Snippets from the Shelves

Fall has arrived with glorious colors, stunning sunsets, and crisp mornings. Of course along with the beauty of the season comes all of those tasks that we do in order to prepare ourselves and our homes for what will follow. After the gardens and flower beds have been tidied, the lawn mowed, and the leaves raked one more time, settle into your favorite chair with a cup of tea and a good book or movie. We have just what you are looking for on our shelves.

If you like football, check out Mark Bowden’s book The Best Game Ever: Giants Vs. Colts, 1958, and the Birth of the Modern NFL. For you non football fans, we have Falcon Fever: a Falconer in the Twenty-first Century by Tim Gallagher; Brian Donovan’s Hard Driving: The Wendell Scott Story, The American Odyssey of NASCAR’s First Black Driver; and Chuck Culpepper’s Bloody Confused! A Clueless American Sportswriter Seeks Solace in English Soccer.

The holidays may be months away but we all know that time seems to move quickly this time of year. For those of you who are thinking of giving handmade items but need some inspiration, check out A is for Apron: 25 Fresh & Flirty Designs by Nathalie Mornu. Her designs are pretty, functional, and for many of us evoke fond memories of past holidays. Marilyn MacEwen’s Woodworking 101 for Women; Quick & Clever Christmas Cards by Elizabeth Moad, and Make It in Minutes: Party Favors & Hostess Gifts by Roxi Phillips are sure to make your gift giving more personal and fun.

For all of you true crime fans, check out For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder that Shocked Chicago by Simon Baatz and Kathryn Harrison’s While They Slept: an Inquiry Into the Murder of a Family. The Middle East continues to serve as a topic for debate. The library has added several new books to the collection that are sure to generate discussions, including: Basrayatha: the Story of a City by Muhammad Khudayyir; Sarce Makdisi’s Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation; Muhajababes: Meet the New Middle East -Young, Sexy, and Devout by Allegra Stratton; and Raja Shehadeh’s Palestinian Walks: Notes on a Vanishing Landscape.

The following are additional titles to consider: The Wild Places by Robert Macfarlane; The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington by Jennet Conant; David Kaufman’s Doris Day: the Untold Story of the Girl Next Door; The Beautiful Struggle: a Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood by Ta-Nehisi Coates; and, on a lighter note, Bruce Patterson’s The Walking Tractor & Other Country Tales.

We continue to add new DVDs to the collection on a regular basis. For those of you who enjoy foreign films, we have added the following: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly; The Lives of Others ( winner for best foreign language film); Under the Same Moon; and The Year My Parents Went on Vacation. These and many others are available free of charge to our library patrons. Please stop in the library and check out what we have!

We have an exciting new addition to our collection of books on CD. Recorded Books has a line named Modern Scholar which is a collection of college level courses taught by great professors who are enthusiastic about their subjects and have reputations for being great lecturers. Thanks to a one time bit of extra money, we are adding thirteen titles. The courses include Ethics: A History of Modern Thought; Walt Whitman and the Birth of Modern American Poetry; The American Presidency: From Theodore Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan; Journeys of the Great Explorers: Columbus to Cook; Rethinking Our Past: Recognizing Facts, Fictions, and Lies in American History; Take Me Out to the Ballgame: A History of Baseball in America; World War I: The Great War and the World It Made plus six interesting others. These are currently on order and we hope to have them available soon.

