Did you know? : Biographies

Did you know that we have a shelf devoted entirely to biographies?

 

Both sides are full of biographies of both recent public figures and historical ones.  There are truly some fascinating reads in the mix.

 

 

 

Come on in and browse the selection!

Julie's Journal : Rainy Day Blues

Are you tired of the rain?  I sure am. Judging by the definition Lisa put up on the Library Facebook page today, she is too.  

 

Our yards are a mess and neither of us has been able to do much in our gardens this spring.  The overcast, cloudy weather is just dreary.  We constantly feel like we need a nap!  And although we tell ourselves we shouldn't complain, that we will wish for the rain in July and August, we're just plain tired of it!  We're ready for some sunshine!

There is one benefit to all this rain, though.  More time to read!  I've been catching up on some old favorites, reading a few new releases, and adding to my classics list.  I recently read The Scarlet Pimpernel for the first time.  It was an enjoyable adventure, with fascinating characters.   I'm surprised that I had never run across it before.  Now, I have started a new release in the Youth section of the library, Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan.  I'm not exactly sure how to describe the book, but I'm finding it to be interesting.  It follows the journey of a harmonica through the lives of several people.  I'm only about a third of the way through, but I've already experienced some of the rise to power of Hitler in Pre-WWII Germany.  I believe the next section will take me to the Great Depression in the U.S. during the 1930's.  I'm not sure how it will all tie together yet, but I'm looking forward to finding out. 

What are you doing to beat the rainy day blues?  Have you discovered any new reads? 

Tom’s Two Cents : Edith Wharton by Hermione Lee

Once in a while I discover a really great biographer, and since biography is one of my favorite genres and literature was one of my majors in college, I'm always gratified to find a true literary biographer.  Hermione Lee is one, for sure.  A professor of English Lit at Oxford, she recently won the Man Booker Prize for Biography (the British equivalent of the Pulitzer) for her bio of British writer Penelope Fitzgerald, and that one is only her latest.  Previous sorties into the lives and works of Willa Cather, Virginia Woolf, Edith Wharton, and Philip Roth have also been received with acclaim.  The one I just finished on Wharton proved to be immensely satisfying and rewarding on a number of levels.

Edith Wharton is not an author whose name runs glibly off the popular tongue.  She is a throwback to another time and another age, the latter being the so-called Gilded Age of old New York society:  her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "The Age of Innocence," published in 1920 and made into a brilliant film by Martin Scorcese about twenty years ago, is a case in point.  Other of her novels (she was also prolific in the short story form) include "The House of Mirth," "The Custom of the Country," and the grim New England masterwork that shows a very different side of her talent, "Ethan Frome."  But always front and center in her work is the abiding ( and often suffocating) influence of society upon the individuals it produces.  The enduring theme of her work seems to say, "Defy society's conventions and be damned, or at the very least be denied some elementary part of yourself."

 

Edith Wharton was herself a product of the very society she often condemned.   Born into a wealthy, aristocratic family in upper New York State, she was the only girl of a father who died young and a mother who tried to mould her into a figure she relentlessly refused to fit into.  Married at an early age to an older man she had nothing in common with but wealth and respectability, she spent most of her life seeking intellectual and cultural outlets from other gentlemen, including the now not-so-famous American ex-patriate author, Henry James.  In her own day she was as noted for her extensive travel as her writing--at a time when automobiles were still quite new, she drove all over the Continent, especially France and Italy, with an entourage of men, servants and dogs--and of course a chauffeur!  Finally she settled in France, where during WWI she threw herself into the French war effort,  establishing homes and hospitals for orphaned children and tubercular patients.  After the War she was awarded the French Prix de Guerre for her service to the nation.

It's a long book, but a very worthwhile one, about a woman who seemed to have it all, but most assuredly did not.  Yet she rose above her personal life issues to create an enduring body of literary work, virtually the first American woman outside of Emily Dickinson and Willa Cather to do so.

Poet's Perch : Young and Old by Charles Kingsley

Young and Old

 

 

 

When all the world is young, lad,

And all the trees are green;

And every goose a swan, lad,

And every lass a queen;

Then hey for boot and horse, lad,

And round the world away;

Young blood must have its course, lad,

And every dog his day.

 

When all the world is old, lad,

And all the trees are brown;

And all the sport is stale, lad,

And all the wheels run down;

Creep home, and take your place there,

The spent and maimed among:

God grant you find one face there,

You loved when all was young.

 

Charles Kingsley

Woodwork Display

In your visits to the library you  may have noticed that we have a display case where we show collections and artwork of community members.  Recently we have been displaying a small part of Tommy Allison's toy soldier collection.  It was a great hit with small boys, although they wanted to take the display out and play with it! 

Our newest display is a showcase of the woodworking talent of Chance's step-father, Frankie Broom. 

 

The pieces are quiet intricate.  He uses plyboard, softboard, and oak of 1/4 inch thick or less. 

 

 



Chance says that Mr.  Broom prints out his patterns from the internet and uses a scroll saw to complete the projects.

 
I am certainly impressed with his skill.  Come on in and see them for yourself!!



GIVEAWAY!

***Judy Case and Karen Louton are our winners! Congratulations!***

To celebrate spring, we are giving away these two sturdy canvas tote bags.

Each one is stuffed to the brim with books, movies, and audio books.  Each one also contains a Friends of the Library travel mug!

The smaller bag is geared towards young adults, while the larger is for adults.  We will draw two names and the first name drawn will get to choose their prize. 

How do you win?  By commenting on this blog, liking or commenting on the post on Instagram, or liking or commenting on the Facebook post.  There are links to our Instagram and Facebook pages at the top of this blog. 

Winners will be announced on April 17th!

Computer Classes at the Library

Every spring and fall, the Franklin County Library offers computer classes.  The spring classes are basic skills classes and the fall ones move into a little more advanced or specialized skills.

 

This spring the demand for the basics class was so high that we have added an additional daytime session.  It begins tomorrow at 1:00 and if you or someone you know needs basic computer skills there is still space in the class.

We would also like to know what classes you would be interested in taking.  Is there a skill you need to learn? Specific software you need to use?  A device you are curious about?  What additional classes can we offer that would help you?

Let us know!