Blog Post
If you loved "To Kill a Mockingbird"......
by Maxine
Carrie Brown's second novel, The Rope Walk is a stirring, atmospheric coming of age story of ten year old Alice Macauley who is the youngest child of five and the only daughter of Archie MacCauley, Shakespeare scholar, professor and widower. They live in a small town outside the college town of Brattleboro, Vermont. Alice grows up rough-housing with her older brothers who she adores but is anticipating a lonely summer as they all return to work and school after her birthday celebration. But into her life comes Theo, a bi-racial boy and an adventurer like her. They are both invited to come and read to Kenneth Fitzgerald, an artist dying of AIDS who has come to live with his sister. Themes of prejudice, friendship and tolerance pervade this novel whose luminous prose takes us all back to those long idle summers when, as children, days of lying in a hammock climbing trees or building forts in a stream were enough to make us happy.
Blog Post
Happy Birthday, Jane
by Maxine
The dark romance, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte was published on October 6, 1847 under the title, Jane Eyre: An Autobiography by Currer Bell, a pseudonym created by Bronte. Thought to be one of the most famous of British novels, the book has all the elements of compelling Gothic romance: a brooding man, a woman madly in love with him and to top it off, a mad wife. The novel has spawned others with the same appeal including Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, The Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys and a futuristic parody, The Eyre Affair: A Thursday Next Novel by Jasper Fforde. Jane has transmogrified to screen and just recently, the musical stage.
Oh, and don't forget Charlotte's sister, Emily and her equally brooding Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights.
Blog Post
Two brothers in war torn Japan
by Maxine
Gail Tsukiyama's sixth book, The Street of a Thousand Blossoms is the story of Japan before, during and after World War II as seen through the eyes of the two main characters, brothers Hiroshi and Kenji Matsumoto. The boys are raised by loving grandparents in Tokyo. In 1939, Hiroshi dreams of becoming a sumo wrestling champion and Kenji of learning the art of making masks for the Noh theater. But when war breaks out, their plans are put on hold but not extinguished. Tsukiyama brings Japan to life in her vivid yet understated writing about the horror of war, the saving grace of art and the reconstruction of Japan.
Blog Post
The birth of American journalism
by Maxine
Today, September 25 is the day the first American newspaper was published in 1690. This was the first and only edition of "Publick Occurences Both Foreign and Domestick" published by Benjamin Harris at the London-Coffee-House in Boston. The paper was four pages with the last left blank for readers' opinions. It contained news as well as exposes, was considered offensive and was shut down.
To read more on the history of American newspapers, check out these new titles from our collection:
William Randolph Hearst: Final Edition, 1911-1951, by Ben H. Proctor. The second and final installment of the biography of this larger than life newspaper magnate.
Infamous Scribblers : The Founding Fathers and the Rowdy Beginnings of American Journalism by Eric Burns. An entertaining history of colonial journalism which was not too different in its tenor than today's.
Black writers/black baseball: an anthology of articles from Black sportswriters Who Covered the Negro Leagues, rev. ed. edited by Jim Reisler. A collection of writings from the first half of the twentieth century.
Blog Post
Praise for local author's first book
by Maxine
Travis Holland's debut novel, The Archivist's Story traces the period of Pavel Dubrov's life when his job is to destroy books in Lubyanka prison where political prisoners are kept in the Stalinist Moscow of 1939. A former teacher of literature, Dubrov, in verifying an author for an unsigned work, discovers that the manuscript is two unpublished stories by Isaac Babel, one of his beloved authors. He steals the manuscript and hides it in a brick wall in his apartment basement. Although Russian society is breaking down during this tyrannical regime and Dubrov and his friends are filled with despair, his action provides some seed of hope for the future. A well-written and researched novel from this University of Michigan instructor.
Blog Post
The Imagist Poet
by Maxine
September 10 is the birthday of Hilda Doolittle one of the first of the Imagist Poets. She was born in Bethleham, Pa. in 1886. Often referred to as H.D., Doolittle was known not only as a poet but a novelist, writer of non-fiction and actress. She was friends with the ex-patriate poet, Ezra Pound who introduced her to the literati of Europe at the time. She was an admirer of Ancient Greek culture which is evident in her work. The Imagist style demands "the perfect word" and musical, lush visual language. Following is one of Doolittle's poems, "Stars Wheel in Purple," which comes close to the Imagist ideal:
Stars wheel in purple, yours is not so rare
as Hesperus, nor yet so great a star
as bright Aldeboran or Sirius,
nor yet the stained and brilliant one of War;
stars turn in purple, glorious to the sight;
yours is not gracious as the Pleiads are
nor as Orion's sapphires, luminous;
yet disenchanted, cold, imperious face,
when all the others blighted, reel and fall,
your star, steel-set, keeps lone and frigid tryst
to freighted ships, baffled in wind and blast.
