Julie's Journal : Franklin County Library Patron Favorites for 2019

2019 is drawing to a close and I'm looking back at statistics for the year.  Our system allows me to see what books have been checked out the most at FCL over the last year.  Let's take a look at the top books regardless of genre or age group:

#1.  Where the Crawdad's Sing, by Delia Owens - Crawdad's was released in August of 2018, but has enjoyed continued popularity.  Both our copies, along with the audio, have stayed checked out most of the year.

#2.  The Dog-Man Series by Dav Pilkey - When I ran my report, the Dog-Man books took up four spots in the top ten, but I am consolidating the series into one item.  A graphic novel series, Dog-Man is particularly popular with pre-teen boys.

#3.  The Reckoning, by John Grisham

#4.  The Boy, by Tami Hoag

#5.  Long Road to Mercy, by David Baldacci

#6.  The Amulet Series, by Kazu Kibuishi - Also a graphic novel series popular with boys.  Young boys are some of the hardest of our patrons to recommend good books for, so it's encouraging to see two different series geared towards them on this list.

#7.  Every Breath, by Nicholas Sparks - I didn't care for this book as much as I have enjoyed others by Sparks.  However, there is always a waiting list for anything new by him.

#8.  Wolf Pack, by C.J. Box

#9.  No Exit, by Taylor Adams

#10.  The Lost Man, by Jane Harper - The Lost Man's popularity was partially due to the promotion of it by library staff.  We found the book very interesting and had several discussions about it.

Have you read any of these?  What was your favorite book of the year?

Julie's Journal : Christmas Movies at the Baxters'

If you have ever come in and asked me for a movie recommendation, you know that movies are not my area of expertise.  I can recommend books all day long, but I generally don't have the attention span to sit and watch an entire movie.  I get distracted by a book or my phone or something I need to do around the house.  However, since we put the Christmas decorations up the day after Thanksgiving, my husband and I have watched several of our old favorites.  Christmas seems to be a time of nostalgia and we have had a lot of fun re-watching things we loved as kids.  Now, we aren't particularly sentimental, so we lean more towards funny movies than emotional ones.  That being said, here's a few of the shows we've been watching lately.

1.  Home Alone 1 & 2. - The first Home Alone movie is our favorite, but the second one isn't bad, either.  Bumbling crooks Marv and Harry meet their match in 8 year old Kevin McAllister and the tricks he devises to protect his home, himself, and - in Home Alone 2 - a toy store from their thievery.  I finally had to buy us our own copy because we were keeping the library's copy checked out and no one else was getting to see it! 

2.  A Charlie Brown Christmas - Having aired every year since its creation in 1965, it's just not Christmas without Charlie Brown, his sad Christmas tree, and Linus telling us about the true meaning of Christmas!

3.  How the Grinch Stole Christmas - Based on the book by Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas is another perennial classic.  The original television special first aired in 1966 with Boris Karloff as the voice of the Grinch.  We've enjoyed the live action remake with Jim Carey and the newest cartoon isn't bad either, but nothing beats the original half-hour show. 

4.  Die Hard - Die Hard isn't funny and it isn't particularly Christmas-y but it is set around an office Christmas party, so my husband says it counts as a Christmas movie.  Terrorists led by Hans Gruber (played by the incomparable Alan Rickman), seize a high rise and take the party goers hostage.  John McClain (Bruce Willis), a visiting NYC cop, must thwart them and figure out how to get himself and everyone else out alive.  Warning : Die Hard contains a lot of very rough language and is pretty bloody.

What movies are traditionally watched around the holidays at your house?  We might need to add something new to our traditions!

Julie's Journal : Bookish Christmas Gift Ideas

So I just realized that Christmas is exactly three weeks away!!  Eeek!  I am not ready, at all.  I still have several gifts to buy, but I am finding it difficult to think of unique ideas for my people.  If you're having the same quandry, let me give you a few small ideas for the bookish people in your life.

1.  If you can read this, bring me my book socks.  I bought these last year from Etsy and not only are they cute, they are comfortable too!

2.  First and last line bookmarks - Also from Etsy, these are high quality, but they come from England, so you'd probably need to order now to get them before Christmas.

3.  Library Tote Bag - Lisa brought these tote bags back from a conference and we love them.  They are super cute for carrying your library books!

