Monthly Archives: August 2016

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For the Love of Poetry

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We here at the Free For All are committed to helping all our readers overcome their metrophobia, and live a life full of poetry.  We want to make poetry more than an arduous few weeks in high school where you learned how to dissect a verse into its component meters and feet and rhymes, and, instead, help us all better appreciate the sheer beauty and power of poetry without fear of getting it ‘right’.

To that end, there are several programs coming up on the Library’s Super-Terrific Calendar of Events for poetry lovers and recovering metrophobes alike that we wanted to bring to your attention:

First is the 82 Main Poetry Series, a partnership between The Peabody Institute Library and Mass Poetry that will bring a series of monthly poetry readings in the library’s historic Sutton Room.  Our first reading will take place on September 19th at 7pm, and will feature Boston’s current poet laureate, Danielle Legros Georges, who will offer a reading followed by a Q&A session.

Danielle-Legros-Georges-credit-priscilla-harmel-201x300Danielle Legros Georges was born in Haiti and raised in the United States. She received a BA from Emerson College in Boston and an MA in English and creative writing from New York University. She is the author of two poetry collections—The Dear Remote Nearness of You (Barrow Street Press, 2016) and Maroon (Curbstone Books, 2001). She has received grants and fellowships from the Barbara Deming Fund, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and the Black Metropolis Research Consortium. In 2014 Legros Georges was chosen as Boston’s second poet laureate. She is a professor at Lesley University and lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Professor Georges’ visit will kick off a series of three further poetry readings and discussions, each of which are described in our calendar (or click here).  You can sign up for these events by calling the Library, or online, by clicking here.

3144950In October, we are thrilled to be welcoming back Professor Theo Theoharis to the Library for another of his wonderful literary discussions.  This time, his program, which begins on October 19th, at 7:30pm, is also based on poetry, specifically The Penguin Anthology of Twentieth Century American Poetry, edited by Rita Dove. The book is remarkable for being the first book of it’s kind to be compiled by an African-American woman poet. Together with the classic work by American white men–Frost, Williams, etc.–, the sessions will also focus on poems by black women–Rita Dove, Lucille Clifton, Audre Lord– and men–Robert Hayden, Langston Hughes, Sterling Brown–to show the range of experiences and voices that make up recent American poetry. The aim is to celebrate what Walt Whitman called ‘the various carols’ to be heard in American life.

For those of you who have had the pleasure of hearing Professor Theoharis’ talks at the Library before, you know that this is going to be a series to remember.  Those who need further convincing are welcome to call the Library for more information, but be prepared for my rhapsodical praise of these incredible programs.  You can sign up by calling the Library, or by clicking here.  Beginning Monday September 19th, books will be available at the Main Library on a first-come first-served basis. Meetings will be held on October 19th, October 26th, November 1st and November 9th at 7:30 p.m.

Poetry has, for too long, been treated like an inaccessible and/or ‘boring’ mode of expression, but the truth of the matter is that it is all around us–in the commercials we hum inadvertently to the songs in our earbuds to the films we see to the graffiti on walls to the words on our pages, and its high time we celebrated the loveliness and the humanity of this form of expression.  Come join us at the Library and learn just how fundamental, how inspiring, and how moving poetry can be–and how easy it is to love–at the Library this fall!

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The Guardian: http://bit.ly/2c8fSf2

The 82 Main Poetry Series is generously funded by the Friends of the Peabody Institute Libraries.

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Everything Old Is New Again…

With apologies for missing a few posts, dear readers.  We have now returned to The Land of Reliable Internet!

IMG_0803This poster was spotted in a number of London Underground stations this past week–namely, a young person, who I think to be a young lady, sitting in a large leather chair in a fancy waistcoat and jacket, looking very pleased.  The ad is for “The Sherlock Holmes Experience”…at Madame Tussauds Museum.

