Falling in love at the library - CharlotteObserver.com

Falling in love at the library - CharlotteObserver.com

When I read this article I was reminded of my own early library experiences in a small Nebraska town.

When I was in first grade I started attending the public school in the small town of Homer, Nebraska. For Kindergarten I went to the one-room schoolhouse a half mile from my home, but now I was going to "town school." For a shy child it was a bit overwhelming to go from a classroom of 10 where I was the only kindergartner, to a room of 35 first and second grade students.

Because the district consolidation had just started there was no bus service, which meant that my mom and the other moms in our area shared car-pooling duties. But, one day a week, my mom picked me up and took me to the public library in this small town. It was just open 1 or 2 afternoons a week, and I don't know what led her to this weekly activity, but I'm forever grateful she did it.

The library was very small - just one room in a storefront. The children's section consisted of a few shelves. I obtained a library card by paying 10 cents. The librarian took an index card and wrote my name on it. Whenever I borrowed a book, she checked it out by writing the title on the card. When the card was filled up I paid another dime and started another card.

My mom took me to the library every week during the school year and summer. When second grade started my sister, now in kindergarten, and I rode the brand-new school buses, which put an end to my weekly library excursions for awhile.

However, at some point during second grade my mom and my teacher, Mrs. Harris, decided that I should be allowed to go to the library. There was no centralized school library at this point, and I'd read all the books in our classroom library. So, once a week, I would leave school, walk to the library a couple of blocks away, check out my book and walk back to school in time to catch the bus home. I was 7 years old. Obviously this was 1964, and a much different time.

In third grade the new school building was finished and contained a central library where we were allowed to go when we had finished our assignments. This put an end to my school-day visits, but I continued weekly library visits during the summer.

I shall be forever grateful to my mom, my teacher and the librarian Mrs. Esch, who all encouraged me in different ways to appreciate reading. I remember vividly the books I read: The Moffats by Eleanor Estes, all the Bobbsey Twins, and so many more. It's because of them that I still love to read and love to pass that love of reading on to other children.

In my job as a librarian I hear a lot of talk about the future of libraries. I know the world is changing, and if I want to read something I can find it online and download it to a machine and read it. And I really don't have a problem with that - I think that there are advantages to ebooks. But to me there is nothing more thrilling than walking into a building full of books and wandering around, pulling a book off the shelf, reading a few pages and deciding whether or not to continue reading or move on. I'll always be a library user, and I suspect that I'm not alone.

One Month In...

I'm one month in to 2010 and I think I'm doing better than I was at this point last year - physically, emotionally and spiritually.  

• I've been working really hard to cut out calories from my diet and for the most part have been successful, losing about 10 pounds so far.  
• I've been hitting the gym almost every morning, and the foot seems to be holding up.  I'm thinking I may be able to walk the Maine Marathon in October.
• This winter hasn't been as overwhelming as last year - there's less snow for one thing.  
• We have a new church closer to our home, and while it still doesn't feel quite as comfortable as back home, it will be okay.
• I still miss my family and friends, but Facebook is helping me to feel connected.  And therefore, sane.
• There are still parts of my life that are overwhelming and difficult, but I think my coping skills are coming back.

So, all in all, I think I'm doing better than I was last year at this time.  As one of my favorite verses says, "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him." (2 Chronicles 16:9a). I know that even when I despair and grieve the Lord is still watching over me, waiting for me to reach out to Him. 

At Least I Met One Goal Last Year

At the end of last year I set a goal to read 100 books this year. At the beginning of the year I thought I would easily surpass this goal, but during the summer I began to worry. I kept pushing on, and during the last week of December I reached the magic number!