4.  Reading T-shirt -

5.  Litographs - I have coveted something (anything) from Litographs for years but have never actually bought anything.  They have prints, t-shirts, tote bags, scarves, blankets, and pillows.  Each product has the entire text of a book printed on it around an image from the story.  There are lots of different books to choose from.

6.  Personalized Book Embosser - I still have a few books that my grandfather marked with his personalized embosser and I love running across them.  For the person who keeps books forever in their own personal library, this might be the perfect gift!  Etsy has several options.

7.  Books! - If you don't know what someone likes to read, give them a copy of your favorite book and make a date to discuss it when they have read it!  The most recent book I've read that I'd love to discuss with someone is The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern.  It is a lovely fantasy book that is as much about the setting as it is the actual story. 

I hope I've given you a few ideas for gifts or splurges for yourself!  Let me know if anything on the list appeals to you!

Tom's Two Cents : Olive Kitteridge and Olive, Again, by Elizabeth Strout

Elizabeth Strout has just published a splendid sequel to her Pulitzer Prize winning OLIVE KITTERIDGE, titled, appropriately, OLIVE, AGAIN.  Neither book is a novel in the strict sense, rather both are collections of small town stories, thirteen to be exact, mostly set in the fictional(?) village of Crosby, Maine, overlooking the Atlantic.  The principal character, Olive Kitteridge, flits in and out of these stories, sometimes centrally, but often peripherally, as a minor character would.  Flowing around her is a mass of multi-cultural humanity: fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, widows, widowers, old people, young people, babies, crazies, “dopey-dopes.”  Olive dominates them all by sheer force of personality and bluntness.  She says what she thinks, she does what she wishes, and it’s pretty much “to hell” with the consequences.  As such a character, she is not always easy to identify with, but the person she becomes by the end of the sequel is quite human and even sympathetic.

I started reading the first book only last weekend and read straight through till Monday on my Kindle, then switched to hard copy, efficiently supplied by our great Library, in the middle of this past week.  Today, Saturday, I finished the sequel, having read some 500-600 pages in all, in story segments of some 15-25 pages.  It’s kind of nice to finish a chapter, especially when you are old and losing your power of recall, and not have to worry about the characters and their problems anymore, though there are exceptions, of course, mostly those members of Olive’s family, who put up with her and love her, despite everything.  But don’t get the notion that Olive is just an old sourpuss—far from it.  She is at times very funny, and her caustic humor spills out on herself as well.

You probably won’t like it all—I didn’t, because at times I found it too frank and tasteless and choppy, but the books, and observations, are terribly, at times brutally, honest, and reflective of the current uncivilized times we live in.  Strout is a very straightforward writer, at times seemingly simplistic, but highly insightful in her observations of human nature, and very readable in the best sense of the word.  If I were to sum up for you the multiple themes of these two books, it would be in one masterful sentence by Henry David Thoreau: “The mass of men [and women] lead lives of quiet desperation.”  Strout indubitably has her finger on the pulse of modern humanity!

Julie's Journal : Bookish Unpopular Opinions

Again inspired by another blog, here are some of my bookish opinions that may not be shared by the reading majority.

E-books are just as good as physical books. - Many, many people come in the library and tell me that they prefer a paper book to an e-book.  I just don't agree.  I don't really know why, but I will almost always read the books on my device before I read the physical books that I check out from the library.  I will wait in line for a book to become available on Overdrive even when the physical book is available in the library and I have even purchased an e-copy of a book I already own just so that I could read it on my device.

There's nothing wrong with reading the end of the book first. - I know this is a huge no no, but I usually read a chapter or two of a story and then skip to the end to read the last few pages.  Only occasionally does this ruin anything for me in the reading of the story.  I guess I'm trying to figure out if the resolution is worth my reading the entire book.  It usually is!

I have read this many, many times!

Re-reading a book is one of the joys of life. - My father hates to re-read a book.  His memory is impressive and he says that since he remembers the plot in the first few pages, he gets no enjoyment from re-reading a book.  Many of our library patrons agree.  For me however, re-reading a story I enjoy is comforting, like a visit with an old friend.  I have a few favorites that I have read dozens of times! 

Short stories are awesome! - We rarely buy short story collections for the library because they just don't get checked out.  I, however, really enjoy them.  The quick development and resolution of a story is satisfying when I don't have the time or attention span for a longer work. 

