabama's 1901 Constitutional Convention. The film is a re-enactment that looks into a not well-known and not necessarily pleasant part of Alabama's history.

Thursday (11/18) from 11am to 10pm
Have lunch or dinner (or both!!!) at Dryon's Lowcountry (121 Oak Street, right across from the library and next door to the Oak Street Market!!) and the restaurant will donate 10% of the day's proceeds to the library. Stroll through the magnificent Community Garden while you're there!

Saturday (11/20) from 2:30pm-4pm
Round up your knittin' buddies and head over to the library for another afternoon of Knittin' & Knibblin'. The experts from Memory Hagler Knit Shop will again be on hand to answer all your knitting questions. You bring your supplies and we'll provide the "knibbles!"

For more information about any of these programs, call 205/445-1121! Stop by the library and pick up a complete calendar of November events and don't forget to Like our fan page on Facebook!

Happy reading,
Holley