The next Books & Beyond meet up will be on Tuesday, September 28th at 6:30pm in the Library’s Conference Room. To attend on Zoom, register here: https://emmetoneal.libnet.info/event/4597973.
The topic we will be discussing is the Old West and western novels/films. There is a display at the 2nd floor service desk or you may peruse them from home on the Shelf Care page of the website at https://oneallibrary.org/adults---reading-recommendations.
Winter Hours at the Library begin on Tuesday, September 7th.
Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday: 9am-8pm
Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday: 9am-6pm
Sundays: 2pm-6pm
The Friends Booksale: Abridged Edition is coming later this
month! Become a donor online or at the
door and get first access to the sale on Thursday, September 16th 10am-4pm. The sale opens to the public Friday &
Saturday, September 17-18th from 10am-4pm. There is no Sunday sale.
This week, we met to discuss myth, legend, folklore, and
fairy tales.
Ariadne by Jennifer Saint
Hypnotic, propulsive, and utterly transporting, Jennifer
Saint's Ariadne forges a new epic, one that puts the forgotten women
of Greek mythology back at the heart of the story, as they strive for a better
world.
Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman
Haunted by memories of the Great War, failed academic Frank
Nichols and his wife have arrived in the sleepy Georgia town of Whitbrow, where
Frank hopes to write a history of his family’s old estate—the Savoyard
Plantation—and the horrors that occurred there. At first their new life seems
to be everything they wanted. But under the facade of summer socials and
small-town charm, there is an unspoken dread that the townsfolk have lived with
for generations. A presence that demands sacrifice. It comes from the shadowy
woods across the river, where the ruins of the Savoyard Plantation still stand.
Where a long-smoldering debt of blood has never been forgotten. Where it has
been waiting for Frank Nichols....
The Curse Painter by Jordan Rivet
Briar can curse with the flick of a paintbrush. Her
paintings maim, bewitch, and—most effectively of all—destroy. But Briar doesn't
want to hurt people anymore. She has fled her family's deadly curse business to
start a new life peddling nonlethal jinxes and petty revenge.
The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo
Yangsze Choo's The Night Tiger pulls us into a
world of servants and masters, age-old superstition and modern idealism,
sibling rivalry and forbidden love. But anchoring this dazzling, propulsive
novel is the intimate coming-of-age of a child and a young woman, each
searching for their place in a society that would rather they stay invisible.
The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo
A startlingly original novel infused with Chinese folklore,
romantic intrigue, and unexpected supernatural twists.
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of
Alice’s life on the road, always a step ahead of the uncanny bad luck biting at
their heels. But when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a
cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, the
Hazel Wood, Alice learns how bad her luck can really get: Her mother is stolen
away―by a figure who claims to come from the Hinterland, the cruel supernatural
world where her grandmother's stories are set. Alice's only lead is the message
her mother left behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.”
How to Fracture a Fairy Tale by Jane Yolen
Fantasy icon Jane Yolen triumphantly returns with this
inspired gathering of fractured fairy tales and legends. Yolen breaks open the
classics to reveal their crystalline secrets: a philosophical bridge that
misses its troll, a spinner of straw as a falsely accused moneylender, the
villainous wolf adjusting poorly to retirement. Each of these offerings
features a new author note and original poem, illuminating tales that are old,
new, and brilliantly refined.
The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
Aerin, with the guidance of the wizard Luthe and the help of the Blue Sword, wins the birthright due her as the daughter of the Damarian king and a witchwoman of the mysterious, demon-haunted North.
Legends from the Pacific podcast
Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. Kamuela or “Kamu”, is
an Asian Pacific Islander geek, and storyteller. He began podcasting in 2004
with the weekly three-hour radio show/podcast, “Off the Air’s: Geek Nation”. “Legends from the Pacific” utilizes Kamu’s
cultural knowledge, and television/film background to craft stories of people,
beliefs, and traditions to help promote Pacific cultures.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
A storm tears through rural Kansas and a young farm girl
named Dorothy finds herself and her farmhouse swallowed by a cyclone and
transported to a magical land called Oz. This unexpected passage into this land
of wonders is not without its perils.
An adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz" that tries to
capture the essence of the African-American experience.
Circe by Madeline Miller
"A bold and subversive retelling of the goddess's
story," this #1 New York Times bestseller is "both epic and
intimate in its scope, recasting the most infamous female figure from the
Odyssey as a hero in her own right" (Alexandra Alter, The New York
Times).
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
A thrilling, profoundly moving, and utterly unique retelling
of the legend of Achilles and the Trojan War from the bestselling author
of Circe.
Black Ships by Jo Graham
In a time of war and doubt, Gull is an oracle. Daughter of a
slave taken from fallen Troy, chosen at the age of seven to be the voice of the
Lady of the Dead, it is her destiny to counsel kings. When nine black ships
appear, captained by an exiled Trojan prince, Gull must decide between the life
she has been destined for and the most perilous adventure -- to join the
remnant of her mother's people in their desperate flight.
In the Falangist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.
Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
July 2005. In the Pyrenees mountains near Carcassonne,
Alice, a volunteer at an archaeological dig, stumbles into a cave and makes a
startling discovery-two crumbling skeletons, strange writings on the walls, and
the pattern of a labyrinth. Eight hundred years earlier, on the eve of a brutal
crusade that will rip apart southern France, a young woman named Alais is given
a ring and a mysterious book for safekeeping by her father. The book, he says,
contains the secret of the true Grail, and the ring, inscribed with a
labyrinth, will identify a guardian of the Grail. Now, as crusading armies
gather outside the city walls of Carcassonne, it will take a tremendous
sacrifice to keep the secret of the labyrinth safe.
My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrick
Backman
Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is
seventy-seven years old and crazy—as in
standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-strangers crazy. She is also
Elsa’s best, and only, friend. At night Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother’s
stories, in the Land-of-Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas, where everybody
is different and nobody needs to be normal. When Elsa’s grandmother dies and
leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has wronged, Elsa’s
greatest adventure begins. Her grandmother’s instructions lead her to an
apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and old crones but
also to the truth about fairy tales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no
other.
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
Winter lasts most of the year at the edge of the Russian
wilderness, and in the long nights, Vasilisa and her siblings love to gather by
the fire to listen to their nurse’s fairy tales. Above all, Vasya loves the
story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon. Wise Russians fear him, for he
claims unwary souls, and they honor the spirits that protect their homes from
evil. Then Vasya’s widowed father brings home a new wife from Moscow. Fiercely
devout, Vasya’s stepmother forbids her family from honoring their household
spirits, but Vasya fears what this may bring. And indeed, misfortune begins to
stalk the village.
Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Page
My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas. I've
been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked. I've been trained to
fight. And I have a mission: Remove the Tin Woodman's heart. Steal the
Scarecrow's brain. Take the Lion's courage. And—Dorothy must die.
Cheshire Crossing by Andy Weir and Sarah Andersen
In a one-of-a-kind graphic novel collaboration between the
#1 New York Times bestselling author of The Martian and the
beloved illustrator behind Sarah’s Scribbles, Alice, Wendy, and
Dorothy team up to save the multiverse, from Wonderland to Neverland and Oz.
The Green Knight (still in theaters/stream on demand)
An epic fantasy adventure based on the timeless Arthurian legend, THE GREEN KNIGHT tells the story of Sir Gawain (Dev Patel), King Arthur's reckless and headstrong nephew, who embarks on a daring quest to confront the eponymous Green Knight, a gigantic emerald-skinned stranger and tester of men. Gawain contends with ghosts, giants, thieves, and schemers in what becomes a deeper journey to define his character and prove his worth in the eyes of his family and kingdom by facing the ultimate challenger. From visionary filmmaker David Lowery comes a fresh and bold spin on a classic tale from the knights of the round table.
Handsome swordsman Lancelot (Richard Gere) is incredibly skilled at fighting, but when he meets the lovely Guinevere (Julia Ormond), he can't seem to get past her defenses. She is betrothed to King Arthur (Sean Connery) and plans to go ahead with the wedding, despite her attraction to Lancelot. When the devious warrior Malagant (Ben Cross) rises up against Arthur, Lancelot must try to put his feelings aside and defend his king, Guinevere and all of Camelot.
Upon breaking out of a dungeon, youthful thief Phillipe Gaston (Matthew Broderick) befriends Capt. Navarre (Rutger Hauer), a man with a strange secret. Navarre and his lover Lady Isabeau d'Anjou (Michelle Pfeiffer) were cursed by the wicked Bishop of Aquila (John Wood), who desires Lady Isabeau for himself. His dark magic prevents the pair from ever being in each other's presence except at twilight, so they enlist Gaston in a dangerous plot to overthrow the Bishop and break his evil enchantment.
A fairy tale adventure about a beautiful young woman and her one true love. He must find her after a long separation and save her. They must battle the evils of the mythical kingdom of Florin to be reunited with each other. Based on the William Goldman novel "The Princess Bride" which earned its own loyal audience.
Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things by Lafcadio
Hearn
Known primarily as an early interpreter of Japanese culture and customs, the famous writer Lafcadio Hearn also wrote ghost stories—"delicate, transparent, ghostly sketches"—about his adopted land. Many of the stories found in Kwaidan, "stories and studies of strange things," are based on Japanese tales told long ago to him by his wife; others possibly have a Chinese origin. All have been re-colored and reshaped by Hearn's inimitable hand. Film adaptation has a Criterion Collection release.
Fleetwood Mac performing the song "Rhiannon," allegedly based on Welsh myth
Evolution of Goddess: A Modern Girl’s Guide to ActivatingYour Feminine Superpowers by Emma Mildon
Evolution of Goddess is a practical introduction to the
goddess realm, digging up the histories of long-forgotten myths of goddesses of
love, war, death, the sun, the moon, and more. With this clear-eyed and
spirited book, you can finally become familiarized with goddesses from a wide
range of cultures throughout history, including the mermaids of the Atlantic,
the empresses of ancient Egypt, the wise women of the Middle Ages, right up to
the modern-day goddesses who walk amongst us today as humble light workers,
educating and inspiring.
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