I HATE stories that revolve around one character lying or misrepresenting a situation to another character. - In the same vein, I don't like books that revolve around a misunderstanding.  I guess this eliminates a lot of books from my favorites list, but this plot device is so annoying to me.  I don't like a story where the entire time I'm thinking that just one good conversation between characters could resolve everything.  This preference bleeds over into the TV shows I like, as well as in real life.  I'm not a good practical joker because I get very uncomfortable misleading someone!

Do you agree with me?  What are some of your bookish opinions that may not be shared by the reading majority?

Julie's Journal : Non-Fiction Recommendations

On average, over the last five years, I have read about 14:1 fiction to non-fiction.  I just love fiction and the escape from every day life that it offers me.  However, I do enjoy non-fiction and learning about many different things.  I have three non-fiction recommendations for you today.  Two I've read recently and one I am still in the process of reading.

The Neuroscientist Who Lost Her Mind was fascinating.  Barbara Lipska has spent all of her career and a lot of her considerable energy studying the brain and mental illness.  Ironically, when her metastatic melanoma surfaced in her brain she begin to exhibit and experience symptoms of dementia and schizophrenia, the very same diseases she studied. The book chronicles her diagnosis, treatments, and descent into madness.  A strong Type A personality, some of her natural traits such as leadership and assertiveness crossed the line from strong to obnoxious and she lost her ability to empathize with her family in their struggles.  She became angry and completely self-centered and was unable to recognize the changes in herself.  She writes of the trauma her family experienced and how loath they are to speak of it to her, even since she's recovered.  I was interested in the book partly because I, like almost everyone, have seen a family member suffer from dementia. In my case, my grandfather had Alzheimer's disease and it is such a horrible, horrible disease.  This book lets the reader see a little of how the afflicted person's brain is working.  While not necessarily comforting, the book is informative, and I hope that Dr. Lipska will be able to use what she learned from her personal experience in her research.  Maybe someday we will have a cure for these diseases.

On a much lighter note, I absolutely loved Wild Things by Bruce Handy.  A trip down memory lane from beginning to end, I was able to revisit many favorite books from my childhood.  Mr. Handy discusses pre-school level books such as Goodnight Moon, elementary favorites like Ramona Quimby, Age 8, and classics like the Narnia series, Charlotte's Web, and Little Women.  My only gripe was that he didn't give Anne of Green Gables much of a chance, giving up on her far too soon!  I have never really grown out of the enjoyment of reading children's literature, but this book has inspired me to dig up some of my old favorites and read them again!

I am still reading Into the Planet by Jill Heinerth.  It is giving me a glimpse into a world and a life completely different than my own.  I have absolutely no desire to experience diving into an underwater cave.  My claustrophobia makes me tense just reading the book.  However, Dr. Heinerth has made a career out of studying and filming these unseen places.  I just finished a chapter on an expedition into the mountains of Mexico, where a crew spent weeks diving into submerged caves inside a mountain.  I have nothing but admiration for people who wish to risk their lives in the pursuit of discovery (Dr. Heinerth says that more people have died cave diving than climbing Mt. Everest), but reading a book about it is as close as I'm going to get!

I read all three of these books using the Overdrive/Libby apps, but we will be getting a physical copy of Into the Planet in the next few days.  I hope you'll check them out!

Julie's Journal : Creepy Reads

It's October, which means all things Halloween and Fall are coming to the forefront, even if the thermostat hasn't quite gotten the message yet!  In keeping with the season, I have a few recommendations for books that are a bit creepy and spooky.  I'm not a fan of gore or true horror, but I do love a book that makes a shiver run up my spine!


Louise meets David and sparks fly, but alas, David is already married to Adele and it turns out he is also Louise's new boss.  Louise gets drawn into David and Adele's strange world when she meets Adele and begins a friendship.  But not all is as it seems and Adele is using Louise to further a strange plan.  I really don't want to say too much about this book.  For one thing it just can't be described well, and for another, it needs to be experienced without preconceptions.  If you are like me and tend to read the end of the book first, you really need to refrain to get the full effect.  The last couple of pages will change everything you think you know about Louise and David and Adele. 


Eight people receive invitations to a small island off the coast of England.  When they arrive they are met by a cook and butler, but their hosts have not yet arrived.  It soon becomes clear that they are all, including the cook and butler, being accused of murder, and a nursery rhyme alludes to all of their deaths.  Very soon, people are being killed and we are trying to figure out who the murderer is.  I did not figure out who the killer was and had to wait for the reveal at the end.  It's a masterful book!


