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Holidays – Any And All You May Celebrate!

Believe it or not, we are in the midst of the “Holiday” season.

As humans, particularly American humans, we love to celebrate!  There are holidays every – yes, EVERY – day of the year.  From National Short Girl Appreciation Day (December 21, the shortest day of the year), and Cyber Monday and Cider Monday (both the Monday after Thanksgiving) to National Crossword Puzzle Day and National Bacon Day.  Each of these “holidays” are generally celebrated in December, so are part of the “Holiday Season”.

Traditionally, we think of “The Holidays” as one of the big three – Christmas, Chanukah and Kwanzaa.  Again, as Americans, whichever holiday we celebrate, we often give gifts to our loved ones.

Okay, here’s the plug for the library – –

If you didn’t know, we have several items currently available that would make great gifts for those folks you share with.

Well, what do you have, you might ask . . .

Currently, we have both note cards and prints available.  Local artist Kay Morris has given us a beautiful winter view of the front of the library.  The print is ten dollars, and the note cards are ten for fifteen dollars.

Lovely book bags are also available.  These bags have the library logo on the front and are very well made.  The bags are fifteen dollars each.

And . . . Books, we have books!

Four titles are available written by local authors ; Destination Unknown by former State Representative Gay Grant.  The Eastern. Book one, The early years : a novel and  The Eastern. Book two, Later on : a novel by Deborah Gould ;  Maine ingenuity : from waterwheels to M.I.T. by Michael McCaslin.  Each of these titles are seventeen dollars and ninety-five cents.  There are also a nice assortment of used books available, ranging in price from one to five dollars.

Is there anyone on your list that does not live in our service area?  We would love to sell you a Gardiner Public Library non-resident subscription to use as a gift.  Just think, a gift that truly will last an entire year! And for the whole family as well!

We even have pre-wrapped some of the above items, just to remove more of your stress.

So, to each of you, Happy Holidays – Each And Every One You May Celebrate!

New Items ~ December 2019

FICTION

Agent running in the field by John Le Carre.  A seasoned solitary figure, in a desperate attempt to resist the new political turbulence swirling around him, makes connections that will take him down a very dangerous path.

All this could be yours by Jami Attenberg.  A timely exploration of what it means to be caught in the web of a toxic man who abused his power.  It shows how those webs can tangle a family for generations and what it takes to – maybe, hopefully – break free.

Blue moon by Lee Child.  Jack Reacher comes to the aid of an elderly couple and confronts his most dangerous opponents yet.

The bromance book club by Lyssa Adams.  A baseball player attempts to heal his marriage with the help of his team’s romance-novel book club.

The deserter by Nelson DeMille.  This features a brilliant and unorthodox Army investigator, his troubling new partner, and their hunt for the Army’s most notorious – and dangerous – deserter.

Find me by Andre Aciman.  In this exploration of the varieties of love, the author of Call Me By Your Name revisits its complex and beguiling characters decades after their first meeting.

Ghoster by Jason Arnopp.  A razor-sharp thriller for a social-media obsessed world.  Prepare to never look at your phone the same way again….

Holding on to nothing by Elizabeth Shelburne.  Brings us a present-day Appalachian story cast without sentiment or cliché, but with a genuine and profound understanding of the place and its people.

I lost my girlish laughter by Jane Allen.  This delicious satire of old Hollywood, originally published in 1938 and largely unknown even by cinephiles, gets a welcome reissue.

Kiss the girls and make them cry by Mary Higgins Clark.  A journalist sets out to share a #METoo story from her past and discovers that her abuser has become a powerful businessman who will do anything to keep her quiet.

The night fire by Michael Connelly.  Harry Bosch and Renee Ballard return to take up a case that held the attention of Bosch’s mentor.

Ninth house by Leigh Bardugo.  After mysteriously surviving a multiple homicide, Galaxy Stern comes face to face with dark magic, murder, and more at Yale University.

Nothing to see here by Kevin Wilson.  A moving and uproarious novel about a woman who finds meaning in her life when she begins caring for two children with remarkable and disturbing abilities.

Olive, again by Elizabeth Strout.  The author continues the life of her beloved Olive Kitteridge, a character who has captured the imaginations of millions of readers.

The revisioners by Margaret Sexton.  Here is a bracing window into Southern life and tensions, alternating between two women’s stories set nearly 100 years ago.

Secret Service by Tom Bradby.  What if the next British Prime Minister was really a Russian agent?

When she returned by Lucinda Berry.  Kate vanished from a parking lot 11 years ago, leaving behind her husband and young daughter.  When she shows up at a Montana gas station, clutching an infant and screaming for help, investigators believe she may have been abducted by a cult.