Now, first and foremost, Madame Tussauds is within walking distance of Baker Street, so, as a purist, I would argue that if you want a ‘Sherlock Holmes Experience’, you should go to the Sherlock Holmes Museum at 221B Baker Street, but that is beside the point…

Buster-Keaton-Sherlock-Jnr-2-reading-287x162Seeing this poster made me realize just how popular Sherlock Holmes has become once again.  When I was a younin’ (you know, before cell phones and the high-speed internet and the wheel), and told people that I wasn’t as impressed by The Hound of the Baskervilles as I was by The Sign of the Four, or that I cried while reading “The Final Problem” and “The Case of the Dying Detective”, I got funny looks.  When I told people that my favorite part of going to London was visiting Baker Street, I was asked “Oh, is that, like, a real place?  How funny (you are!)!”  Now, thanks to Mr. Cumberbatch and Sherlock, in addition to Mr. Downey, Jr. and Sherlock Holmes, among a number of other things, to be a Holmesian is to be cool once again.  And while I would highly, highly, encourage everyone to read the original books, because they are terrific, or listen to the audiobooks, as read by David Timson, because they might actually improve upon the originals at times, it’s also pretty interesting to see how Holmes has made it into the 21st century, and shows no signs of tiring.

But Jeremy Brett was the best. The end.
But Jeremy Brett was the best. The end.

Part of the reason for this is because Holmes is such a perfect character to be spoofed, pastiched, and re-invented time and time and time again.  Fun fact: Did you know that the first Sherlock Holmes pastiche was written by James Barrie, who was a good friend of Conan Doyle’s?  Barrie and Doyle wrote a play together  that bombed spectacularly (partly because it wasn’t about Holmes, and no one wanted Doyle to write anything else), and, as a result, Barrie wrote “The Adventure of the Two Collaborators“, in which an irate writer confronts Holmes, who has managed to confound his attempts at fame.  It actually gets pretty creepy at the end, as the writer threatens Holmes with destruction unles he goes to see the play:

 

“I would rather melt into air,” replied Holmes, proudly taking another chair. “But I can tell you why the public don’t go to your piece without sitting the thing out myself.”

“Why?”

“Because,” replied Holmes calmly, “they prefer to stay away.”

A dead silence followed that extraordinary remark. For a moment the two intruders gazed with awe upon the man who had unravelled their mystery so wonderfully. Then drawing their knives —

Holmes grew less and less, until nothing was left save a ring of smoke which slowly circled to the ceiling.

The last words of great men are often noteworthy. These were the last words of Sherlock Holmes: “Fool, fool! I have kept you in luxury for years. By my help you have ridden extensively in cabs, where no author was ever seen before. Henceforth you will ride in buses!”

The brute sunk into a chair aghast.

The other author did not turn a hair.

Plenty of other pastiches and parodies followed this one, and the Sherlockian genre is alive and well today, as witnessed by the sheer number of Holmesian references on our own shelves.  Here are just a few titles to get you into the spirit of things.  But, you know, we also have the originals.  Just so you know….

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3751896A Study in Brimstone: I will admit, it takes a lot to get me to laugh at a book, and even more to get me to laugh at a parody, especially if it is a parody of something as sacred to me as Mr. Holmes and Dr. Watson.  But G.S. Denning’s new book had me giggling so loudly that I may have frightened another reader (for which, hearty apologies).  This book may not be for everyone, but if you are one of those good people who have read Doyle’s stories time and again, have passages inscribed on your heart, and who roll your eyes when someone uses the word “Elementary” inappropriately, then this book is comedic gem.  Whereas Sherlock Holmes is a genuis, Warlock Holmes is a rather hopeless, hapless git, whose only use is being a beacon for dark magic, demons, and other nasty supernatural entities.  If it weren’t for his stalwart companion, Watson, he would probably be in prison–actually, one of my favorite aspects of this book is how much credit it gives to Watson throughout for helping Holmes survive in the real world.  I know this won’t be everyone’s brand of humor, but it was absolutely mine.  And I hope it’s yours, so I have someone with whom I can giggle.