Here is the list of books I read in 2009:

Adult Books
1. Supreme Courtship - Christopher Buckley
2. The Namesake - Jhumpa Lahiri
3. Sweet Caroline: Last Child of Camelot - Anderson
4. I Wish I Had a Red Dress - Pearl Cleage
5. The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett
6. What Was Lost - Catherine O'Flynn
7. What it Is - Lynda Barry
8. Interpreter of Maladies - Jhumpa Lahiri
9. Ellen Foster - Kaye Gibbons
10. Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea - Chelsea Handler
11. The Private Patient - P.D. James
12. What Was She Thinking?: Notes on a Scandal - Zoe Heller
13. Sleeping Arrangements - Madeline Wickham
14. Fed Up - Jessica Conant Park, Susan Conant
15. I'm Perfect, You're Doomed - Kyria Abrahams
16. Growing Up - Russell Baker
17. The Levity Effect - Gostick and Christopher
18. The Believers - Zoe Heller
19. Everything You Know - Zoe Heller
20. Nice to Come Home To - Rebecca Flowers
21. The Family Man - Elinor Lipman
22. Nature Girl - Carl Hiaasen
23. She's Come Undone- Wally Lamb
24. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - Alan Bradley
25. Working - Studs Terkel
26. Tea Time for the Traditionally Built- Alexander McCall Smith
27. Confessions of an Advertising Man- David Ogilvy
28. The Big Rewind - Nathan Rabin
29. The Help - Kathryn Stockett
30. The Baker Street Letters - Michael Robertson
31. The Punch - Noah Hawley
32. Austenland - Shannon Hale
33. Sonata for Miriam - Linda Olsson
34. The Girls from Ames - Jeffrey Zaslow
35. Snark- David Denby
36. Murder at Longbourn - Tracy Kiely
37. Flipping Out - Marshall Karp
38. Necessary as Blood - Deborah Crombie
39. Methland - Nick Reding
40. The Seven Faith Tribes - George Barna
41. Wishful Drinking - Carrie Fisher
42. That Old Cape Magic - Richard Russo
43. The Language of God - Francis Collins
44. Thy Kingdom Come - Randall Balmer
45. The Actor and the Housewife - Shannon Hale
46. The Spellman Files - Lisa Lutz
47. Evidence of Love - Melissa McConnell
48. They Found Him Dead - Georgette Heyer

Audio Books:
49. The Memory of Running - Ron McLarty
50. Art in America - Ron McLarty
51. What I Did for Love - Susan Elizabeth Phillips
52. The Book of Samson - David Maine
53. Best Friends Forever - Jennifer Weiner

Juvenile/Young Adult Books:
54. One False Note (The 39 Clues Book #2) - Gordon Korman
55. The Runaway Dolls - Ann M. Martin, Laura Godwin
56. What I Saw and How I Lied - Judy Blundell
57. White Sands, Red Menace- Ellen Klages
58. Rapunzel's Revenge - Shannon and Dean Hale
59. Paper Towns - John Green
60. The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary - Candace Fleming
61. Washington at Valley Forge- Russell Freedman
62. I Put a Spell on You- Adam Selzer
63. Swiss Mist- Randy Powell
64. Getting the Girl- Susan Juby
65. The Smile- Donna Jo Napoli
66. Little Audrey - Ruth White
67. Deadville- Ron Koertge
68. Brett McCarthy: Work in Progress - Maria Padian
69. The Last Invisible Boy - Evan Kuhlman
70. The Kind of Friends We Used to Be- Frances O'Roark Dowell
71. Word Nerd- Susin Nielsen
72. Talia Talk - Christine Hurley Deriso
73. The Truth about Horses, Friends, and My Life as a Coward- Sarah P. Gibson
74. Gideon the Cutpurse- Linda Buckley-Archer
75. The Sword Thief (The 39 Clues Book #3) - Peter Lerangis
76. Headlong- Kathe Koja
77. The Juvie Three- Gordon Korman
78. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks - E. Lockhart
79. I, Lorelie - Yeardley Smith
80. The Time Thief - Linda Buckley-Archer
81. Wintergirls- Laurie Halse Anderson
82. Botswana in Pictures - Alison Behnke
83. Mission Control, This Is Appollo - Andrew Chaikin
84. Jemma Hartman: Camper Extraordinaire- Brenda Ferber
85. A Kiss in Time - Alex Flinn
86. Reality Check- Peter Abrahams
87. The Reformed Vampire Support Group - Catherine Jinks
88. The Possiblities of Sainthood - Donna Freitas
89. Beyond the Grave (The 39 Clues Book #4) - Jude Watson
90. Here's How I See It, Here's How It Is - Heather Henson
91. Hamlet - John Marsden
92. Earthgirl - Jennifer Cowan
93. Scat- Carl Hiaasen
94. Peace, Love and Baby Ducks - Lauren Myracle
95. Who on Earth Is Aldo Leopold? - Glenn Scherer and Marty Fletcher
96. Heartsinger - Karlijn Stoffels
97. If I Stay- Gayle Forman
98. The Secret Life of Prince Charming- Deb Caletti
99. The Miles Between - Mary E. Pearson
100. Love Aubrey - Suzanne LaFleur
101. Kaleidoscopt Eyes - Jen Bryant

