A Cup of Tea

Saturday Samplers will discuss Amy Ephron's novella, A Cup of Tea, on Dec. 7th at 3:30 p.m. in the library.  Copies of the book are available to borrow, and new members are encouraged to attend meetings of this library book discussion group.

Ms. Ephron based her book on a short story of the same title published in 1922 by Katherine Mansfield.  Beginning with the same premise as Mansfield's story, A Cup of Tea by Amy Ephron takes the characters in an entirely different direction.  To read the original short story by Katherine Mansfield or to learn more about Saturday Samplers, please refer to the book group's blog.

Teddy Bears Need Clothing, Too

Once again, Bernardsville Public Library is participating in the annual Teddy Bear project. In just a few weeks, the Salvation Army will be distributing these teddy bears to needy children in New Jersey as a holiday treat.  But first, there is something missing; the bears are bare and need clothing!

Right now the teddies sit patiently in our lobby cases waiting for their outfits, so we invite you to drop by, borrow a bear, dress it, and then return it before Thanksgiving. Outfits may be purchased at craft stores as well as clothing stores where preemie and small infant sizes fit the bears nicely.  Another alternative is to create your own teddy bear outfit.  Sew a dress, knit a sweater, stitch together a fleece top - be creative and enjoy the experience of dressing your teddy in a style that a child would love.  Feel the satisfaction of knowing your teddy bear will give a child much needed happiness this holiday season.

No Orthodoxy

Deborah Feldman’s 2012 memoir, Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots, will be discussed by Memoirs & Coffee book group on Tuesday, Nov. 19, at 10:30 a.m.  Ms. Feldman’s memoir demonstrates just how transformative an exposure to literature can be.  Raised in the repressively strict religious community of the Satmar Hasidim, this Brooklyn author was bound in marriage at age seventeen to a man she did not know, but found the courage to change her life after secretly reading forbidden books, particularly those by Jane Austen and Louisa May Alcott.  Ms. Feldman’s self-emancipation also engendered an ongoing search for her own identity as a modern Jewish woman.