3718381 A Study in Charlotte: This teen novel is set in a Connecticut boarding school, where two students named Holmes and Watson set about solving a murder mystery.  You know what makes it great?  Holmes is a young woman named Charlotte.  Charlotte has all of Holmes’ observational skills, gifts for math and science, and anti-social tendencies towards rudeness.  Which is simply sensational, not only because of the somewhat problematic way in which woman are treated in the original Holmes works, but because those problematic assumptions are still with us today.  But Charlotte is a gem of a character, with strength and nerve and akwardness aplenty, making this book–and the series to come, something that every Holmes fan should check out.

3658794 Mycroft Holmes: It turns out, Holmes fans are a worldwide group, representing not only Library Staff and patrons, but internationally-renown NBA stars, as well!  It turns out that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been a long-time fan of The Great Detective, and used Holmes’ own skills to overcome opponents on the basketball court.  And now that he is retired, he took it upon himself, with help of writer Anna Waterhouse, to write a novel about Sherlock’s big brother, Mycroft.  I love this for so many reasons: first, because anyone who loves Holmes is cool with me.  Second, everyone forgets about Mycroft, who is a fascinating character, even if he only shows up twice in the whole canon.  Third, Abdul-Jabbar takes Mycroft off the shores of England and involves him in a case in Trindad, which not only gives him a terrific back-story, but also involves so much historic detail, real-world issues, economic, racial, and social, that are so often overlooked in our study of Holmes, and fourth, it’s a pretty darn good book, with some great character development, plotting, and atmosphere, making this a super selection for any fellow Holmesian devotee.

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Saturdays @ the South: In which a book makes me very happy…

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I had no idea what I was going to write a blog post about this week until I finished reading Forrest Leo’s The Gentleman and cannot stop thinking about it. This book checked all of my boxes and is the first 5-star rating I’ve given on Goodreads in a while. The Gentleman is, at it’s most basic, a funny book about a man accidentally selling his wife to Satan and, upon realizing what he’s done, trying to get her back. This doesn’t necessarily sound like the premise for comedy gold, but in my humble opinion, it is this and so much more.

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This book takes Victorian literary tropes (check), makes fun of them (check), has two strong female characters (check), offers fictional footnotes that reminded me of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell in the best of ways (check) and features the devil as a somewhat hapless gentleman who finds calling his home “hell” distasteful and refers to it instead as Essex Grove (All The Checks). In essence, this book made me happy, while reading it, after reading it and thinking about it, and since we’re at the end of August which is “Admit it, you’re happy” month, talking about this fantastic debut novel seemed only appropriate.

If for some reason, my enthusiastic ramblings have not convinced you to pick up this book immediately, allow me to expound for a moment on the literary merits of this. Leo employs the use of two, somewhat two narrative voices (the man telling the story and the voice in the aforementioned footnotes often used to clarify, dispute or offer a alternate viewpoint) that are, in most cases, opposite, but uses them with fine-tuned comedic timing that footnotes feel less like an interruption and more like running gag delivering acerbic punchlines. Despite the staunch Victorian setting of the novel, Leo also manages to at least somewhat introduce diversity with the bookshop owner Tompkins (who, incidentally, runs a 24-hour bookshop and is a genius). In addition to the smart, strong women introduced in the story, we also have Simmons, the family butler who is the very essence of Wodehouse’s Jeeves delivering a straight-man performance amidst a fair amount of silliness. And then there are the illustrations which are richly detailed somehow both illuminate and mystify the text simultaneously. Clearly I could go on, but if you’ve stayed with me through my ecstatic gushings, you deserve something in return.

As such, here are some books that are similar to The Gentleman, in some way and are likely to also make you happy in some way:

2407571Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

It should come as no surprise that topping this list is a book by two favorites of the Free for All. This book is a delightful romp about the Apocalypse with similar satirical tones as The Gentleman. An angel and a demon (who unlike most fallen angels didn’t “so much fall as he did saunter vaguely downwards”) must work together to stop the Apocalypse with a cast of characters only the combined imaginations of Pratchett and Gaiman could dream up. This book makes the Apocalypse seem as fun as such a topic possibly could be.