Idlewild Hall was a boarding school for troubled girls.  For the girls who lived there in the 1950's, the place was spooky and there were rumors of hauntings from troubled events even before their time.  In 2014, the Hall is being restored.  Fiona's sister was found murdered on the grounds 20 years before and Fiona decides to write a story about the place.  Even though her sister's boyfriend was tried and convicted for her murder, Fiona feels like the story is unfinished.  She will eventually uncover all the secrets of Idlewild - the recent and the ancient.  I have recommended Simone St. James before.  Her books are almost too scary for me, with angry ghosts who have the ability to influence the world around them.  St. James is very good at writing atmosphere and mood and she inevitably causes that shiver to run up my spine!


Shirley Jackson is the queen of the Gothic horror novel.  The Haunting of Hill House is another story where a group of strangers arrives to spend time at an isolated location.  Dr. Montague is investigating the supernatural and invites others who have had experiences with the paranormal.  Theodora and Eleanor accept and travel to Hill House along with Luke, who is the heir to the house.  After their arrival, they all begin to experience unexplained noises, writing on walls, and other odd events.  The house seems to not only be haunted, but also seems to be trying to possess them, particularly Eleanor.  The brilliance of this book is that we are never sure whether the hauntings are real or just the imaginings of already disturbed minds.  Even at the end, after tragedy strikes, we aren't sure.  I was first introduced to Shirley Jackson in Junior High when The Lottery was included in our reading curriculum.  It was my first experience with the thrill that can be achieved with reading disturbing books while safe at home.  I didn't discover her longer works until adulthood and have enjoyed both Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle. 

Jack and Grace have the perfect marriage.  Jack is wealthy and Grace is charming, but their friends have a hard time getting to know them better.  Again, I don't want to give too much away about this book.  I have told single friends that they probably shouldn't read it because they would never trust anything a potential romantic interest said ever again!  Even after years of marriage, I still looked sideways at my husband as I was reading it.  Do we ever truly know what someone else is thinking or what their motivations are?  I generally don't like to give "trigger warnings" but I will say that the premise of this book is very disturbing.  I did enjoy reading it, but beware!

What are your favorite spooky, creepy reads?  I need something new to make my spine tingle this year.

Julie's Journal : A Place to Have Questions Answered

This past summer a college student asked if she could interview me, along with our Director, Lisa, and a few other people for an education class she was taking.  I don't remember everything we discussed, but one of her questions really stuck with me.  She wanted to know what I wanted people to think about when they think of the library.  I gave her an answer, but I've spent quite a bit of time thinking about the question since - there are so many ways to answer it!  I could talk about books and reading and literacy.  I could talk about free and open access to information, which is the mantra of the American Library Association.  I could talk about programming for children and adults and becoming the heart of the community.  All of those are good things.  However, the thing I most want people to think about when they think of the library is this:  It is a place to have questions answered!  

We are in the business of providing access to information which involves answering lots and lots of questions.  We cannot, of course, provide answers to every question off the top of our heads, but we can use our skills to find the answers you need or find the right person to ask your questions of.  What kinds of questions get asked at the library?  I have answered questions about:

• Cooking - How do I make chicken and dumplings?  I need a good recipe for meatloaf.  
• Computers - Is this a good price for a new laptop?  I need to learn Excel; can you teach me?  How do I set up an email account?
• Crochet - Why are my edges not straight?  How do I tell where my rows and stitches are?
• 3D Printing - Can you make a part for my kayak?
• Contact Information - Can you find an address or phone number for my long lost sister or friend or classmate?
• Phones and Tablets - Can you set up Facebook on my device?  How do I block a number?  Do I need to update my device?  Can you recommend a tablet in my price range?
• Local Life - Where do I go to register to vote? Renew my Driver's License? Buy a copy of the Dallas Morning News? Get a good burger?
• Science, Math, Reading, Music - Can you help me with my homework?
• Genealogy - I refer genealogy questions to the Franklin County Genealogical Society down the street.
• Death and Taxes - We usually can't answer these questions for legal reasons, but I CAN help you find the people who can answer them!

and of course - 

• Books - What new book do you recommend?  Can you recommend an author who writes psychological thrillers? Inspirational Romance?  True Crime?  What is a good book to read aloud to a Kindergartner? 
• E-books - Can you help me access e-books on my device?  How do I place a hold on an e-book?  
• Movies - Which movie won the academy award last year?  Is this movie appropriate for the whole family?  I need a good comedy; what do you recommend?

