Join us for the Big Library Read!

The Big Library Read is a program in which libraries worldwide offer a single eBook to their patrons at the same time. From May 15 through June 1 The Four Corners of the Sky by Michael Malone will be available as an eBook for library patrons to enjoy on all major devices, including Kindles and iPads.  Just log on to your OverDrive account and borrow the book.  Everyone can check out The Four Corners of the Sky and read it at the same time!  Just ask at the Reference Desk if you have any questions about the Big Library Read!

The Four Corners of the Sky

The Short Story

May's fiction display features several volumes of short stories by prominent novelists.  According to the NTC's Dictionary of Literary Terms, a short story is a fictional narrative, ranging from 500 to 15,000 words, which Edgar Allen Poe described as "requiring from a half-hour to one or two hours in its perusal". Marked by the nature of its brevity and compression, it often has a limited few characters, a single setting, and a single incident. The short story has a quality of unity which is carefully crafted so that tone, effect, mood, and impression are veritably one. "The novel and the short story share most of the same elements and techniques of fiction, but the short story reveals character, usually by means of a single central and representative incident, whereas the novel traces the development of character through a series of incidents stretching over a span of time".

The roots of the short story reach back as far as 4000 B.C., but it was not until the nineteenth century that authors such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Anton Chekhov, and Sarah Orne Jewett gave it the distinct structure required for a separate genre. During the twentieth century, masters such as Rudyard Kipling, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Flannery O'Connor, James Joyce, Katherine Anne Porter, and John Cheever have left us a legacy of wonderful short stories. Several of these authors will be found on the display, as well as yearly collections of short stories selected by prominent authors.

Taste this wonderful story by Sarah Orne Jewett, The Country of the Pointed Firs at Page By Page Books. Short stories will hook you with their immediacy and impact.

Pulitzer Prize for Poetry Awarded to Sharon Olds

For those who haven't heard, April is National Poetry Month.  I always forget how much poetry touches me until I read it.  Of interest to those who appreciate poetry is the site Poets.org, where it is easy to create notebooks of your favorite poems, to find poems for every occasion, and to get a new poems emailed to you daily. Another rich source for poems is Bartleby.com. 

Of particular interest is the 2013 Pulitzer Prize Award that was given to Sharon Olds for her anthology Stag's Leap. 

  

Stag's Leap also recently won the T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry, making Olds the first American to do so.

More on both Sharon Olds and the Pulitzer Prize can be found at MSN.com.

Pukka's Promise

Man’s best friend. In the case of some dogs, the description is too bland. In 1991, outdoors writer Ted Kerasote was headed for a rafting adventure in Utah when a large, dirty, golden dog met him on the riverbank. Kerasote felt an instant kinship with this young dog and invited him into the boat. Merle, as he was later named, didn’t wait for a second invite and jumped in with all four paws, and began a lucky life with Kerasote on his land near Jackson Hole, Wyoming. For the next 13 years, the pair went skiing, hiking, camping, biking and swimming together. You can read the magical journey in “Merle’s Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog,” one of the best books I have read on the human-canine bond. Don’t forget your tissues for the end, however.  

Emotionally distraught when Merle was gone, Kerasote took almost five years before he was able to get another pup. And this time, he did some research: how to find his ideal dog, give it the healthiest and longest life possible, and share the research with his many dog-loving readers. Happily, the new book, “Pukka’s Promise: The Quest for Longer-Lived Dogs” arrived in February and it is a fascinating mix of canine health care advice and stories about Kerasote’s new Labrador, Pukka (pronounced Puck-ah, meaning “first class” in Hindi). Want to meet cute baby Pukka? Try “Pukka:The Pup After Merle.”  



Among the many topics in the book is how to choose a dog or puppy with the best genetics to have a long life, feed your new pal a grain-free diet made mostly of fresh meat, train it with positive-reinforcement methods and then give it as much freedom to exercise and play as possible, reduce its exposure to pollutants (such as lawn pesticides and plastic toys), do not over-vaccinate the poor dog (ask your vet for alternatives), and more. Some advice has caused some controversy, according to Kerasote, who spoke at a book-signing in Berkeley two months ago. 