3455966Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

While this book won’t necessarily leave you in stitches, it does have some quirky characters and when I read about Tompkins disappearing into the stacks, I immediately thought about this book and Mr. Penumbra’s towering stacks of books that are easy to get lost in. Mr. Penumbra is also a wealth of knowledge like Tompkins. This book is more whimsical (some of the covers glow in the dark!) than funny, but it has it’s moments and for anyone who loves books, this story is bound to make you happy.

1062500The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

How can you go wrong with a modern classic of humor. This book is pure fun between the covers. If at all possible, I highly recommend the audiobook narrated by Stephen Fry whose comedic timing and ability to fluctuate his voice to differentiate characters is unparalleled. Just don’t forget your towel.

3577554So Anyway… by John Cleese

While I was reading The Gentleman, some of it’s sillier, more slapstick moments reminded me of some of the best Monty Python sketches. Who better than to talk about silly and Monty Python that John Cleese, one of the masterminds behind the show. This book covers the majority of his comedy career, including the Monty Python years, and with his trademark wit, this book is bound to leave readers smiling.

Till next week, dear readers, I encourage you to spend a few moments of what’s left of this month to think about what makes you happy and act on it in some way. Even if it’s just by reading a book that will make you smile.

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Five Book Friday!

And a very happy Free for All Birthday to the National Park Service, which celebrated its 100th birthday yesterday!

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Our National Parks themselves have been around a lot longer than that….well, if we’re being fair here, many of them have been around since the continents stopped shifting, but the United States began protecting and honoring these celebrated sites of natural beauty, ecological wonder, and historical significance since 1872, when Yellowstone National Park was designated as a National Park, and run by the Federal Government itself, since there was no one person or body dedicated to overseeing it.  Yosemite National Park was designated earlier, in 1864, but as a state park, overseen by the state of California, who later turned it back over the Federal Government to control.  It was in 1916, however, that the government created a National Parks Service, which was charged with overseeing, protecting, and managing all of the country’s National Parks.  And to all those wide-brimmed and olive-garbed rangers out there, we tip our hats to you today!

Because I get a kick out of random facts like these, the Park Service is responsible for about 84,000,000 acres of land, on the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands, some 85,049 miles of rivers, 8,500 roads, and 27,000 historic sites.  The largest national park is  Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, in Alaska, which covers about 13.2 million acres, while the smallest is the Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial, home of the famous Polish freedom fighter, in Philadelphia PA, at 0.02 acres.

Scenic view of Glacier National Park.
Scenic view of Glacier National Park.

And did you know that Massachusetts has 15 National Parks?  With the spate of lovely weather coming up, why not have an adventure to one (or more!) of them soon?  And why not bring a book with you to keep you company (she wrote, in the most skillful of transitions)?  Here are some wonderful new books that have ambled up onto our shelves this week that are oh-so-eager to join you in appreciating the big wide world out there!

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3783022A Scot in the Dark: Sarah MacLean is by far and away one of my favorite romance authors around, and with each new release, she pushes at the boundaries of our assumptions about romance and what romance novels can do, carving out a space that is very fun, very feminist-y, and just plain a joy to read.  In this second book in her Scandal and Scoundrel series, we meet Lily, who agreed to sit for a painter as a way to escape her gilded cage–only to find herself abandoned and utterly ruined when the painting becomes public.  With no other choice left, Lily turns to her guardian, the Duke of Warwick, a Highland heathen who wants nothing to do with London, or Lily…but in the course of trying to marry her off, the Duke just might discover a reason keep near to both…Kirkus gave this book a starred review, cheering, “MacLean’s signature humor and ingenuity are in evidence throughout this novel…She writes love scenes and romantic dialogue with audacity”–we agree!

