03 August 2010

New Nancy Pearl book for travellers

Book Lust to Go: Recommended Reading for Travelers, Vagabonds, and Dreamers [Paperback]
Review & Product info from Amazon.com website
Publication Date Oct. 1, 2010

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Nancy Pearl sells books: hers and those of the authors she recommends. Book Lust To Go is 120 places to read about before you go. Consider the entry “Indicative of Indonesia,” in which Nancy Pearl urges travelers to read V.S. Naipaul’s Among the Believers and Christopher J. Koch’s The Year of Living Dangerously. Wanderlust-y reading for prospective travelers to Ireland begins with the cheeky: “Let’s not start with James Joyce and just say we did, okay?” then goes on to recommend such gems as Nuala O’Faollin’s Are you Somebody? and J. P. Dunleavy’s Ireland In All Her Sins andSome of Her Graces. This enthusiastic literary globetrotting includes stops in Korea, Sweden, Afghanistan, Albania, Parma, Patagonia, Texas, and Timbuktu. But Nancy Pearl is a reader and a librarian, not a travel agent, so she can’t resist recommending reading for “Travel to Imaginary Places” (including Ursula K. LeGuin’s The Wizard of Earthsea and Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policeman’s Union) and stories of chucking it all and moving to Spain or Greece under the heading “So We/I Bought (or Built) a House In . . . ” Book Lust To Go brings Pearl’s amazing ability to summon the perfect book to connect with a particular interest with the art of having an adventure — whether it requires a passport or just an armchair.

06 July 2010

Book Lust

Do you know Nancy Pearl? She's a librarian in Seattle who has written some books that you could use.

Book Lust
More Book Lust
Book Crush (for kids & teens)

Nancy has divided her book review selections by subject matter as well as indexing by title & author. The arrangement by subject makes reading and using her books a pleasure. Want to find fiction about WWI? Or non-fiction? It's there. Pretty much whatever you're craving in the book world is there.

These books are not about best sellers, not about current popular genres, not about what you can already find in the New York Times and other media. They cover the best books written for generations & are a treasure trove for book lovers.


27 May 2010

Summer reading thoughts

Sally Gunning's novels The Widow's War and Bound are the perfect books to start your Cape Cod summer reading.

Please share your thoughts and feel free to reply with your favorite beach titles, including a short summary and why you like the book/audiobook, if you feel so inclined.

Cape resident Sally Gunning published The Widow's War in 2006. This novel satisfies the reader on so many levels. The author creates the story of widow Lyddie Berry as she experiences the loss of her husband to the sea and finds herself with very few rights to property or self-determination in Massachusetts Bay Colony.

The Library Journal calls TWW "Historical fiction at its best."

Bound was published in 2008. This story revisits the main characters of TWW, but also stands alone as the story of Alice Cole who was bound into servitude and abandoned by her father when they reached the shores of Massachusetts. The rest of the family had perished at sea on their way to New England from London, seeking a better life.

The reader may look forward to Sally Gunning's forthcoming novel (June, 2010), The Rebellion Of Jane Clarke : A Novel. It's not to soon to request it from the CLAMS website; at the time of this writing there are over 100 requests on 18 copies ordered throughout CLAMS.



24 April 2010

Upcoming Events at MMPL

If you like poetry, you're not going to want to miss our last "Poetry for Lunch" session this Wednesday, 28 April at 12:30. Local poet Elaine Cohen will read from her own work and from some of her favorite poets. Feel free to bring a bagged lunch!

We're also holding a Mother's Day Raffle until Friday, 7 May. There are three prizes (a Lenox porcelain figurine, a basket of kitchen gadgets and a "personal touch" basket of indulgent odds and ends!), and tickets are only $2 or 3 for $5. You can purchase them at the Circulation Desk.

Don't forget our Welcome Spring! Wine Tasting and Silent Auction, being held at Cotuit Liquors on Wednesday, 5 May at 5:30 p.m. It's Cinco de Mayo, so in addition to a wine tasting, guests will be able to sample some tequilas. The hors d'oeuvres will have a Mexican theme, too. There are some truly wonderul auction items from which to choose, and while guests are bidding and socializing, they'll be treated to the sweet harmonies of the Curb Appeal barbershop quartet. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the Circulation Desk. For more information, visit www.mmpl.org/welcomespring10.htm.

17 February 2010

The Book Thief: let the discussion begin!

For those of you who haven't yet read Mark Zusak's The Book Thief, but intend to, you might want to stop reading this blog for a little while, as there are bound to be spoilers as the MMPL librarians discuss the text. Those of you who have read it, please feel free to participate in the discussion with your comments.

I almost put this book down after the first few pages; I have to admit to having a problem with books in which the narrator blatantly directs the course of action and tells the reader what's going to happen, or how to observe something, or whatever. I know that there isn't any actual objective narration in a story--the author is always directing the course of the narrative--but I dislike the sense of overt manipulation of the reader in the use of a narrator like Death in this story.

But I persevered, and I felt that Death became somewhat less obtrusive as the author warmed up to his own story. I'm still not entirely sure why this novel needed the expository character of Death; I think it would have been just as moving without him, although the author's idea of Death and how he carries out his job was interesting itself.

14 January 2010

MMPL Librarians' Book Club

The Librarians have decided to host their own book club (though probably not on a monthly basis--we're busy, ya know!), and the first book we've chosen is Mark Zusak's "The Book Thief."

We invite you to read along with us, and share your views using the comments section of this blog. We won't start discussing it until February, so you have some time. Hope you'll join us!

-MMPL Staff

08 January 2010

Winter Programs at MMPL

2010 is bringing some great programming for our users. On Friday, 15 January at 9:00 a.m., John Howitt will be conducting a workshop entitled "Resumes and Interviews: Getting the Job You Want." The workshop is free, and participants are encouraged to bring resumes for critique.

In February we will be having another Big Winter Book Sale. The sale will be held here at the Library on Friday, 12 February (10 - 5) and Saturday, 13 February (10 - 2). We're looking for book donations and for volunteers to help set up, run and clean up the sale. Let us know if you're interested.

We will also be hosting a nature journaling workshop with Nancy Minnigerode at the Library and a family dance & music concert next door at Liberty Hall, so please check our Web site soon for dates and times.

We're pleased to announce that the FUN group is back at the Library on Friday mornings, and there are a whole host of kids' programs being planned for the next few months. So no need to be bored and mopey THIS winter! Come to the Library!

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