All the lists for the best this and thats of the previous year are published in December and January and that is true for lists of best books, also. Some of the best known lists are The New York Times Best Books and Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year. I also look at Booklist Editors’ Choice and a best books list fromLibrary Journal. For fun, this year I also looked at a list from EW. com (Entertainment Weekly) and one from Hudson Booksellers. While the goal of perusing all these lists is to see how many of the titles the library has, the most interesting aspect is that there is not a lot of overlap of titles among the lists. Some of the most interesting sounding books that are here in the library appear on a single list. For example, The New York Times has Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression. Hudson Booksellers has Sin in the Second City by Karen Abbott, and Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Agent Zigzag by Ben Macintyre and David Michaelis’ Schulz and Peanuts are on the EW.com list. Publishers Weekly lists Touch and Go: A Memoir by Studs Terkel; Shadow of the Silk Road by Colin Thubron; American Islam: The Struggle for the Soul of a Religion by Paul Barrett and Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy by Donald Kraybill. A few of the books that appear on more than one list are Rick Atkinson’s The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944; How Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman; Edith Wharton by Hermione Lee; Jeffrey Toobin’s The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court; A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah; The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Storyby Diane Ackerman; Walter Isaacson’s Einstein; Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner; and The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. These are all books that the Library has, along with lots of other books on various lists and worth reading–something for everyone.

I can’t finish the Spring newsletter without mentioning that Spring is finally here and along with it is the urge to be outside and dig in the dirt, at least for a lot of us. As most of you know, we have many gardening books, ranging from the most basic “how and where to plant a seed” to “how to create a professional looking landscape” to “going green” to “how to make compost”. A lot of these books will be on display as well as on the shelves, so come in and browse.

Fall is here; the daylight hours are fewer and as we begin to prepare for the cold, gray winter days ahead, it is time to plan for some intensive reading. After a summer of listening to media sound bites we can increase our understanding of issues that are facing us by checking out what the library has to offer. We have been adding to the collection a number of books that provide an in-depth exploration of viewpoints on a variety of issues.

For example—global warming. There really are different ways of viewing our changing climate and what it will mean to us. We have Hell and High Water: Global Warming-the Solution and the Politics-and What We Should Do by Joseph Romm; With Speed and Violence: Why Scientists Fear the Tipping Points in Climate Change by Fred Pearce; An Ocean of Air: Why the Wind Blows and Other Mysteries of the Atmosphere; two books by Bjorn Lomborg, Global Crises, Global Solutions: The Skeptical Environmentalist : Measuring the Real State of the World and Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist’s Guide to Global Warming; and Christopher Horner’s The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming.

Reading books about history is a wonderful way to increase our understanding not only of the past but also of current events. Try David Halberstam’s posthumously published book The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War, or Greg Behrman’s The Most Noble Adventure: The Marshall Plan and the Time when America Helped Save Europe. The Reagan Diaries by Ronald Reagan; The Berlin Wall: A World Divided 1961-1989 by Fred Taylor or Steve Vogel’s The Pentagon: A History might prove to be interesting.

As technology is making the world smaller, India and China are having an increasing impact on the western world. Several new books provide information to improve our understanding of these countries. Try The Elephant, the Tiger, and the Cell Phone: India, the Emerging 21st Century Power by Shashi Tharoor; Ramachandra Guha’s India after Gandhi: The History of the World’s Largest Democracy and Insight Guides: India. As for China, try The Long March: The True History of Communist China’s Founding Myth or Harry Gelber’s The Dragon and the Foreign Devils: China and the World 1100 BC to the Present.

Religion is always a topic to inspire discussion and there are numerous books being published to help the discussion along. Karen Armstrong has several well respected books and her latest is The Bible: A Biography. Another more general book is Discovering God: A New Look at the Origins of the Great Religions by Rodney Stark. Atheism is currently in the news and we have both Christopher Hitchens’ book God is Not Great: Why Religion Poisons Everything and Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion. A new book is The Dawkins Delusion? Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine by Alister McGrath.

On a lighter note, Christmas is coming and we are adding Georgeanne Brennan’s Christmas Sweets; I’m Dreaming of a Chocolate Christmas by Marcel Desaulniers and Rebecca Rather’s The Pastry Queen Christmas, along with the usual Taste of Home Holiday and Celebrations 2007, Better Homes and Gardens Christmas from the Heart, Vol. 16; and Christmas with Southern Living 2007.

Several new DVD sets have been added including Roots : the 30th anniversary edition, a Nova series about ants, bees and the unknown world, and a two disc set about hurricanes. For the armchair traveler in all of us, there is a series including Mexico, the Northwest, Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand and China to the Max.