This is just a sampling of the questions we have been asked.  As you can see, questions can be about anything from light and entertaining to truly life changing.  Answering questions is one of my favorite things to do at work.  If I can find the answer to something that you've been having trouble with, I can go home at the end of the day feeling like I made a difference in your life.  

So if you've got a question, a conundrum, a curiosity, or a query, come on in and we'll see if we can figure out an answer for you!

Julie's Journal : A Few Books I Love

Have you see the post going around Facebook recently where you nominate your friends to share a book they love everyday for a week?  I was nominated today - thanks Jennifer Cooper - and I thought it was a challenge right up my alley.  However, on the Facebook challenge, I'm not allowed to say anything about the books I love.  I have no such limitations here, so without further ado, here are a few books I love, in no particular order, with short comments on each.

I don't remember how I first ran across Susanna Kearsley's writing.  I've now read and enjoyed all her work, but The Rose Garden is my favorite.  Eva has lost the last of her family and returns to the only place she feels at home.  There she begins hearing voices and finding paths that lead into another time.  She must decide where she truly belongs.  I love the time-slip aspect of Ms. Kearsley's writings.  It's handled differently in every book, but she always writes about two different time periods.  The historical side of her novels is often during the time of the Jacobite Risings.  The events are not the focus of the books, but rather add tension and drama to the stories.  More recently she has moved her setting to North America and written Bellewether, the historical side of which revolves around the French and Indian War.

This book has the greatest sense of place I've ever read.  The Australia Outback is such a presence in the book that it almost another character.  The Lost Man revolves around a ranching family.  The family's two homes are three hours apart and two of the brothers have met for the first time in several months.  At their feet lies the body of their brother.  Did he commit suicide or was he murdered?  How did he end up alone in the middle of the desert miles from his vehicle which is fully stocked with food and water to last a week?  In the days following his death, family secrets will slowly come to light. There were several good discussions in the library over the conclusion.  

I was late to reading this one, but when I finally picked it up, I loved it.  Juliet is an author looking for the subject of her next book.  She gets a letter from a complete stranger on the island of Guernsey and she eventually corresponds with several members of the Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.  Eventually she travels to Guernsey to visit and, while conducting research for her book, she becomes deeply involved in the islanders' lives.  The book is told in letters, a literary device I really enjoy.  If you missed this one when it first came out, I highly recommend it!

Simone St. James is another author I can't quite remember how I discovered.  Her books are spooky and full of ghosts.  The ghosts are not usually the benevolent, gentle spirits of romance novels, but vengeful, angry, and very much able to affect the world around them.  In An Inquiry into Love and Death Jillian is tasked with packing up the belongings of her deceased, ghost hunting, Uncle Toby.  Jillian quickly realizes that a malevolent spirit is trying to enter the house and that her Uncle may have discovered something sinister in the nearby village.  She and a Scotland Yard inspector must work together to solve both problems.  

Dee Henderson writes Christian romantic suspense.  Someone recommended her O'Malley series to me and I enjoyed it, but I have enjoyed her more recent works more.  Unspoken is my favorite and I reread it often.  Charlotte is selling off parts of her late grandfather's estate and she singles Bryce out to handle his collection of rare coins.  What Bryce doesn't know is the extent of the collection and that Charlotte's past is hiding a huge secret.  When it all comes to light, Bryce must figure out how he can best help Charlotte, both in disposing of her grandfather's assets and in putting her past to rest once and for all.  I like the pacing of this book, although some may find it slow.  I think Ms. Henderson reveals Charlotte's secrets masterfully.

Fire is actually the second book in a trilogy although it is only loosely related to the other two.  Fire is the last human monster in existence, a trait that gives her impossible beauty and the ability to control minds.  In a kingdom where rebellion is imminent, her abilities are coveted by those in power.  Fire must figure out how to use her abilities in a way that she can live with so that she doesn't become her father, a man who terrorized all who came near him. I loved the first book of the series, Graceling, but Fire is my favorite.  It's fantasy and adventure and romance.  The character and world building of the author are very good.  You do not have to read Graceling to enjoy this book, but the first couple of chapters will make more sense if you do.  

