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.  

Julie's Journal : On Reading Sad or Difficult Books

Lately, several things have made me think about the value of reading books that contain passages in which beloved characters (animal or human) die, characters experience difficult situations, or horrible things happen to real people in non-fiction.  

My sister recently texted me and asked for some book recommendations.  She wanted a good biography or auto-biography.  The first book that came to mind was Mistaken Identity by Dan and Susie Van Ryn and Newell, Colleen and Whitney Cerak.  The book is the story of two young women involved in a car wreck.  One of the girls lived, the other died, and they were mistaken for one another.  The mistake was not discovered for several weeks, after one family had had a funeral for their daughter and the other had been sitting at the hospital with the injured, comatose girl.  The book is fascinating, but very difficult and I warned my sister that it would make her cry.  She was okay with that, but many library patrons are not. 

I am currently attending a seminar led by Tom Wilkinson, of this blog's "Tom's Two Cents" column, on Lonesome Dove.  In his introduction of the book, Mr. Tom discussed the author's ability to make the reader fall in love with a character.  He warned us that McMurtry would have no compunction, though, in killing off our favorite characters, and if I am remembering correctly, in unpleasant ways.  

A couple of years ago, the movie "A Dog's Purpose" came out.  It is based on the book by W. Bruce Cameron and I read and enjoyed the book.  When I recommend it and its companion book A Dog's Journey, I get asked if it is sad.  People want to know if the dog dies.  The truth of the matter is that the books follow one dog over the course of several lifetimes.  The dog is born, dies, and is reincarnated several times.  The books are funny, heartwarming, and joyful.  Sadly, most people will not check the books out even though they end in a positive, hopeful way.  

I also recently read an article titled "What Good Does It Do To Break a Child's Heart?" by children's author Jo Knowles.  She discussed books that she had cried over as a child - books such as The Velveteen Rabbit and Charlotte's Web. In thinking about her reaction to those books she discovered that:

 "...those books hadn’t broken my heart. Not really. They’d caused an awakening in it, and helped it grow. That’s what good books do."

I've thought about that quote a lot since I first read it a few days ago.  I think that it sums up the benefits of reading quite succinctly.  Through reading we get to enjoy other people's success and happiness, but also grieve with them, and rail at the unfairness of it all when things go wrong.  Books show us something about ourselves.  Of course, I'm not going to grieve as strongly for a book character as I do for a friend or family member, but maybe grieving a book character can teach me something about myself - about how I grieve.  Maybe reading about a horrible situation like the one in Mistaken Identity can help me expand my compassion for those around me.  Maybe facing difficult things in a book can help me face them in real life.  

Maybe the same is true for children.  In Ms. Knowles book See You at Harry's a child is at the funeral of her younger brother and doesn't understand how people can be laughing and telling stories at such a sad occasion.  I remember being confused by the same thing when I was a child.  I also remember reading Where the Red Fern Grows as a kid and crying over Billy's loss of Ole Dan and Little Ann.  Books can show kids situations they've never seen and help them process the ones they have.  Much as we want to keep kids sheltered from pain, they are going through the world with their eyes wide open, taking it all in.  Books are such a wonderful way to open discussions about difficult topics with the kids we love.  

I have read thousands of books since I first learned to read during nap time in Kindergarten.  I've read books that are funny, happy, silly, sappy, sad, intense, informative, and everything else you can think of.  I've read romance, science fiction, adventure, young adult, inspirational, biography, non-fiction and even a graphic novel or two.  I love a good escapist read that I can breeze through in an afternoon.  However, the books that have stayed with me are the ones that have made me think, and that usually means that the characters have gone through something difficult and come through on the other side.   

I guess what I really hope for is for readers to be open to all kinds of books.  I hope that we don't dismiss books out of hand just because they contain something difficult or sad.  I'm not going to recommend a book that has no hope in it - where there is nothing redeeming in either the characters or the situation.  Those are my least favorite types of books.  But just think of all the wonderful stories we would miss if we never read anything with hard things in them.  I think my life is better for the books I've read that have "broken" my heart.  I sure wouldn't have wanted to miss them!

Julie's Journal : Murder on the Orient Express

As someone who considers herself fairly well-read, I am ashamed to admit that I haven't read much Agatha Christie.  According to AgathaChristie.com and wikipedia, Christie is the best selling novelist of all time, having been outsold only by the Bible and William Shakespeare.  Christie is most well-known for her detective novels featuring Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.  I read one of her novels, And Then There Were None, a few years ago and enjoyed it, but didn't pick up any more of her work for some time.