3770561A Shocking Assassination: I, for one, am a huge fan of the current trend of Irish historical mystery novels, and Cora Harrison’s Reverend Mother series checks all my boxes: an unlikely heroine (in this case, the Reverend Mother Aquinas), a great historic setting (Cork, during the Irish Civil War, one of the most violent places on the island at that time), and a well-plotted mystery.  In this second series installment, a city engineer has been assassinated, and a young man, who was standing beside the body holding a pistol has been arrested.  And when the boy’s mother begs for help to prove her son’s innocence, the good Reverend Mother finds herself facing down violence in its many, varied, and most fundamentally human forms, making for an investigation that is winning praise on both sides of the Atlantic.  Booklist gave it a star review, hailing, “Period ambience, an absorbing plot, and a wise and intrepid amateur sleuth in the form of the Reverend Mother make this an engaging historical mystery.”

3696202Adventures in Human Being: A Grand Tour from the Cranium to the Calcaneum: Gavin Francis has spent his life in medicine, as an ER doctor, a surgeon, and a family practitioner, and its very clear that he loves all the wonderful, crazy, and unexpected things that the human body can accomplish and do.  But rather than simply giving us a tour of ‘the body’, this wonderfully thoughtful, surprisingly engaging and accessible book also looks at how we see, and have seen the body in the past, using historical texts, literature, philosophy, and personal memories to really helps us come to terms with the body we inhabit, and its meaning throughout our history.  This book has won a number of awards in the UK for being the best non-fiction book of the year, and is already making headlines over here, with the the Wall Street Journal proclaiming:  “Dr. Francis…brings certain necessary equipment to this task. These include a keen sense of the marvelous, a prose style as elegant and cutting as a scalpel, and a breadth of clinical experience that is unusual in an age of specialization… with its deft mix of the clinical and the lyrical, [this is] a triumph of the eloquent brain and the compassionate heart.”

3740772Behold the Dreamers: Imbolo Mbue’s stunning debut novel recalls the early days of the 2007-8 financial collapse from the viewpoint of those who were so easily forgotten as huge banks began tottering, and fortunes began collapsing.  Jende Jonga is a Cameroonian immigrant, who is determined to do whatever he must to make a secure and prosperous life for himself and his family.  Thus, he is overjoyed to get a job as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, a demanding and exacting boss, as well as a senior executive at Lehman Brothers.  Jende’s wife, Neni, even secures work cleaning the Edwards’ house in the Hamptons.  But as the looming threat of financial meltdown becomes real, and Lehmann Brothers collapses, highlighting the interpersonal cracks in all these intertwined relationships, Jende and Neni find themselves facing impossible choices in order to survive.  Though necessarily heartbreaking, Mbue manages to maintain a kindness towards all of characters, emphasizing the real tragedy of this novel is not one man’s mistakes, but of a system that was build to fall.  As Publisher’s Weekly put it, in their review, “The Jongas are . . . vivid, and the book’s unexpected ending—and its sharp-eyed focus on issues of immigration, race, and class—speak to a sad truth in today’s cutthroat world: the American dream isn’t what it seems.”

3779793Ghost Talkers: For those who like a little paranormal with their history, we offer you Mary Robinette Kowal’s latest, set during the First World War, and focused on the Spirit Corps, a group organized to communicate with, and pass along information from, the ghosts of the fallen.  Ginger is a member of the spirit corps, a job that pairs well with her fiance’s work in intelligence.  But with Captain Benjamin Harford out on a mission, Ginger gets evidence of a traitor in the Allies midst–and without him to validate her claims, Ginger not only finds herself doubted by her superiors, but charged with working for the Germans herself.   Abandoned, Ginger sets out on her own to prove her suspicions correct–no easy task for a lone woman in a world of violent men, but Ginger isn’t about to turn back now…Kowal’s work won over the sceptics at NPR, who raved about this book in a recent review, saying “it was that rare ability of Kowal’s to make what could have been a completely goofy add-on to the British war effort into something that felt completely wedded and solid that sold me — that spark of a great idea, well-executed. It is a story that just works.”