NEW DVDs

The haunting of Hill House (2019) starring Carla Gugino and Elizabeth Reaser

Nevada Smith (1966) starring Steve McQueen and Karl Malden

Discovery of witches (2019) starring Matthew Goode and Teresa Palmer

Ellen – the complete season one (1994) starring Ellen DeGeneres

NEW CDs

Country Music – a film by Ken Burns: the soundtrack

Lover by Taylor Swift

Cuz I love you by Lizzo

Best of en Vogue

NONFICTION

All blood runs red by Phil Keith.  The incredible story of the first African American military pilot, who went on to become a Paris nightclub impresario, a spy in the French Resistance, and an American civil rights pioneer.

Blood by Allison Moorer.  The singer/songwriter’s memoir may serve as solace for those who’ve faced abuse, a signal for those in it to get out, and an eye-opener for others.

Catch and kill by Ronan Farrow.  In a dramatic account of violence and espionage, investigative reporter Farrow exposes serial abuse and a cabal of powerful interests hell-bent on covering up the truth, at any cost.

Good husbandry by Kristin Kimball.  Kimball describes the delicious highs and sometimes excruciating lows of life on Essex Farm – a 500 acre farm that produces a full diet for a community of 250 people.

Home now by Cynthia Anderson.  In this detailed, sensitive portrait of Lewiston’s revitalization by African immigrants, Anderson expertly captures the multi-layered dynamics between Lewiston natives and African immigrants.  The result is a vivid and finely tuned portrait of immigration in America.

If you lived here you’d be home by now by Christopher Ingraham.  The hilarious, charming, and candid story of a writer’s decision to uproot his life and move his family to Red Lake Falls, Minnesota, population 1400 – the community he made famous as “the worst place to live in America” in a story he wrote.

In the dream house by Carmen Machado.  A revolutionary memoir about domestic abuse.  Tracing the full arc of a harrowing relationship with a charismatic but volatile partner, Machado struggles to make sense of how what happened to her shaped the person she was becoming.    A revolutionary memoir about domestic abuse. 

Janis: her life and music by Holly George-Warren.  This blazingly intimate bio establishes the Queen of Rock & Roll as the rule-breaking musical trailblazer and complicated, gender-bending rebel she was.

The less people know about us by Axton Betz-Hamilton.  In this true crime memoir, an identity theft expert tells the story of the duplicity and betrayal that inspired her career and nearly destroyed her family after their identities were stolen.

Lonely Planet’s best in travel 2020.  It really is a big deal.  International Travel publisher, Lonely Planet, has featured Maine as one of this years “Best in Travel” places.  Bring on the international tourists !

The movie musical ! by Jeanine Basinger.  An in-depth look at the singing, dancing, happy-making world of Hollywood musicals, beautifully illustrated – an essential text for anyone who’s ever laughed, cried, or sung along at the movies.

Running to glory by Sam McManis.  A moving account of a champion cross-country team made up primarily of teenager from migrant-worker families.

Scream by Margee Kerr.  Kerr takes readers on a journey on which they will experience the world’s most frightening and terrifying places firsthand.  As she explores places that make people tremble, she shares her personal dread on each of these destinations, which makes the book ever more captivating.

Sitcommentary by Mark Robinson.  From I Love Lucy to Black-ish, sitcoms have often paved the way for social change.  It has challenged the public to revisit social mores and reshape how we think about the world we live in.

Touched by the sun by Carly Simon.  A chance encounter at a summer party on Martha’s Vineyard blossomed into an improbable but enduring friendship between Simon and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

The vagina bible by Jen Gunter.  OB/GYN, writer for the New York Times and Self magazine, Dr. Jen now delivers the definitive book of vagina health, answering questions you couldn’t find the right answers to.

Vanity Fair’s women on women. These essays about women by women pack a feminist wallop, underscoring the combative resilience of notable women who never gave in to what was expected of them.

Notes from Booklist, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Library Journal, and New York Times Book Review.

 

 

 

What Are We Reading?

Marlene

Being an aficionado of all things Victorian and also of murder mysteries, I am currently devouring Anne Perry’s book Callander Square which fits the bill perfectly! Having just recently discovered her, I decided to start at the beginning of her writings and go from there. Having read The Cater Street Hangman, I am now onto her next novel which is my current read. Her style of writing is engaging and her characters follow from book to book, so one gets to really become a part of their story.

Audrey

Just read Shoutin’ Into The Fog by Thomas Hanna

Now reading The Ship of Brides by Jojo Moyes

Dawn

I have a few going, naturally.  I am re-listening to Lethal White by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling) in the Cormoran Strike series.  Also listening, for the first time to Theft by Finding : Diaries 1977-2002 by David Sedaris. 

Recently finished The Civil Wars of Julia Ward Howe by Elaine Showalter and In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.

Up next is The Dutch House by Ann Patchett and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. 