When the Murder on the Orient Express movie came out in 2017, I wanted to see it, but was determined to read the book first.  Even though we have a traditional copy of the book in the library, I put myself on hold for it on Overdrive and waited and waited and waited for it to become available.  I finally read it at the beginning of March.  Surprisingly, in spite of the book being 85 years old and extremely famous, I had very little idea of the story line going in.  I won't get into too many of the details in case you, like me, aren't familiar with the story and want to go into it blind; but I thought the murder, the varied cast of characters, the unique setting, and Detective Poirot's handling of the case was ingenious. 

Last week, my husband was out of town and I needed something to watch, so I took the movie home.  It stays very close to the story in the book, which is important to me, but I understood the need to make the few changes that I saw.  I'm not able, like Chance, to discuss the cinematography and costumes, but I did find some of the camera work interesting.  I've not been on a passenger train of the sort in the story, but I can see where filming in such a way as to portray the tight quarters would be difficult. 

The cast is quite star-studded, including Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, and Michelle Pfieffer.  However, the star was definitely Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot.  His amazing mustache should have been a character in its own right.  I had never before heard of such a device as a mustache protector for sleeping, but saw one in action in the movie!

Overall, I really enjoyed my dip into Agathie Christie's World and characters.  I think next, I'll try Death on the Nile.  It looks like it will be the next movie made, with Branagh reprising his role as Detective Hercule Poirot!

Julie's Journal : What I've Been Reading - Nonfiction

In my reading life, I tend towards fiction.  I like a story that takes me out of my world and into another.  However, I do enjoy non-fiction occasionally and try to incorporate it into my reading.  So far this year, three non-fiction titles have caught my attention. 

The first was Inheritance by Dani Shapiro.  Dani was born in the early 1960's, the only blonde, blue-eyed child in a dark-eyed, dark skinned Jewish family.  She grew up as essentially an only child, as her only half-sister was much older and already out of the house.  Her family practiced Orthodox Judaism and Shapiro grew up learning to speak Hebrew and eating Kosher.  As an adult, long after she had married and had a child of her own, Shapiro submitted her DNA to an ancestry site, purely out of curiosity.  The results would turn her world upside down.  She learned that her father, was not in fact her biological father.  After much research into her deceased parents' lives, she discovered that she had been conceived at a fertility clinic, where a doctor was using questionable methods.  Eventually she discovered that her biological father had been a medical student at the nearby university.  I found the book very interesting.  Ms. Shapiro takes the reader on her journey as she comes to terms with her genetic history not matching her very strong cultural history.  I am sure that more and more of these stories will start to emerge with the popularity of DNA testing.  Are we really sure we want to know all the answers about where we came from?

Duped by Abby Ellin was a look at people who lie habitually, the lies we all tell, and the characteristics that make us want to believe a lie.  Abby became involved in a relationship with a man who told her innumerable lies about his past career accomplishments.  He had achieved many things of a "highly secret" nature.  Ms. Ellin didn't discover the full breadth of his lies to her until after their relationship had ended.  Then, a second time, she believed a man who told her lies about the nature of his relationship with his "soon-to-be ex" wife.  Honestly, I found Ms. Ellin a little difficult as a person.  I tend to have a "once burned, twice shy" philosophy of life, and having been duped twice in the same manner would be difficult for me to admit.  I didn't feel like she had learned anything about how to vet a possible suitor.  However, I found her research on deception in general interesting and stuck with the book for that reason.

This week, I finished Girl in the Dark by Anna Lyndsey.  In her early 30's Anna begin developing a painful skin reaction to light.  At first she thought it was just on her face and was from her computer screen.  Gradually however, she begin reacting all over her body and to all types of light.  She became unable to work and eventually she needed to black out a room in her home and spend most of her time in complete darkness.  Even then, she wears several layers of clothing because some types of light waves still exist in darkness.  She passes the time by listening to audio books of almost every genre.  She leaves her room only to use the bathroom and to make small meals.  The rest of her house is dim, no lights are ever left on and her husband watches TV alone as the light emitting from it is too painful for her.   She does go through periods of moderate remission and relapse.  Her husband, a photographer, gets her a light meter so she can judge how much light she can handle.  She undergoes some testing, but finds traveling to doctors too painful, so doesn't get as much medical help as she needs.  Anna's story was engrossing because in reading, both fiction and non-fiction, I want to see lives that are different from my own, so that I can vicariously have as many experiences as possible.  In Anna's story, I certainly see a different type of life, and one that I am thankful I am not living.  I cannot imagine living without light.    

