Friday, February 15, 2013

February 2013 Book Club Report


submitted by Anita Witten:

Last month, the Book Club read David McCullough's marvelous Greater Journey, which we discussed on Feb.5th. It's IMPRESSIVE. This tour de force is a history of a century (the 19th) of Americans drawn to Paris for many reasons. Winner of Pulitzers for his biographies Truman and John Adams, the author's ability to dramatize and carry us through those years and over 400 pages is stunning; one reader thought it was too much to handle.
We can look forward to another Pulitzer and, again, perhaps, another TV series based on McCullough output. A tremendous amount of research is attested to by the extensive bibliography. On his view of history he said: "To me, history ought to be a source of pleasure (it was) - an enlargement of the experience of being alive" YES. And: "Writing a book is like being under a spell...almost as in hypnosis." YES again.
Born in 1933 in Pittsburgh, of Scots and Irish background, he drew cartoons as a child, loved school and eventually at Yale studied with John O'Hara, Robt. Penn Warren and was a close friend of Thornton Wilder. In the midst of a journalism career, Sports Illustrated and Time/Life, he switched focus; wanting to tell the "story of people" and said "I want my subject to show "people who were not always inept or foolish". In describing the allure of Paris for Americans, often overwhelmed with admiration of the highly developed culture of the Old World, we share their adjustment and awe. He ranges from the early diplomats of the New World who sail for months on dangerous seas *to arrive to the hopeful artists obsessed with copying in the Louvre and medical students who enjoy the accessibility to cadavers; many of the unknown paupers dying daily.
Pick a famous American artist, architect, inventor, writer, and read his story of learning in Paris: Samuel B. Morse; James Fenimore Cooper; Whistler; Sargent; Mary Cassatt; George Catlin and his tribal companions; Oliver Wendell Holmes, sculptor St. Gaudens, who gets great coverage; and many of our personal heroes such as Mary Putnam, celebrated medical student and M.D. Meet Louis Phllippe who posed for Sargent and then Napoleon III and suffer through the eyes of the beneficent Washburn,US ambassador during the violence of the Communards and the Prussian War. This book carries away the reader.
    
* note- the first steamship crossing was in 1838


Friday, February 1, 2013

The Latest News: Feb. 1, 2013

On Saturday, Feb. 2nd there will be an informal meeting at around 11 AM in the library to discuss ideas about beginning a mother-daughter book club for girls ages 9-13 and their moms. Please spread the word!


The Friends of the Library will be having a meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 5th, starting at 6:30 PM, in Proudfit Hall. There are many items on the agenda...we'd love to have as many people as possible show up to discuss and offer fresh ideas. Hope to see you there!


Bancroft Public Library News (press release, submitted today):

Did you know?
Did you know that you can request most any book, and many other materials (think DVDs, CDs, magazines, etc.), from any other library in our large system...for free?! And, it will be delivered to our library for you to pick up! Granted, there are some materials other libraries will not ship out through inter-library loan, but inter-library loan makes the choices available through our library HUGE! Go to our website: http://www.slibrary.org and click on the link for "Library Catalog" to get started...you can place requests online using your library card's bar code.

New Library Cards:
If you need a library card, please come in to the library and fill out our brief registration form. We do require a form of identification, such as a driver's license, and a proof of address.

Some of the new library materials added to the catalog in the month of January include:
Adult Fiction:
Shadow Woman, Linda Howard: Private London, James Patterson; Empire and Honor, W.E.B. Griffin; Political Suicide, Michael Palmer; A Memory of Light, Robert Jordan; Two Graves, Preston & Child; Merry Christmas Alex Cross, James Patterson; Suspect, Robert Crais; Until the End of Time, Danielle Steel
Adult Large Type Fiction:
Collateral Damage, Stuart Woods; Dream Eyes, Jayne Krentz; Last Runaway, Tracy Chevalier; Ironhorse, Robert Parker; Eight Girls Taking Pictures, Whitney Otto; Threat Vector, Tom Clancy; Kinsey and Me, Sue Grafton; Shadow Woman, Linda Howard; Nano, Robin Cook
Adult Non-Fiction:
My iPad; Powerful Partners in Student Success: Schools, Families, and Communities; Creative Solutions to Contemporary Challenges in Small and Rural Schools Across America; Jesus of Nazareth, Joseph Ratzinger and Pope Benedict XVI; Proof of Heaven, Eben Alexander; My Share of the Task, General Stanley McChrystal; Mafia Prince, Phillip Leonetti; Ship of Oak, Guns of Iron, Ronald Utt; Craft-a-Day, Sarah Goldschadt
DVDs:
Under 21 and Filthy Rich; Best of Ancient Aliens; Grizzly Man; Godfather Legacy; America's Book of Secrets: The Monuments; Glee: Don't Stop Believing; Secret Access: The Presidency; Pawn Stars Vol. 5; Pearl Harbor 24 Hours After; Swamp People: Swampsgiving; James Bond Gadgets; Titanic at 100: Mystery Solved; The Amazing Spider-Man; Taken 2 (Blu-Ray); Finding Nemo (Blu-Ray); Frankenweenie; Ice Age: Continental Drift
Juvenile Fiction:
I Funny, James Patterson; Wonder, R.J. Palacio; Goblin Secrets, William Alexander; Captain Awesome Takes a Dive, Stan Kirby; Captain Awesome to the Rescue, Stan Kirby; Captain Awesome and the New Kid, Stan Kirby; The Enormous Pearl Heist, Geronimo Stilton; Thea Stilton and the Prince's Emerald, Geronimo Stilton; Creepella Von Cracklefur, Geronimo Stilton; Star Wars The Clone, Henry Gilroy; Finn at Clee Point, Richard Knight; Inch and Roly Make a Wish, Melissa Wiley; Watch Out, Monsters About, Simon Beecroft; Meet the Monsters, Simon Beecroft; A Holiday With Buddy!
Juvenile Non-Fiction:
Ninjago Character Encyclopedia; The Herd Boy, Niki Daly; Nelson Mandela, Kadir Nelson; Alex the Parrot: No Ordinary Bird, Stephanie Spinner

Programs:
Story Time is scheduled for Wednesdays at 10 AM. Story Time includes stories read aloud, a simple craft, and time for caregivers to chat and kids to play together quietly. Please come in and join the fun!
Scrabble Club meets Thursdays at 1 PM
Book Club meets the first Tuesday of every month at 11 AM. All are welcome. Attendees should enter through the Salem Village office, as the library is closed.
Chess Club meets on Saturdays from 10 AM - 1 PM. All skill levels are welcome, even beginners.

Meetings:
Library trustees meet on the first Thursday of the month at 1 PM.

Library Hours:
Monday 12:30 - 4:30 PM; Tuesday 12:30 - 4:30 PM and 6:30 - 8:00 PM; Wednesday 10 AM - 1 PM; Thursday 12:30 - 4:30 PM and 6:30 - 8:00 PM; Friday 12:30 - 4:30 PM; Saturday 10 AM - 1 PM; Sunday closed.

The library is located at 181 Main Street in Salem. To reach us by phone, call 854-7463. Our web address is http://www.slibrary.org. We are on Facebook as "Bancroft Public Library".