Waiting in the wings are The Witch Elm by Tana French, Manderley Forever : A Biography of Daphne du Maurier by Tatiana de Rosnay, and A Better Man by Louise Penny.

Scott

I just finished Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury.  I picked it up decades ago but just couldn’t get into it at the time.  Throughout the years it has been referred to many times in things I have come across, so I finally picked it up again.  After all, it IS a classic so it must have something going for it.  It got me this time.  Its blend of nostalgia for more innocent times, childhood memories, and just a touch of darkness worked it’s magic on me at last.  Funny how you can reject a story at some point in your life and then totally embrace it at another time in your life.

And in reference to a section of that book, who doesn’t remember how fast you can run or how high you can jump with a new pair of sneakers?  Wonderful. 

Ginni

I read Where The Light Enters : Building A Family, Discovering Myself by Jill Biden. I wanted to learn more about this family and see how they handle life with its joys and struggles. This was electrifying biography of Jill Biden that did not disappoint me.  I could definitely reread the book to get more out of it and I would highly recommend it. 

Jess

1.) The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern (2019) – I am only a few chapters into this one at the moment, but so far I am thoroughly enjoying it! – It’s about a place where are the stories of the world are kept, the sundry of ways the stories are stored (written on paper, etched into stone, threaded with spider webs, traced into the veins of leaves), and the people who protect them.

Blurb: “Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood.

Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues – a bee, a key, and a sword – that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to an ancient library hidden far below the surface of the earth.

What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their guardians – it is a place of lost cities and seas, lovers who pass notes under doors and across time, and of stories whispered by the dead. Zachary learns of those who have sacrificed much to protect this realm, relinquishing their sight and their tongues to preserve this archive, and also of those who are intent on its destruction.”

2.) The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley (1988) – Recommended to be by the lovely Miss Ann! I am about halfway through this book, and it’s been an extremely fun/interesting read so far. As the title might suggest, it is a retelling of the story of Robin Hood, Marian, and the gang of Merrie Men; for me, it truly is a completely different look at these characters of legend. The biggest plus for me, is that McKinley doesn’t start off the story with Robin and his men already being folk-hero legends, she allows the reader to join in on their journey to their more familiar roles of protectors of the poor.

Blurb: “There have been many tales and ballads about the man we know as Robin Hood, and the lady Marian, Little John, Will Scarlet and the rest. But Newbery medalist Robin McKinley brings her unique gifts of storytelling to the familiar legends, and creates an original and compelling novel. – In the days of King Richard the Lionheart, a young forester named Robin set out one morning for the Nottingham Fair. But he never arrived. By the end of the day a man lay dead in the King’s Forest, and Robin was an outlaw with a price on his head.”

Ann

I recently finished The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware for our book discussion group.  The book was very discuss-able for the group, with more likes than dislikes.  The main character is a Tarot reader in the story, and as someone who read cards myself, that piece interested me.  I felt that the cards could have been better used throughout the story.  Hal, (the protagonist) reads cards, and refers to herself as a “cold reader”.  This is basically a person who has memorized the cards, but is using the body language, verbal and non-verbal responses, as well as social media as a way to read her clients.  I found, in reading the interview questions in the back of the book, that the author had never had a Tarot reading, nor studied the cards.  All of her information came from books that she had used.  I have to say that piece left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.

Another book I have going is Animal Farm : The Graphic Novel by George Orwell ; adapted and illustrated by Odyr.  It’s been many years since I originally read the book, so this is sort of a fun way to remember a title.  Recently, I have found several of the more “classic” novels in this form and have enjoyed them in a different way.

I just checked out an audio book – The Rosie Result by Graeme Simsion.  This is the third book in this series, and I am looking forward to it!

Bob

Earlier today I finished The Black Lung Captain, a steam-punk style fantasy adventure written by Chris Wooding.  This is the second title in the series Tales from the Ketty Jay, (which refers to the name of the airship on which much of the story takes place).  The plot revolves around the crew of the Ketty Jay joining the captain of another craft, (who suffers from the “Black Lung” disease), on an expedition to retrieve a mysterious artifact from a crashed airship in the savage wilds.  The downed airship turns out to be from the supernatural civilization that lives at the North Pole, cut off from the rest of the world by a band of violent electrical storms.  Plenty of air battles, gun fights, and other steam-punk style action ensues.

Chris Wooding does an excellent job keeping the story moving, while allowing every member of the eight person crew to grow and develop over the course of the book.  The story is engaging and action-packed, with stakes that are both serious and easy to understand.  Readers will discover a fine mix of drama, comedy, tragedy, and romance, without any of those themes overwhelming the entire plot.  Fans of the science fiction TV shows Firefly and Independence would probably find this an enjoyable read.  The series starts with the previous title, Retribution Falls.  I would recommend reading that title first if you want to get the most out of this book, although it is not strictly necessary.