Chance's Corner : Oscars Season 2018

Chance has graciously agreed to continue writing the occasional blog post even though he no longer works at FCL.  I'm extremely grateful as I am not equipped to write about movies! - Julie

For the first time in years, I’ve never been more uncertain about who will take home an Academy Award. A Star Is Born taking home the gold seemed like a cinch, but it’s essentially been shut out at all the other award shows, outside of “Shallow” sweeping every Best Song category available (as it should). In its place, the likes of Bohemian Rhapsody, Roma and Black Panther have been raking in the wins, and while Roma is understandable, Bohemian Rhapsody and Black Panther have been absolute headscratchers, so much so that I’ve scratched down to my scalp! Despite the “it’s anyone’s game” atmosphere this year, I’m going to try my best to correctly predict the winners!

Here we go!

Best Picture:

Of the eight films nominated this year, only four of them have a serious chance of winning this category - A Star Is Born, Roma, The Favourite and Green Book. If the Academy is feeling safe, they’ll clearly go with Green Book, which has been called this year’s Driving Miss Daisy. But even for a safe choice, Green Book has stirred up some controversy for… being directed by a white man? It’s a little more than that, but that’s basically it. Now, if the Academy dares to go off the wall, it will pick The Favourite, a rather alternative look at Queen Anne. The Academy openly embraced fish romance last year, so is it up to going weird again? I’m not so sure. The most serious contender is A Star Is Born, even if its chances seem slim. I mostly say it’s a serious contender because I believe the Academy will try to atone for Bradley Cooper not getting nominated for Best Director - they may do that by picking him for Best Actor, though. A Star Is Born has also had several members of the Academy come to its defense, most notably Sean Penn, so that could work in its favor, as well. As for Roma, I think it has higher odds to win Best Foreign Film rather than Best Film, but the Academy could split the vote by choosing Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War for Best Foreign Film and Roma for Best Film - I think it’d be unfair for Roma to win both, but that’s just my opinion.

Winner Prediction: A Star Is Born

Best Actor:

Rami Malek has been picking up this award for most of the awards season, but I think his luck will run out on Oscar night. Method actor Christian Bale, who transformed into Dick Cheney by gaining weight and shaving his head, checks every single box for Best Actor winner - the Academy is a sucker for transformative performances! However, Bradley Cooper does have a strong chance of stealing the award in the form of a “vote of confidence” vote.

Winner Prediction: Christian Bale for Vice

Best Actress:

I strongly believe Lady Gaga deserves Best Actress, but, alas, the Academy didn’t give Judy Garland the Oscar for her performance in 1954’s A Star Is Born, so the award here will most likely end up in Glenn Close’s lap as a “legacy” award - meaning she’s been nominated for an Oscar six times already, so it’s about time she actually won one. Oh well, Gaga’s going to win Best Original Song for “Shallow”, so she’s going to be up on that stage, either way!

Winner Prediction: Glenn Close for The Wife

Best Supporting Actor:

It’s really just between Sam Elliott and Mahershala Ali here, with Elliott edging Ali out by simply backing up a truck with tears in his eyes. Watch A Star Is Born and you’ll see what I mean!

Winner Prediction: Sam Elliott for A Star Is Born

Best Supporting Actress:

While Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz are strong contenders, it never ends well when you have two actress in the same movie competing for the same award - like when Anne Baxter and Bette Davis were both nominated for Best Actress for All About Eve… oof! I’ll never forgive Anne for that. Anyways, I think the split in the votes will allow Regina King to swoop in and claim victory. If not, then it will be Weisz.

Winner Prediction: Regina King for If Beale Street Could Talk

Best Director:

This very well could be Spike Lee’s year, but he has strong competition in Alfonso Cuarón and Pawel Pawlikowski for their black and white foreign films. Cuarón is basically a shoo-in, unless the Academy opts to award him with Best Cinematography (he’s got that category in the bag) and give Best Director to Pawlikowski or Lee.

Winner Prediction: Alfonso Cuarón for Roma

Best Animated Film:

 

Disney has two horses in this race, Incredibles 2 and Ralph Breaks the Internet,  but they don’t stand a chance next to Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse... unless Disney buys the vote.

Winner Prediction: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

So, am I totally clued-in? Or totally clueless? We’ll find out Sunday!

New E-books

We have recently added some new material to our e-book collection on Overdrive.  We try to buy things that you, our patrons, have recommended or are on hold for.  The following are just a few of the new items.  

You can read e-books from FCL using either the Overdrive app or the Libby app.  We will provide you with a username and password on request.  If you need help setting up the app, just bring in your device and we'll be glad to help you.