I highly recommend both books, which can be found here at the library. Similar books to check out, including some referenced in “Pukka’s Promise,” are:

“How Dogs Think” by Stanley Coren

“How the Dog Became the Dog” by Mark Derr

“The Dog Listener” by Jan Fennell

“Animals Make Us Human” by Temple Grandin

“Pack of Two: The Intricate Bond between People and Dogs” by Caroline Knapp

“The Other End of the Leash” by Patricia McConnell

“Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats” by Richard Pitcairn

“Four Paws, Five Directions” by Cheryl Schwartz
 

Notable Fiction of 2012

Now that the first quarter of 2013 has passed, it is time to fill in the blanks. The year has given us many prize-winning reads, both in fiction and non-fiction. My last post called to your attention the Andrew Carnegie winners, but there are several other organizations who have awarded prizes. I have personally read and can review and recommend these two with enthusiasm.

In the fiction category, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn won the Exclusive Books South African Boeke Prize. This psychological thriller has an amazing number of twists and turns and leaves the reader breathless with its audacious protagonist's mental machinations. But she is well-matched by her husband's quick understanding and reactions. These two deserve each other in a big way.

 

Another novel nominated for this award and included in the finalists was The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry  by Rachel Joyce. In this novel, a middle-aged retired man decides on the spur of mailing a letter to deliver it in person. His long walk returns more than he bargained for, in the reevaluation of his marriage,  fatherhood, and his meaning on earth. Read this delightful novel to discover what all of us have inside us when called upon by conscience to right the wrongs we may have left behind us in moments of extreme personal duress.

Library apps for your tablet or smart phone

Do you have an iPad, or iPhone, or Android device?  Here are some of our favorite free apps we can recommend to you. Do you have other favorites?

1.   Library Anywhere. This essential app gives you access to our webpage and catalog. You can easily search the catalog, renew your books, see our upcoming events, our hours, and locations.

2. Overdrive Media Console.  With this app you can download e-books or e-audiobooks from the library website. 

3. Kindle.  Another alternative for downloading and reading library e-books.

4. Evernote.  Take notes on your device or computer, and access them anwhere.  Add images or audio too, and email the notes if you need to.

 5. Google Drive.  Access and edit Google documents.  Use word processing and spreadsheet software, and access the documents in the Cloud.

2012 Andrew Carnegie Award Winners

Harrison Memorial Library has a very nice collection of 2012 award winners in both fiction and nonfiction. Winner of  the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, Pulitzer-Prize-winning-author Robert Massie's biography of Catherine the Great has garnered much praise. Some of the reviews:

“Enthralling.”—USA Today
“Gripping.”—The New York Times Book Review  
“Exhaustively researched and dramatically narrated.”—The Boston Globe
“[Robert K. Massie] brings great authority to this sweeping account of Catherine and her times. . . . a compelling read.”—The Washington Post
  “Meticulously, dramatically rendered.”—O: The Oprah Magazine  
“Reads like an epic Russian novel.”—San Antonio Express-News
“Will transport history lovers.”—People
  “Massie makes Catherine’s story dramatic and immediate.”—The Kansas City Star
  “Graceful and engrossing.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune
  “A biography as captivating as its subject.”—MacLean’s

The Andrew Carnegie Award for Excellence in Literature was awarded to Anne Enright for The Forgotten Waltz. 
 
 
 

 Described as "stunning" and "breathtaking."  Anne Enright also won the Booker Prize in 2007 for her novel The Gathering.

Book Review--Where'd You Go, Bernadette?

Where'd You Go, Bernadette

If you are looking for a smart, entertaining book that's hard to put down, you'll love Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple.  The heroine of the story is Bee, daughter of a prosperous Microsoft executive and an eccentric, agoraphobic mother, Bernadette.  The dysfunctional, yet loving, family lives in a crumbling home in Seattle.  The story unfolds in a tantalizing way, and you are never quite sure where it is headed.  You learn that the strange, troubled, Bernadette is hiding a huge secret about her past, and Bee's accomplished dad is harboring many secrets of his own.  Just before a family cruise to Antarctica, Bernadette disappears, sending her husband and daughter on a chase full of unexpected twists and revelations.  This book has been getting great reviews--you'll be sure to enjoy it!