Blog Post
Bradbury and Proulx
by Maxine
Today, August 21st is the birthday of two literary luminaries, Ray Bradbury and Annie Proulx. Bradbury was born in Waukegan, Illinois in 1920 but his family moved to Los Angeles when he was twelve. Hoping to be an actor, he was encouraged by two of his high school teachers who saw promise in his writing to take that road instead. He first published in small science fiction magazines but got his first break when one of his stories was accepted in the 1945 edition of the anthology, Best American Short Stories. Perhaps his best known novel is Fahrenheit 451 about a fireman in a future society whose job it is to burn books. But on taking one home and reading it, he decides to join a revolutionary group that tries to keep literature alive.
Proulx was born in Norwich, Connecticut in 1935. In her fifties, she published her first novel, Postcards. She says about being an older writer: "I think that's important, to know how the water's gone over the dam before you start to describe it. It helps to have been over the dam yourself." Starting out as a non-fiction writer, researching topics like how to make apple cider, helped her become a better writer. When she came across a map of Newfoundland, she knew she had to go and explore places like Dead Man's Cove for her Pulitzer Prize winner, The Shipping News. Proulx's name has become better known since one of her stories, Brokeback Mountain in another Pulitzer winner, Close Range: Wyoming Stories was made into a movie.
Blog Post
More new Spanish adult books!
by Tara LS
Here is a selection of new adult Spanish books at the library. Use the links below to reserve a book or browse the shelves at each branch looking for the "NEW" stickers on each book. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions about Spanish books at the library, e-mail stantont@aadl.org. Enjoy!
Su mejor vida ahora: siete pasos para vivir a su máximo potencial
Spanish translation of "Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential" by pastor Joel Osteen.
Una vida con propósito : para qué estoy aquí en la tierra?
Spanish translation of "The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?" by the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in California, Rick Warren.
La audacia de la esperanza/The audacity of hope por Barack Obama
Spanish translation of the #1 New York Times Bestseller by U.S. presidential candidate and Illinois senator Barack Obama
Blog Post
New Spanish books for adults!
by Tara LS
Here is a selection of new adult Spanish books at the library. Use the links below to reserve a book or browse the shelves at each branch looking for the "NEW" stickers on each book. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions about Spanish books at the library, e-mail stantont@aadl.org. Enjoy!
La fortuna de Matilda Turpin por Álvaro Pombo
Winner of the 2006 Premio Planeta, Alvaro Pombo's novel is a forceful novel about dealing with loss, grief and family. The main character, Juan Campos, a retired philosophy professor, deals with the mixed legacy of his late wife, Matilda Turpin, a spirited businesswoman who died suddenly, leaving behind three children and Antonio and Emilia, a couple who has been the family's servants and friends for decades.
La dama azul por Javier Sierra
A historical novel, researched for 7 years and based on factual evidence and historical documents, set in the 17th century in the Rio Grande area of New Mexico which deals with ecclesiastical intrigue, secret societies, and a mysterious murder, this book is reminiscent of the Da Vinci Code and is one of the many popular Spanish language historical novels.
Lo que le falta al tiempo
A novel by Columbian author, Angela Becerra, set in the art world of Paris, where a centuries-old secret society is searching for a mysterious treasure of inestimable worth. Criticas Magazine, says the book is similar to the Da Vinci Code (like "La Dama Azul") at its simplest level, but distinguishes itself with complexity of character and story as well as its depth and eloquent prose containing several climaxes and denouements.
Blog Post
More new German books for adults at the library
by Tara LS
Here are more new adult German books at the library. Use the links below to reserve a book or browse the shelves at each branch looking for the "NEW" stickers on each book. The selection is different at each branch. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions about German books at the library, e-mail stantont@aadl.org. Enjoy!
Militärmusik by Wladimir Kaminer
Macht nichts: eine kleine Trilogie des Todes by Elfriede Jelinek
Vergangenheitsschuld und gegenwärtiges Recht by Bernhard Schlink
Mein liebster Feind : Essays, Reden, Miniaturen by Robert Schindel
Nachtrandspuren: Gedichte by Jose F.A. Oliver
Der Hof im Spiegel: Erzählungen by Emine Sevgi Özdamar
Mozarts Friseur by Wolf Wondratschek
Er oder Ich by Sten Nadolny