 

Until next week, beloved patrons–happy reading!

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Wednesdays @ West: Social Media Syllabi?

If you are anything like me, when a current event topic hits the national stage that you feel woefully under-informed about, you may start compiling a reading list.  Books help me conceptualize the big things in life and, hopefully, I walk away from my reading with a deeper understanding of the complexities of an issue and greater empathy for those who the issue affects on a personal level.

Which is why I wanted to offer some suggestions to our blog readers for books that can deepen their understanding of racial issues in America.  This, however, is not my area of expertise and while any librarian worth her salt can do an extensive literature search, I wanted to pull in some additional brain power.  So one of my fellow bloggers kindly reached out to a professor at Northeastern University to ask for her reading suggestions.  The professor directed us to two hashtag syllabi.

hashtagsIf you don’t know what a hashtag syllabus is, you aren’t alone.  They are a new to me as well.  And how I do love new book-related things!  Librarian of Things, Mita Williams, has explained them this way: “These syllabi are the collective efforts of many people who are sharing and recommending works of fiction, poetry, non-fiction articles and book-length works, as well as scholarly articles and theses. They are doing so in the pursuit of a richer, more complex, and more nuanced understanding of each other and the issues we face both alone and together.”  Now I have a rather conflicted relationship with social media, but that does sound simply wonderful to me.  Crowd-sourced book lists?  Count me in!

The two syllabi our academic expert suggested are #blacklivesmattersyllabus or #lemonadesyllabus.  These resource guides alone could provide you with years of race-related reading, viewing and listening, but for our purposes, I’ve selected just a smattering of fiction and nonfiction to highlight.  As ongoing projects, hashtag syllabi are continually growing so if you want to follow their evolution, you can do so on Twitter.

From the Black Lives Matter Syllabus:

Go Tell It On the Mountain by James Baldwin.  Published in 1952, this fictional work is a modern classic by one of the great African-American writers.  This coming of age novel set during the Depression hits the big themes: father/son relationships, racial oppression, religion and a desire for community.

betweentheworldBetween the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates.  This National Book Award winning memoir is written as a letter from the author to his son and while it is deeply personal, it is also a reflection on the brutal history of race in America and how that informs the current events that have captured the nation’s attention over the past few years.

Democracy Matters by Cornel West.  The author of Race Matters, West argues that imperialism, corruption and racism are threatening American democracy.  Drawing on the works of musicians, artists, writers and philosophers, he presents an alternative vision for a democracy that he believes will value love, justice and community.

In order to ensure that the voices of African-American women are include in dialogues about race, the Lemonade Syllabus collects fiction, literature, autobiography, academic works, inspiration, poetry, photography music and film from a feminist perspective.

What Crazy Looks Like on an Ordinary Day by Pearl Cleage.  After revealing that she is HIV positive, jaded with love, Ava returns to her hometown in Michigan for what she believes will be a brief stay only to find herself pulled into the life of pregnant teenage girls and a man with a complicated past.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.  By now, this novel of Janie Stark’s life and relationships in black communities in small southern towns is considered to be another modern day classic.

Possessing the Secret of Joy by Alice Walker.  Best known  for her novel, The Color Purple, here Walker takes on female gentile mutilation through the story of Tashi, who escaped the practice as a child only to submit to it as an adult in the hopes of reconnecting with her heritage.

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet A. Jacobs.  First published in 1861, this remains one of the few slave narratives written by a woman.

Letter to my Daughter by Maya Angelou. This collection of short essays combine stories of Angelou’s personal experiences with her often hard-won life advice.

A Piece of Capieceofcakeke by Cupcake Brown.  Life seems to have thrown Brown all of its worst: the death of a mother, physical and sexual abuse, abandonment, gangs, prostitution, drug addiction.  Yet her story ends on a hopeful note as she details how she overcame all of this and became a lawyer and motivational speaker.

