Thursday, May 30, 2013

Summer Reading 2013

Now that Memorial Day is behind us we're gearing up for the summer.  Many of our summer residents have returned, and we're starting to see an increase in the number of items checked out each day.  

Our Book Discussion groups are also preparing for summer.  For the second year now, our May meetings focus on Reader's Choice.  Instead of the group reading one specific book, members are invited to come to the meeting with a list of 2 or 3 books that they've recently (or not so recently) read, and share them with the group.  At the end of the meeting I compile a list of the books they've suggested and send them out to the entire group.  This gives us all a list of books that we may want to read over the summer.

Both the afternoon and evening groups gave such wonderful suggestions that I thought I'd pass them on so that everyone has a list of some really great books to read this summer. So here are the books your friends and neighbors here in Wells are recommending this summer:

Emily Arsenault – The Broken Teaglass
Julian Barnes – The Sense of an Ending
Chris Bohjalian –The Sandcastle Girls
Pearl Buck – The Good Earth
Anita Diament – The Red Tent
David Ebershoff – The 19th Wife
Lisa Genova – Still AliveLeft NeglectedLove Anthony
Drew Gilpin Faust – This Republic of Suffering
Gillian Flynn – Gone Girl
Tana French – Broken Harbor
Shilpi Somaya Gowda – Secret Daughter
Kathleen Grissom – The Kitchen House
Mark Helprin – A Soldier of the Great War
Janis Ian – Society’s Child
John Irving – A Prayer for Owen Meany
Peter Janney – Mary’s Mosaic
Rachel Joyce – The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
Franz Kafka – MetamorphosisThe Trial
Philip Kerr – A Quiet Flame
Laurie King – The Beekeeper’s Apprentice (2 suggested this)
Anne Lamott – Some Assembly Required
David Lis – Conspiracy of PaperCoffee TraitorEthical Assassin
Hilary Mantel – Wolf Hall; An Experiment in Love; A Place of Greater Safety
Kimberly McCreight – Reconstructing Amelia
K.D. McCrite – In Front of God and Everybody
Jennifer McVeigh – The Fever Tree
Debra Mogash – Tulip Fever
Erin Morgenstern – Night Circus
Edward Kelsey Moore – The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can Eat
Kate Morton – The Forgotten Garden
Jojo Moyers – Me Before You
Sena Jeter Naslund – Ahab’s Wife
Bill O’Reilly – The Killing of Lincoln
Marge Piercy – Gone to Soldiers
Annie Proulx – The Shipping News
Alyson Richman – The Lost Wife 
(also a related children's story by Patricia Polacco – Christmas Tapestry)
Ransom Riggs – Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Tom Robbins – Jitterbug Perfume
Gretchen Rubin – The Happiness ProjectHappier at Home
B.A. Shapiro – The Art Forger
Kieran Shields – The Truth of All Things
W. Cleon Skousen – The 5000 Year LeapThe First 2000 Years
M.L. Stedman – The Light Between Oceans
Elizabeth Strout – The Burgess Boys
Paul Theroux – The Grand Railway Bizarre
Abraham Verghese – Cutting for Stone
Susan Vreeland – Clara and Mr. Tiffany
Jess Walter – Beautiful Ruins
Sarah Waters – The Little Stranger
Ben Ames Williams – Come Spring
Jennifer Worth – Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy and Hard Times

Also the novels of Barbara Pym 
Also Scandinavian Mystery writers – Jo Nesbo, Haakan Nessor

Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments section - I'll add them to the list.

Friday, May 3, 2013

Lunch and Learn

"If I should not be learning now, when should I be?
Lacydes (c.241 b.c.e.) 
When asked why he was learning geometry late in life
 
Here at the Wells Public Library we strongly believe in the adage, "You're never too old to learn," and we strive to make learning opportunities available to everyone. Here are a few examples of what's available in the next few weeks.
 
Last month we started a new series here at the library that we're calling "Lunch and Learn."  Held on the 1st Friday of each month at noon, it is an opportunity to take time out of your busy day and learn something new.  Last month, Traczie Bellinger from the Maine Audubon Society told us about the piping plovers here in Wells, and just today Carol Steingart and Alyssa Lyon presented a fascinating program on the amazing horseshoe crab.  I have learned so much already.  For example, did you know that the blood of the Horseshoe crab is used to detect the presence of bacteria in medical equipment?   I can't wait for next month's presentation on June 7th when Jim and Lee Anderson will be here  to inform us about their travels in China and the "stan" countries of Asia.  

If you can't make it to the Lunch and Learn programs, we have a couple of evening coming up this week.  This Tuesday, May 7th at 6:30 p.m., Sue Dahlgren Daigneault will talk about her recently published memoir, In the Shadow of a Mountain.  Sue's father, Ed Dahlgren was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by President Truman in recognition of his heroics in World War II.  But when he returned to post-war life in Maine, his war experiences continued to haunt him.  Years later he realized that he suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  Daigneault wanted to tell her father's story not only as a way to honor him and to record the suffering of those who fought in World War II, but to help us become aware of the difficulties faced by soldiers of all wars.  I'm looking forward to hearing more of Ed Dahlgren's story and learning how it can help today's veterans.

Finally, this Thursday, May 9th at 6:30 Library Assistant Kayla Thompson and I will be presenting "Playing with Pinterest."  If you're not familiar with this online bulletin board, it has become one of the fastest-growing websites with millions of members "pinning" all sorts of online information in an attempt to help organize their lives.  Pinterest is a place to find and store recipes, craft ideas, and home design plans.  You can even use it to help plan a wedding. If you're already pinning but want to find out some new techniques, or if you've never seen it and want to learn more, we'd love to have you join us.  We will also serve refreshments made from some of our Pinterest recipes.  We do ask that you register for this program so we know how many treats to prepare.

For more information on any of these programs, please call the library at 646-8181, or email me at cschilling@wellstown.org.  We look forward to seeing you at the library.