This is not so much one book I love, but an author.  I love Georgette Heyer for her Regency Era romances.  Heyer had a quick wit and her books always make me laugh out loud.  Her characters, usually but not always the heroine, get into ridiculous scrapes.  Often our hero is the reluctant rescuer.  However, occasionally, as in The Unknown Ajax, both our hero and heroine are sensible, rational people who are dealing with a large cast of characters who in some way or another are making life difficult for our heroes.  Of course, everything always comes out okay in the end.  Ms. Heyer is a classic author.  She published most of her novels in the 30's, 40', and 50's with a few outliers.  

So there you have it - seven books that I love.  I hope you find something in my list that you can enjoy.  The first six are available at Franklin County Library and a few of Georgette Heyer's books are available through our e-reading service, Overdrive.  

  

Tom's Two Cents : Hattie McDaniel, by Jill Watts

As part of my preparation for my Gone With the Wind seminar at the Library next month, I’ve been doing a lot of reading and thinking about Scarlett O’Hara and her “crew,” and that of course also brings fond memories of the great Selznick film of 1939, starring Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, and of course the great Hattie McDaniel, the first of her race to win an Academy Award for her supporting performance.  I say “supporting” in name only, for absolutely no one could have given a more definitive interpretation of the character that Margaret Mitchell created—she was truly MAMMY, not only the person, but the symbol, of a type of individual who once existed in the South, now denigrated more than recognized, as an integral, yet separate, part of many Southern families of the past.

Hattie was the youngest child in a family of six, her mother having borne thirteen children, seven of whom died in infancy. Her father, Henry, an ex-slave, settled in his native state of Tennessee after serving on the Union side during the Civil War, but finding survival there practically impossible during Reconstruction, he moved to Wichita, Kansas, where Hattie was born. Ultimately the family settled in Denver in an up and coming (relatively speaking) Black Community. The center of that community was the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), which formed the foundation of many Black families’ lives during those extremely difficult times. All of her life McDaniel remained a devout member and Christian, giving much of her time, talent, and later money to the Church and charitable causes.

Also born of a talented family, she made a stage debut by the age of five and became a seasoned vaudevillian by the age of eighteen, often performing with one or more of her siblings, singing, dancing, and later even writing for the stage, before she went to Hollywood, ultimately appearing in dozens of roles between 1932 and 1949, usually as a domestic—more often than not, the only type of role open then to Black women. She was forty-five, screen testing with Vivien Leigh herself, when she was picked to play Mammy, one of the roles of a lifetime, and she played it to the hilt, even though some of her own people protested what they interpreted as a Black stereo-type presentation.

Jill Watts has written a carefully researched biography not only of McDaniel herself, but of the difficult times in which she grew up, chronicling as she goes the complicated and often terribly unfair life of the African American in show business during the first half of the 20th century. Tenacity, faith, extreme perseverance, and an enormous work ethic were required to succeed against the heaviest of odds. Hattie McDaniel had them all, in spades!

Julie's Journal : A Few Things I've Learned Recently

I've read this type of post on another blog several times, and thought it was a great idea.  I'm sharing a few small things that I have learned or discovered over the past few months.  If y'all like the post I may do it again on a semi-regular basis.


1.  Chicken thighs are the perfect dark meat.  My husband Jason and I both prefer dark meat chicken and turkey over white meat.  I found a recipe for chicken thighs in the Texas Co-op Power magazine. It was super easy, the meat was juicy and tender, and it made enough that we had leftovers for several days.  The recipe suggests serving it over pasta or rice, but I found that it goes well with mashed potatoes or macaroni and green beans or salad.  Find the recipe here : Sort-of-Confit Chicken Thighs.

2.  Cross Stitch is still fun.  As a teenager and young adult, cross stitch (along with crochet) was my hobby of choice.  I made stockings for Jason and I, a baby sampler announcement for my nephew, and lots and lots of pretty designs for framing.  However, in the last few years my free time has been eaten up by playing on my phone and creative projects have been pushed to the side.  Our crochet group at the library - now called Creative Hands - has been the catalyst I needed to get back into creative projects.  This summer I found a kit for a tiny little owl to cross stitch and worked it up quickly as a birthday/thank you gift for my mother.

I enjoyed it so much that I started looking for something else to do.  I wanted something fun and whimsical and small, so that I could see progress quickly.  I finally settled on a pattern from Etsy featuring the characters from the original Super Mario Bros. game.  I've been making steady progress on it and am enjoying stitching it.  I have no idea what I'll do with it once its done, but I guess that's not the point! 