As a final note, if you are looking for books to suggest to or, even better, read and discuss with the teens in your life, the Hennepin County Library compiled a list of #BlackLivesMatter Reads for Teens. 

March by John Lewis.  This important graphic novel is written by a United States congressman about his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement through marches and boycotts.

nochoirboyNo Choirboy by Susan Kuklin.  Kuklin’s book is based on in depth interviews she did with teenage boys on death row.  These five young men’s stories reveal much about the realities and inequalities in the justice and prison systems.

Claudette Colvin by Phillip Hoose.  Less well known by far than Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin was an African-American teenager who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger and helped spark the Civil Rights Movement’s bus boycott and subsequent court case that challenged racial segregation laws.

Monster by Walter Dean Myers.  One of my long time favorite young adult novels, Monster is formatted as a screenplay being written by an African-American teenage on trial for murder.

 

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Summer Reading: Staff Picks!

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Summer may be winding down, dear readers, but, judging by the forecast, at any rate, there is still plenty of time to get out with, or hide away with, a good book or film…or come into the Library to find one to take with you on your end-of-August adventures.

We here at the Library are never tired of talking about books (I mean, goodness knows I’m not!), so here is another installment of some of our picks for summer, in the hopes that they inspire you to try a new literary or cinematic adventure soon!

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From the Circulation Desk:

3770617Sing Street: There are very, very few things in the world that make flying any easier, but I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to watch this film on a recently flight, and was utterly enthralled with it.  Set in Dublin in the 1980’s, the plot centers around 14-year-old Conor, who is trying–and generally failing–to adapt to his parents’ failing marriage, his family’s increasing financial troubles, and his new ‘inner city’ parochial school, which is a haven for bullies of both the adult and child variety.  But when he sees a girl sitting on the steps across the way from the school yard, nothing else matters.  He convinces her that he is in a band, and that she should star in their next music video–and then is faced with the daunting prospect of actually forming a band and writing a song.  Though funny and quirky in the way of some of the best independent films, this is also a really touching story.  I loved that Raphina, Conor’s lady-love, wasn’t merely a coatrack on which he hung his dreams, but her own person, with faults and dreams and drive.  I loved the relationship between Conor and his older brother–the fact that the film is dedicated “to brothers everywhere” will give you an idea of where the real heart of this picture lies.  And the music, costumes, and references were a pitch-perfect homage to the overkill and relentless energy of the 1980’s.

3237668Falling Glass:  I have such a soft spot in my heart for Adrian McKinty’s Sean Duffy novels, so I decided to try out one of his stand-alone novels in order to tide myself over.  This book follows Killian, a Pavee (also known as a Traveller or, more derogatorily, a ‘gypsy’), and ex-enforcer for the IRA, who is trying, very hard, to make a go at an honest living for himself–until he gets a call from Richard Coulter, a phenomenally wealthy man with a phenomenally private problem–his ex-wife Rachel has ignored their custody agreement and disappeared with Coulter’s young daughter.  All signs point to Rachel being an emotionally unstable drug-addict, but it isn’t long after taking the case that Killian begins to realize that there is far more to this search than he first assumed.  This book is fully of McKinty’s trademark understated emotion and subtle insight, along with some wonderful descriptions of those people whose lives are lived outside the normal spotlights of fiction.  There is also a scene set in Hampton Beach that is guaranteed to make local readers chuckle for any number of reasons.  PS: Killian is colleagues (friends?) with Michael Forsythe, another formidible McKinty creation, and this book ties in well with the world of those novels, though it won’t spoil much for those who haven’t got there yet.

