The Giving Tree Awaits You

Once again, the "giving tree" has been set up in the lobby of Bernardsville Public Library to allow visitors to donate new books for needy children and youth during this holiday season.  All you have to do is bring in a new, unwrapped book for a toddler, child or teenager and place it in the giving tree's donation box. What could be simpler? What could be better?

Holiday Hilarity, Horror and Heartwarmers

Get yourself in the holiday mood (foul or festive) with some new seasonal fiction at Bernardsville Public Library.  The books illustrated above are just some of the great choices available to you. Happy Holidays!

Dressed For Success

Thanks to all of you who have dressed a bear for Bernardsville Library's holiday project this year. Each of the dressed bears has a unique look - from a fireman teddy to a golfer bear!  There are also charming examples of bears wearing stylish hand-knit sweaters or cute outfits and fairytale costumes.  Each of these adorable teddy bears is sure to please a needy child who will receive one through the auspices of The Salvation Army. 

If you still have a bear you're waiting to outfit, be sure to dress it and return it to the library soon.  These bears will be distributed shortly, so make sure your teddy is among the group that will bring happiness to a needy child this holiday season.

Shiny and New

Some of the most recent additions to our collection at Bernardsville Library are now featured in a New Books display near the circulation desk. November releases include the books pictured above dealing with current topics such as animal extinction and environmental risks to fetal development. Christmas fiction, including Garrison Keillor’s A Christmas Blizzard and T. D. Jakes’ The Memory Quilt are also on display along with Civil War historical fiction, Devil’s Dream, by Madison Smartt Bell. Additional fiction choices are also included along with numerous nonfiction titles. For instance, Steven Roberts’ new book, From Every End of This Earth, examines the contributions and struggles of immigrants living in the U.S. today. In Cheap We Trust by Lauren Weber offers a timely accounting of how Americans feel about thrift and whether cheap really is such a dirty word, after all.  These selections are plentiful and varied to appeal to most reading tastes.

Our Holiday Bears Are Here

The Bernardsville Library teddy bears are back and waiting for people to dress them so that they may be given to needy children and families this holiday season. Please stop by the library soon to pick out a bear (they come in three colors.) Then shop for an outfit, or create one yourself, and return the bear before Saturday, November 28th. The Salvation Army will distribute them in time to brighten the holidays for children in need.

Memoirs Book Group To Discuss Infidel

Memoirs and Coffee book group will discuss Infidel at its next meeting, Tuesday, November 17th, at 10:30 a.m. in the library.  Written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Infidel is an autobiography which recounts her traditional Islamic upbringing in Somalia and her escape from its strict circumscriptions. Fleeing an arranged marriage, the author sought asylum in the Netherlands and eventually served within its government.  In addition, she assisted filmmaker Theo van Gogh with his film, Submission, before he was assassinated. Infidel is an examination of her faith and the interface of Islam with the 21st century.  This book discussion is open to the public.

Book Review: Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

Read Zeitoun by Dave Eggers for a truly engrossing and enraging narrative of one man's experiences during and following the 2005 flooding of New Orleans. What Hurricane Katrina (together with poor civil preparedness and bad levee engineering) did to the victims of this storm was horrifying enough. We all know that. But Zeitoun is an intensely gripping personal account of one victim who found himself innocently caught in the aftermath of the government's nightmarish disaster response.


You may be aghast to learn what happened to Abdulrahman Zeitoun - a Syrian-American, married father of four children, highly successful contractor, and well-liked and respected citizen of New Orleans - when he stayed behind to protect his home and business interests.  The merciful actions he took in saving people and pets were not met in kind by U.S. authorities.  Author Dave Eggers has written a remarkably tempered accounting of Mr. Zeitoun's ordeal in this highly readable narrative nonfiction book.

Review by Evelyn Fischel

Calling All Chick Lit Lovers

Make Chick Lit a definite pick-me-up when you enter the library next time.  We've put up an attractive display in the lobby of fiction with that come hither pink and pearl look to it.  Books by authors such as Lisa Kleypas, Jane Green, Sophie Kinsella, and Cecilia Ahern will vie for your attention as you browse and shop for your next fun read. 

Review: New Short Stories By Kazuo Ishiguro

Kazuo Ishiguro, noted author of The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, recently released a selection of short stories entitled Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall. Nocturnes are evocative and light instrumental pieces often performed in the evening. In this new publication, nocturnes do seem to reflect the true nature of Ishiguro’s stories which are evocative yet also somewhat insubstantial. They linger awhile in your mind, but do not deeply resonate. Perhaps that is the author’s intention.

For the most part, these stories are relayed in a casual manner, almost as if the narrator of each were telling us a light bedtime story or recollecting past histories over a glass of wine. Many of the stories make good use of humor and irony, particularly Nocturne and Crooner, and Come Rain or Come Shine is playfully farcical. That is not to say that they don’t have a moodiness or a message to them. The characters, all involved with music in some way, are often self-deluded and self-centered (maybe the two go together) but Ishiguro never asks the reader to dwell too deeply on their travails. These are, afterall, literary nocturnes.

Review by Evelyn Fischel

Bite Into These Vampire Stories

If you’re hunting for some reading thrills and chills, why not bite into the great selection of vampire fiction currently on display at Bernardsville Library? Let your imagination experience the flutter of batwings on your shoulder or the caress of a vampire lover who (perhaps) may not be all that bad. Try authors known for their vampire series such as Charlaine Harris, Laurell K. Hamilton or Anne Rice. And, of course, you shouldn’t overlook the original vampire story, Dracula, by Bram Stoker, now available in a new annotated edition.