Books read long ago and re-read for Adult Book Discussion:
102. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
103. Sense and Sensibility- Jane Austen
104. Mansfield Park- Jane Austen
105. Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen
106. Persuasion - Jane Austen

There are a lot of really great books on this list - and some not so great. I discovered the novels of Ron McLarty - and learned that I enjoy them best on audio (he's an actor who has done a lot of audio books for other authors, so his own books on audio are a real treat - good stories, well told). Other pleasing discoveries were The Punch by Noah Hawley, Evidence of Love by Melissa McConnell, and everyone's favorite this year, The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

My goal for this year is not quite as ambitious - through the years as I read reviewing journals for work I write down titles that sound interesting. The list just kind of keeps growing, so my goal this year is to tackle that list and try to whittle it down somewhat. I don't know how successful I'll be - mainly because I know I'll keep adding to it.

Happy New Year. And if you have any books you think I should add to my ever-growing, but hopefully soon-to-be-shorter must read list, please let me know.

The Great Cookie Marathon of 2009

At 7:00 a.m. I finished my last batch of Christmas cookies. Over the last 2 weeks I've baked 8 different varieties of cookies, producing a total of 43 dozen cookies.

Lest you think I'm crazy, let me just say that I love to bake. And, given my ever increasing girth, and the fact that there are just 2 of us in this house, my opportunities for baking are limited. Thus, I always look forward to any chance to get out my cookie sheets.

Two such occasions are happening this week. Tonight, our Adult Book Discussion is completing its discussion of the novels of Jane Austen with my personal favorite, Persuasion. Since tomorrow is the anniversary of Austen's birth, we decided to close with an English Tea Party. My colleague Cheryl is providing scones and shortbread, and I'm making cookies.

Then, tomorrow, the staff of the library is bringing in cookies to share with our patrons, as a thank you for their support through the year.

Thus, two great excuses to indulge my baking obsession. Here's a breakdown of the cookies I made:
Swirled Peppermint - 10 dozen (they're quite small)
Spritz - 5 dozen (didn't turn out quite as well as I would have liked, but they're still tasty)
Pumpkin Oatmeal Bites - 7 dozen (also quite small)
Snowballs - 4 dozen
Snickerdoodles - 5 dozen
Lemon Ricotta Cookies - 3 dozen (my new favorite)
Lady Grey Cookies - 4 dozen ( A new recipe - Lady Grey tea is an ingredient - actually quite tasty)
Yankee Noodle Dandies - 2 dozen
Chocolate Oatmeal No Bake Cookies - 3 dozen

Now that my cookie marathon is over, I can now focus on my goal to read 100 books this year. Only 7 left.

Sense and Sensibility

One of my jobs at my library is to coordinate and facilitate the monthly book discussion group for adults. My co-coordinator is the Director of the Adult Education program at the high school. Shortly after beginning this job we discovered that we both loved Jane Austen, and talked about how much fun it would be to spend time focusing on Austen's novels.

Well, we finally worked it out, and this fall will discuss 4 of Austen's novels: Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion (our personal favorite). We didn't do Pride and Prejudice as we discussed that a couple of years ago, and time precluded us from doing Emma. The discussion of Persuasion in December will be held n time for Jane's birthday, so we're planning an English Tea party as a special treat that month.