3.  Mary Balogh  This has been a year of very light reading for me.  I have not seemed to want to dive into many very deep or difficult books with a couple of exceptions.  Rather, I have been reading lots and lots of very light fiction.  I reread Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series - all 25 books - earlier in the year.  Recently I discovered Mary Balogh and have been reading her backlist.  She writes Regency Romance - books set in the late 1700's or early 1800's in England.  Her characters are titled and wealthy and are all on the hunt for the perfect spouse.  These are definitely an adults only series, containing some explicit scenes that I prefer to skip.  If you are a history buff, I doubt these are for you either because I'm pretty sure that her depiction of life during this time is highly romanticized.  However, they are light and fun and quick, and are perfect escapist reading.  We do not have any of her books in the library, but they are almost all available as e-books through our Overdrive service. (P.S. - If you like Recency Romance without the risque parts, try Georgette Heyer.  Her books are hilarious and quirky and I reread her often!)

4.  Multiple iPhones using the same Apple ID can have some quirks.  My parents recently got smart phones for the first time.  I recommended iPhones because they were already familiar with an iPad and I figured it'd be easy for them to learn the phones.  I used my Apple ID to set them up.  I learned a lot about the iPhone through this process.  For instance, if you use the same Apple ID on several iphones you have to go into each phone's settings and disable the other numbers on the account.  Otherwise you will receive all the calls and texts for all the numbers on the account.  Of course, we learned this the hard way!  Also, if you try to text one another, the conversations look very weird in the messages app.  It looked like I was texting myself!  Fortunately, Google helped me find the answers I needed and we were able to get the phones functioning separately.  Through it all I learned several things that I think I will use to help our patrons with their technology! 

5.  Houston Public Library  I feel a little like I'm betraying Franklin County Library by sharing this information with you.  Did you know that the Houston Public Library offers free library cards to any Texas resident?  I applied online here and use my card to access HPL's extensive digital offerings.  They offer Overdrive for e-books and I was able to add them as an additional library in my app.  Now when I find a book I want to read I search both the North East Texas Digital Consortium that FCL is a part of and the Houston Public Library.  They don't have everything I want, but sometimes they will have something that we don't have.

Have you learned anything interesting lately?


This post was inspired by Modern Mrs. Darcy.  

Tom's Two Cents : Willa Cather's My Antonia and Death Comes for the Archbishop

Somehow in the literary shuffle of my early years I read a famous short story, “Paul’s Case”, by the late 19th-early 20th century American writer Willa Cather, and then promptly forgot about her. In those days the great female writers in America—Cather, Edith Wharton, Sarah Orne Jewett—were shunted to the back pages of anthologies and their longer works seldom taught at all. Cather was one of those, popular and respected in the early part of the 20th, then somehow shoved to the back burner, except in high school. She certainly didn’t deserve it. I’ve only just read two of her works back to back— My Antonia and Death Comes for the Archbishop— they could not be more different in setting and content, but both contain more than a stroke of literary genius.

My Antonia, though told from a male point of view, is clearly about women in Nebraska, struggling for their identity in a male dominated New World. That world is the then pioneer state of Nebraska, being settled by Bohemians, Russians and Germans, as well as established Americans from the East Coast. Cather’s family itself had moved from West Virginia to Red Cloud, Nebraska, when she was ten.  Seldom has pride of place and evocation of atmosphere been so beautifully handled in a novel. I’ve never even been through Nebraska, much less to it, and now I don’t feel the need to go! Cather’s descriptions, or rather evocations, of time and place are so beautifully integrated into the narrative that one truly feels one has been there with her in that time and place. Her characters come vividly to life as well. My Antonia seems especially relevant to our time, since it speaks so clearly to the role of women in society. Antonia ultimately chooses a traditional role, but some of her friends do not, and become highly successful career women.

Death Comes for the Archbishop could hardly be more different, except that it too illustrates the author’s power to evoke character, time and place. Set in and around Santa Fe, New Mexico, from the 1850’s to the 1880’s, Archbishop is novelistic history, intertwined with local folklore, and as such combines a very loose narrative about two real French Jesuits who come as missionaries to the New World with a series of interwoven local tales, mostly from the Spanish/Mexican/indigent Indian populations. On the personal level this is the story of a great missionary partnership between two men who serve the pueblo of Santa Fe as Bishop (later Archbishop) and Vicar. Again, as in My Antonia, and perhaps even more so, a vivid sense of place—this time it is the Southwestern landscape, before the arrival of the Americans—is achieved.

