Source;  http://media.bookbub.com/blog/2015/05/11/quotes-about-books/

Need Stress Relief? Try Coloring!

Have you heard about the new trend of adult coloring?  Lately it has been all over the news.  Adults everywhere are finding relaxation in coloring.  Studies have even shown that coloring uses both sides of the brain and results in stress relief and lower blood pressure.

Amazon.com has a huge selection of coloring books, as does Hobby Lobby and Michaels.  Some of our favorites are by Johanna Basford. 

As you can see, the pictures are quite intricate.  The pictures can take several days to color if you are only working on them a few minutes at a time.

Franklin County Library hosted a coloring party on September 10th during the lunch hour and again on September 15th in the evening.

We had about 15 people attend each event and have agreed to make it a monthly coloring club.  Beginning October 8th, Coloring with Friends will meet every 2nd Thursday of the month from 11:30 - 1:30 and again at 5:30.  Everyone is encouraged to attend either or both sessions!  We are displaying our finished creations in the display case downstairs!

Chance's Corner: A Separate Peace

 

School's been back in session for a few weeks, and we all know what that means... assigned reading, or as some like to call it forced reading. Lord knows I've called it forced reading many a time, but in my later years in high school I stumbled upon an assigned book written by John Knowles called A Separate Peace. I hem-hawed around with it at first because it didn't sound like much, but I finally broke down and cracked it open. I finished it that day.
 
Set during World War II, Gene and Phineas (Finny) are friends and roommates at a prep school called Devon. Gene is introverted and academic, while Finny is carefree and athletic. Their differences set off a friendly rivalry, which progressively gets more serious for Gene due to increasing jealousy. This ultimately culminates in an event that effects both boys -- one emotionally and the other physically -- for the rest of their lives.
 
A Separate Peace is a tale of lost innocence, or as the back of the book perfectly describes, a "parable of the dark side of humanity." The war rages on overseas, and it rages in Gene's heart with jealousy, envy and regret. He lashes out at someone he loves because he found good in them, a good that he wishes he could be, a good that he desires to destroy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book because the story is relatable, and Knowles' style of writing is very lyrical. The imagery he conjures of the students and of Devon are very dreamy. It's a very easy and emotionally engaging read.

A Separate Peace was recently featured on the Franklin County Library's Instagram for #firstlinefriday (at my request), and is available to check out at our library!

Poet's Perch: A Leaf Treader by Robert Frost

A Leaf Treader

I have been treading on leaves all day until I am autumn-tired.

God knows all the color and forms of leaves I have trodden on and mired.

Perhaps I have put forth too much strength and been too fierce from fear.

I have safely trodden under foot the leaves of another year.

All summer long they were overhead more lifted up than I;

To come to their final place in earth they had to pass me by.

All summer long I thought I heard them threatening under their breath.

And when they came it seemed with a will to carry me with them to death.

They spoke to the fugitive in my heart as if it were leaves to leaf;

They tapped at my eyelids and touched my lips with an invitation to grief.

But it was no reason I had to go because they had to go.

Now up, my knee, to keep on top of another year of snow.

Robert Frost

Marvelous Mondays are back!

Yesterday we kicked off another year of Marvelous Mondays with Whirlybirds!

We learned about airflow with this simple activity.  Marvelous Mondays are every Monday that school is in session at 4:15.  We will conduct a science experiment or activity.  We hope to see you there.

Chance's Corner - Mad Max: Fury Road Movie Review

Ideas seem to be running short in Hollywood these days. Movies are being remade, redone, or completely reimagined. Mad Max: Fury Road falls in the midst of this "re-" craze, but it is strong enough to stand on its own.
 
As usual, the world of Mad Max is in post-apocalyptic chaos. Oil reserves have dried up in Australia, and people have branched off into eclectic tribes/gangs. Max, once a cop struggling to maintain order, is now a drifter, reluctantly helping others that may or may not be able to help him in return.
 
Tom Hardy's Max, however, is merely a secondary character in Fury Road. He grumbles maybe 20 or so legible words in all and mainly serves as a walking blood bag. The real star of the show is clearly Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa. She's a strong, independent woman who can drive, shoot and kill at will, all in order to protect a band of female prisoners from the evil, perverted clutches of a tyrannical ruler called Immortan Joe and his sickly War Boys.
 
Fury Road is purely a chase film from beginning to end, or as director George Miller calls it "a western on wheels". It wouldn't be a Mad Max movie without an assortment of awesome, bizarre cars crashing and exploding. The violence also returns to its original, brutal roots. Absolutely no one is safe from death.

Overall, this movie is a very-rare example of a redo worth watching. Honestly, if Max wasn't even involved, it'd be a proper standalone film in its own right.

Mad Max: Fury Road is now available the Franklin County Library and is rated R for intense sequences of violence throughout, and for disturbing images.








 

 



Honoring our Law Enforcement

Today the Law Enforcement and Emergency Services of Mt. Vernon and Franklin County honored Officer Darren Goforth of Houston and other fallen officers.  They drove slowly from the sheriff's office to the square and around it with their lights flashing.  They stopped in front of the courthouse for a brief ceremony.

It was quiet an impressive site!  Franklin County Library supports our Law Enforcement!