When we planned this we were hoping that the regular book discussion participants would not mind us doing this, and that a few more people might join us for this special program. Incredibly, the response has been overwhelming! We decided beforehand that we would limit attendance to 20, since a larger group would make it difficult for everyone to participate. Between the regulars who were excited about the proposition and those who found out right away, we got our 20 participants within a week of announcing the program. The waiting list started to grow, so we decided to add an additional evening to handle the overflow.

So now, I'll be facilitating a discussion of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings this week! We are both thrilled that there is such an interest in books that we have loved for years.

My introduction to Jane Austen began when I was 15 years old, in my sophomore English class back in Nebraska. Our teacher had an incredible struggle controlling the class, and in an effort to bring some semblance of order had the boys read one book (Huckleberry Finn I think) and the girls another, Sense and Sensibility.

I think I was probably one of the few girls who actually finished the book, as class time was total chaos. I don't recall much about my opinion of the book at the time, but I suspect that I was far more sympathetic to Marianne than I was this time around. I've probably read it a couple of times since then, but reading it in preparation to lead a discussion gave me a new perspective. I've always loved Austen, but until now have never truly appreciated her wicked sense of humor and her turns of phrases. For example, when Willoughby leaves Marianne to go to London, she spends her days mourning his absence: "and this nourishment of grief was every day applied." What a great phrase! When the Miss Steeles first come to Barton park "they were prevailed on to stay nearly two months at the park, and to assist in the due celebration of that festival which requires a more than ordinary share of private balls and large dinners to proclaim its importance." I would never think to refer to the Christmas holiday in this way.

All this has given me a brand new appreciation of Austen, and I can't wait to hear what others in our group(s!) have to say about her. Some will be old friends, and some are now reading her for the first time, and I'm hoping for a lively discussion.

Here are a couple of websites that might be of interest to Austen fans. The first is a podcast from Penguin books on the enduring popularity of Austen. The second is a fan site dedicated to all things Austen:
http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/publishersoffice/radioroom/0609/pcoa/episode1.html#vmix_media_id=4319958

http://www.pemberley.com/

Retro Girl

The book discussion group I help faciliate at my library is in the midst of a series on "Working." The books and discussion focus on the concept of work and what that means to many Americans. Last month's book was Working by Studs Terkel. It was a densely written, long book that was a compilation of Terkel's interviews with a wide cross-section of Americans and how they felt about their jobs. It was a tough book to get through, and I was worried about leading the group, but the discussion was excellent; one of the best I've attended.

This month's book is Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy. Written in 1963, Ogilvy, the founder of Ogilvy and Mather, one of the country's leading advertising agencies and the creator of many ads, including the Hathaway shirt man, gives advice on how to be successful in the advertising game. It was a pretty quick read, and interesting to consider how things have changed over the past 40 years.

Of course it was impossible to read this book without thinking about the AMC series, Madmen. One of the things I like about the series is how it shows a segment of society in the post-war, pre-Kennedy assassination years.

This was my early childhood, and the look and feel of the show brings back those early memories. Recently I've found a way to propel myself back into that time. The first is on the Madmen website,
http://www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/ where it's possible to "Madmen" yourself. Another site is a Facebook application where you can "yearbook" yourself into the past. So, here's me as a Madmen character, and my "1962 yearbook photo."

In Which I Hit a Snag

Earlier this year I wrote about my goal to read 100 books this year. At the time I was flying along and it was looking that I would possibly surpass this goal. Well, I kind of hit a snag, in the form of Working by Studs Terkel. The book discussion group at the library is reading this as part of a series on "Working in America" sponsored by the Maine Humanities Council. My co-facilitator and I are taking turns with this series, and it fell to me to lead Terkel's book.

Coming in at 589 pages, it is a dense tome, full of individual interviews with people about their jobs. First published in 1972, the book was a best-seller, and was even turned into a musical (really!). I didn't read it back then, and reading it now, it definitely feels somewhat dated. It would actually be interesting to find out what happened to the people interviewed, and how their lives turned out.