There should be something here for everyone to get through the winter. If not, come to the library and browse. We add thousands of books a year so there is sure to be something you will find interesting.

Our anticipated renovation is well under way and our additional space should be ready in a month or so. The current plan is to move Large Print books to the new space. We will shift Books on Cassette to the original Large Print shelves and thus be able to spread out our new magazines and have more room for Books on CD. All plans are, of course, subject to change.

Fall is a wonderful time to travel-cooler temperatures, fewer crowds and beautiful scenery. We have added some travel books and memoirs to help plan your trip. Try Pennsylvania Wilds: Images from the Allegheny National Forest for inspiration, or Seasons on Harris: A Year in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides by David Yeadon. More traditional travel guides include Fodor’s Walt Disney World with Kids 2007; Rick Steves’ Best of Europe 2007; Mexico; DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Alaska; DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Washington, D.C.; Insider’s Guide to North Carolina Mountains; and Fodor’s Las Vegas. My vote would be for the North Carolina Mountains.

The history of wars is a topic of interest to many of our patrons. We have added some titles to consider. Try Donald Miller’s Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany; War by Other Means: An Insider’s Account of the War on Terror by John Yoo; A Life in Secrets: Vera Atkins and the Missing Agents of WWII by Sarah Helm; Lynn Homan’s Black Knights: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen and The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright. Another title to consider is Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy by Ian Toll.

The conventional wisdom is that if one wishes to keep the peace, one should not discuss politics or religion. However, if you decide to bring up these topics, we have several new books to add to the debate.

In no particular order, we have The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief by Francis Collins; Why the Christian Right is Wrong by Robin Meyers; Panja Idliby’s The Faith Club: A Muslim, a Christian, a Jew: Three Women Search for Understanding; Hugo Chaves: Oil, Politics, and the Challenge to the United States by Nikolas Kozloff; A Heretic’s Guide to Eternity by Spencer Burke; Daniel Dennett’s Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon; Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris; The Holy Vote: The Politics of Faith in America; Richard Posner’s Not a Suicide Pact: The Constitution in a Time of National Emergency; Robert Price’s The Reason-Driven Life: What Am I Here on Earth For?; and Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq by Thomas Ricks. Several of these are bound to get the blood moving.

Stop by, between trips, to see how our renovation is progressing and to look over the new books and the older ones, too. We think you will be pleased by both.

As frequent visitors to the library have probably noticed, the changes to the Main Floor mentioned in the last two newsletters have not yet begun. There is a plan however, and as soon as the Director’s new office on the second floor is finished and the move completed, work will begin here. Be prepared for a chaotic summer. We are still taking suggestions for a mantra to replace “change is good.”

In the meantime we continue to add to our collection in a variety of genres. In addition to our regular large print books, we are adding books classified as Christian historical fiction, and Westerns and are increasing the number of our non-fiction titles. In addition to our books on
cassette and books on CD from Recorded Books, we are adding titles from Blackstone Audio and MicroMarketing which will broaden the range of selection. The DVD collection continues to grow with the help of donations and purchased titles. Recently added are several BBC productions such as ‘The House of Cards’ trilogy with Ian Richardson (a political thriller); ‘Ballykissangel,’ series four; ‘The Irish R.M.,’ series two and three; ‘The House of Eliot’ (good story, beautiful costumes). Also added are three of the world’s greatest operas: ‘Carmen,’ ‘ La Traviata,’ and ‘Aida.’

An exciting addition to our DVD collection is a twelve volume set of ‘In English on Your Own’ for use by those for whom English is a second language and who want to better their use of English. It is self-instructional and comes with workbooks.