From the Reference Desk:

3082489The Return of the Native: The Library’s Classics Book Group selected this book as one of our reads earlier this year, and became a novel that inspired a very healthy amount of discussion, debate, and opinion.  This novel, which remains among Thomas Hardy’s most well-known, is both a tribute to the people of Cornwall–as evidenced by his very heavy use of local dialects, slang–and to its traditions.  The book opens with the arrival of Diggory Venn, a reddleman (someone who sells the dye with which shepherds mark their sheep), a man whose presence sets in progress a series of tragedies, farces, and cunning deceits, which are all told in a wonderfully human way.  Though Hardy was writing during the Victorian period, you don’t get the same preachy moralizing here that you do with so many other writers of the time.  His characters are selfish and mean-spirited and downright cruel at times–but they also have the ability to grow and to change, for better and for worse.  And it’s the way in which they all interact and influence each other’s lives that makes this book so compelling–and, sometimes, so challenging.

From The Offices Upstairs:

3249554Fire of the Raging Dragon: Political thriller master Don Brown’s 2012 novel not only features “ripped from the headlines” kind of drama, but also explores family ties and issues of loyalty in this pulse-pounding adventure on the high, and very, very treacherous, seas.  In the world of Brown’s Pacific Rim series, the Chinese government is attempting to control the contested waters around the Spratly Islands, leading to an escalation in America’s involvement in a naval war in the South China Sea. But when fictional U.S. President Douglas Surber realizes his daughter is stationed aboard a submarine tender in the same area, he must choose between his professional duty, his national loyalty, and his familial devotion in a choice that will have worldwide implications.  Brown’s books read like the best kind of summer blockbuster, with plenty of high-stakes tension and epic scope that will make a summer day fly by.

 

Until next time, beloved patrons–happy reading!

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Saturdays @ the South: GOOOAAALLL!

For those who are familiar with their Friendly South Branch Librarian, you won’t be surprised at all that this post has nothing to do with soccer, hockey, the Olympics or anything pertaining to sports. For those of you who were hoping for a sports-related post, you have my apologies, but you’ll have to look elsewhere.

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Instead, I’d like to talk a bit about the amazing kids we have here at the South Branch. While I’m fairly biased, we have some truly awesome kids who participated in this year’s “Galaxy of Reading” summer reading program. We had over 20 kids read over 1,000 minutes this summer (with one particularly exceptional child reading over 6,000 minutes!) and, I’m extremely proud to say that the kids collectively reached the South Branch’s minutes goal of 100,000 minutes with a week still to spare before school starts (hence the post title).  IMG_1281

Lest you think this Librarian is a slave driver, this goal was based on last year’s summer reading numbers which came so close to 100,000 minutes, that I couldn’t help but see if, with a little encouragement, the kids could cap that mark on their own. Mission accomplished! And I am so proud of these kids that I felt a simple Facebook post just wasn’t enough to celebrate their achievement.

Kids' couldn't get enough of "Tidepools Alive" when the New England Aquarium came to visit the South Branch.
Kids’ couldn’t get enough of “Tidepools Alive” when the New England Aquarium came to visit the South Branch.

For those of you who are thinking back when summer reading wasn’t a Big Thing (it wasn’t when I was a kid), allow me to fill you in on how things have changed. All of the Peabody Library’s locations put together exciting (free!) programs designed to engage and inspire kids to take advantage of their library privileges beyond school work and assigned reading. Plus, the Topsfield Fair is incredibly generous in offering free prize packs (including an admission ticket to kids who don’t already get in for free) and Chipotle offers free kids meal coupons to kids who reach the library’s set goal. This year, to be consistent with the schools, we requested that each child read 500 minutes over the summer.

Our "Read to Lydia" program was very popular among dog lovers.
Our “Read to Lydia” program was very popular among dog lovers.

These summer reading programs and incentives aren’t just a way to help kids from falling into the “summer slide” but are ways to enrich a child’s experience with the library, showing them how reading can be fun and not just something that’s assigned, that the library is a place to come to enjoy themselves, beat the heat and connect with their friends and community. There are a LOT more benefits to the library than just checking in and out books, and I hope that we’re instilling this into the young’ns so that they can grow to continue to take advantage of all of the amazing programs, project and information the library has to offer throughout their lives. Summer reading doesn’t just get kids reading. Hopefully, if it’s done right, it creates lifelong library users, and that’s always something to celebrate.