One of the things I picked up from the book is that most people are dissatisfied with their jobs, the exceptions being those who have some control over what they do. I think that control is important, but also is the ability to leave ones job behind at the end of the day and have a wide variety of interests and experiences that don't relate to ones work.

Anyway, now that Working is out of the way I'm hoping to get back up to speed on my reading list. I've already finished Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith, the latest in the No. 1 Lady's Detective Agency series, and I'm nearly done with The Time Thief by Linda Buckley-Archer, the 2nd in her trilogy.

So, as of July 6th, I've read 28 adult books and 26 Children/YA books, for a total of 54 in 2009.

Lilacs!

Lilacs are probably my favorite flower. I've loved them since I was a kid and we had a huge lilac bush in front of our house. I love the color and the scent, and the fact that they mean I've survived the winter.

When we moved into our house 2 years ago one of the best surprises was the lilac bush right outside our bedroom window. If the weather is warm enough we can open the windows at night and have the subtle scent of lilacs wafting in.

Well, the lilacs have finally bloomed, but unfortunately it is a bit too cold to have the windows open at night, so I brought a few in and put them on my coffee table. It may prove to be a bit much, but I plan to enjoy them as much as possible.

100 Books in 2009

Since 2003 I have been keeping a list of Children's and Young Adult Books I read. There are no annotations, just title, author, and an asterisk if I really liked the book. No picture books, just novels and non-fiction. In 2003 and 2004 I read 107 books each. The number decreased to 86 in 2005, 54 in 2006, and 63 in 2007. Last year was an abysmal 44. I realized that part of that was due to the fact that in my new job I also need to read a lot of adult books since I do Readers' Advisory for all ages, plus I'm in charge of the Adult Book Discussion group. When I thought back of the adult books I read, I realized there were at least 40, bringing my 2008 total up to 84.

So, I decided that I would also keep track of all Adult Books I read, also. In addition I set a goal for myself to read 100 books this year.

As of today, I've read 22 Adult Books and 23 Children/YA books, for a total of 45 book so far in 2009.

Here are a couple of highlights:
Ron McLarty - The Memory of Running and Art in America
McLarty is an actor and frequent Books on Tape narrator. The Memory of Running was the first book produced as an audiobook before being published. Both novels are incredible stories of human interaction with rich characterization. McLarty also has a novel entitled Traveler, which I read last year. I highly recommend him, and if possible suggest you get the audiobooks. They are true treasures.

Linda Buckley-Archer - Gideon the Cutpurse (also published in America as The Time Travelers)
I'll be the first to admit I'm not a big fan of fantasy, and time-travel books just confuse me way too much (I only made it through the first 50 pages of The Time-Traveler's Wife). But Buckely-Archer's novel of 2 preteens, Peter and Kate who find themselves in 1763 London due to an accident at the lab where Kate's physicist Dad works, is a page-turner. There are 2 stories here - Peter and Kate's adventures in London, where they must find the mysterious Tar Man who has stolen their time machine, and their parent's in London who are trying to discover where their kids are. Peter and Kate are assisted by Gideon, a reformed thief who now works for a wealthy family. Not only must Peter and Kate find the Tar Man, but the must be sure not to say too much about themselves or the future, or risk changing the future. Their parents, on the other hand must deal with a police detective who is trying to learn the truth. Oh, and the kids also discover that they can "blur" themselves, meaning they disappear from the past and return to the present in ghostly form. It's all greatly exciting, and since it's part of a trilogy you will eagerly look forward to the next book, which I am currently reading. The second book is called The Time Thief, and the 3rd book is due this fall.

There have been other gems this year, and I'm glad I set this goal. It's helped to focus my reading and I hope will make me a better librarian.

The Maine Event

The other day while driving on the Maine Turnpike, I was passed by a truck from a company called Mainely Roofs. It reminded me of another local business called Mainely Ticks. I began to wonder if people moved to this state just so they could have clever state-related names for their businesses. Then I began to wonder if there were any other states where one could come up with business names that tied into the name of the state. The "best" I could come up with was "Iowa Lot of Money Finance Company."