For all the quilters or would be quilters, a donation has been made by Mr. Harvey Heath in memory of his wife, Nancy. Mrs. Heath was an active quilter and had an extensive collection of books about quilting. Space considerations make it necessary to add just a small part of her total collection. A few of the titles that are being added are ‘The Quilter’s Guide: Design Essentials by Lorraine Torrence;’ ‘ Fat Quarter Quilts’ by M’liss Rae Hawley; ‘Easy Pieces: Creative Color Play with Two Simple Quilt Blocks’ by Margaret J. Miller; ‘Curves in Motion: Quilt Designs & Techniques’ by Judy B. Dale; ‘Elegant Stitches: An Illustrated Stitch Guide and Source Book of Inspiration’ by Judith Baker Montano and ‘Razzle, Dazzle Quilts’ by Judy Hooworth.

Please stop by the Main Floor and enjoy our new selections and excuse the mess as the renovations finally begin (we hope).

It seems to be in the nature of planning that initial schedules are seldom met. The ambitious plan for changes to the Main Floor mentioned in the Spring newsletter which was due to begin in the summer has not yet begun to happen. We here at the Main Desk are continuing to chant “change is good,” but we are going to need a different chant and are open to suggestions.

One of the benefits of a change in floor plan will, we hope, be more room for Books on Cassette. An anonymous donation of Great Courses on cassette offers exciting learning possibilities to our patrons. Each course consists of multiple tapes and at the moment there is no room for them. Some of the titles of courses to look forward to include How to Understand and Listen to Great Music; Elements of Jazz; Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition; Roots of Human Behavior; Early Christianity; Is Anyone Really Normal? Perspectives on Abnormal Psychology; and Great Principles of Science.

The Library has a new web page design and as part of that, the Main Floor has its own blog. This is under construction so the final content has not been decided but at the least there will be a listing of books on order and other lists of new acquisitions. If there is anything else you, as patrons would like to see on our blog, please let us know.

As the Fall season progresses, we continue to anticipate the changes ahead. We hope everyone will be patient during the process and pleased with the results.

by Patricia Bailey, Librarian

Those of us at the Main Desk have adopted the mantra “change is good.” If you have been to the Library recently you probably have noticed a change in the staffing. Lacey, Lynn, and Jeanne have joined our staff on the Main Floor; Joice has taken over the Fiction Department and is now upstairs. We hope everyone will be patient during the learning process. Also changing will be the layout and look of the Main Floor. The first stage will involve changing the shelves (this means moving all the books) which will happen in the summer. Then the Director’s office will move to the second floor, the wall will be removed, and shelving added to the new space. Throughout all of this we will keep repeating, “change is good.”

Even though it is now spring and many people are anxious to be outside in yards and gardens, I am not going to focus on our gardening collection. I will simply mention that the collection is varied and extensive, so come in and browse. Instead, I want to talk about DVDs we have recently added to our collection.

Our collection contains many older movies and that is primarily what has been added. Classics such as “My Favorite Wife” with Gary Grant and Irene Dunne, “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town” with Gary Cooper, “Teacher’s Pet” with Clark Gable and Doris Day and “Inherit the Wind” with Spencer Tracy and Frederick March never go out of style. Other movies not quite so old are “The Odd Couple” and “The Apartment” both with Jack Lemmon. Historical dramas such as “The Name of the Rose,” “The Lion in Winter,” “The Inn of the Sixth Happiness,” and “The Agony and the Ecstasy” combine exquisite acting with wonderful settings.

Classic musicals are wonderful entertainment. “Damn Yankees,” “Camelot,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Finian’s Rainbow,” “The Band Wagon,” “Brigadoon,” and “Bells are Ringing” will have you humming long after the movie is finished. A few science fiction classics have been added. These include a four- disc set of “The Outer Limits,” “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” and “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”

Television programs have not been neglected. We now have some of the Red Green programs and the PBS series “Island at War” about the German occupation of one of the English Channel islands during WWII. Seasons two and three have been added to the first season of the PBS series “Ballykissangel,” which is about a parish priest and the lives of the residents of the Irish town of Ballykissangel. We also have the HBO movie “Angels in America.” “The Little Rascals” should provide a nostalgia fix.

There are many more not mentioned here. Everyone will be able to find something enjoyable out of this eclectic mix and will then have something to look forward to after a day working in the yard or soaking up the sun.