In both these books plot is very secondary, so don’t expect a thrilling narrative. Both these books are about time and the past remembered, in the most positive way possible.

Julie's Journal : 3rd - 5th Grade Book Recommendations

I was recently asked to recommend some books for a 4th grade boy and it got me thinking about all the good books we have in the Juvenile section.  This section is for kids ages 8-12 and contains quite a large range of books.  My nephew just finished 4th grade and is almost 10, so he is squarely in this section of the library.  I've been watching his reading for the last year and noting what he has loved and what hasn't kept his attention.  This age is really fun in books because the kids are transitioning from "learning to read" to "reading to learn".  This stage is also the first time a child is a proficient enough reader to get lost in a good book.  If your kid needs some reading material for these long, hot summer days, let me make a few recommendations.

The Amulet books are a series of graphic novels.  They follow Emily and her brother Navin on a fantastical adventure to save their mother and the world.  They are helped along the way by a mysterious, mechanical, pink rabbit.  I read the first book and thought it was strange, but my nephew LOVED these books and read them as fast as he could one right after the other.  

Hank the Cowdog:  The first Hank the Cowdog book was published in 1983 and they are still being published.  I believe there are 72 installments at this time.  If you are not familiar with them, the books are told from the perspective of Hank - Head of Ranch Security.  Hank books are wonderful for struggling readers because they have all been made into audio books, so the reader can listen to the story while following along in the book.  Many of our patrons have listened to Hank books on road-trips, as well, because all members of a family can enjoy them.  The library has almost all of the print books and several of the audios available for checkout.  I am currently reading one of the Hank books out loud with a group of 5th grade boys.

Another popular series is the I Survived books.  Each story is about a true historical event.  The fictionalized stories are told through the eyes of a child experiencing the event.  The series spans history and includes tales from the American Revolution, Pearl Harbor, September 11th, Hurricane Katrina, and many more.  The books are a great way to introduce historical events in an approachable way and the kids love them.  Boys in particular seem to enjoy books that are about a true story.  During the summer we have a hard time keeping them on the shelves.  

In the same vein, the Hazardous Tales books tell the story of true events in American history.  They are graphic novels, and a new addition to FCL's collection.  I discovered these books on a teacher's blog, where he summarizes what his students are reading and apparently his class can't get enough of the Hazardous Tales.  Amazon's description of the books is as follows: "Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales are graphic novels that tell the thrilling, shocking, gruesome, and TRUE stories of American history. Read them all—if you dare!"

Like Hank the Cowdog, the Magic Tree House books have been popular for a long time.  The first book was published in 1992 and the series is still going strong.  The kids call these the "Jack and Annie" books after the main characters.  Jack and Annie are siblings who have discovered a magic tree house that takes them to different periods in time or exotic locations where they have many adventures.  Although entirely fictional, the books give the kids glimpses of many historical events and times.  

Other popular book series in this section include:  

• Princess in Black 
• Happily Ever After 
• Kylie Jean
• Goosebumps
• Junie B. Jones
• Zeke Meke
• Bad Kitty
• Dragonbreath
• Jake Maddox

And of course, we also have lots of stand alone books for your kiddos to discover and enjoy.  Let me encourage you to schedule a quiet half-hour (or longer) in your day this summer for your kids to read and fall in love with a good book!

Julie's Journal : The Hat Books

Yesterday, the Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade classes from Sulphur Bluff visited the library and asked for some books to be read to them.  Whenever we need to do a story time, I have a few go-to books to read and I always choose at least one of the Hat books by Jon Klassen.  There are three Hat books :  "I Want My Hat Back", "This is Not My Hat", and "We Found a Hat." 

The stories are hilarious for both adults and children.  I like reading them because the kids completely relate to the characters and their troubles, and the stories are laugh-out-loud funny. 

Yesterday I chose "I Want My Hat Back".  The story follows a bear who is missing his hat.  He walks through the forest asking his fellow creatures if they have seen his hat.  Only when asked to describe the hat does he realize that he HAS seen his hat - on the head of a rabbit.  He rushes back to the rabbit, where he retrieves his hat and metes out justice.  

 

I love the witty sense of humor in these books and the kids were laughing from page 1.  The illustrations go perfectly with the stories and sometimes tell part of the story themselves, without any need for words.  Do yourself a favor and check these books out to read out loud with your kids.