Craftiness Pays Off

 

Bernardsville Library's crafting group, Saturday Crafters, met recently to share project ideas and conversation. Led by library staff member Evelyn Fischel, the group is encouraged to cure cabin fever by crafting together one Saturday afternoon a month at the library.  Saturday Crafters is open to the public, and crafters work on their own projects while Evelyn showcases the newest library books and magazines dealing with crafting topics.  The February group brought some interesting projects, including charity knitting and crocheting as well as jewelry making and needlepointing.  The next meeting of Saturday Crafters will take place on Saturday, March 17th, at 3 p.m.

Library Book Group Now Reading "Unbroken"

Laura Hillenbrand's 2010 bestseller, Unbroken: a World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption, will be discussed by Bernardsville Library's book group, Memoirs and Coffee, on Feb. 28th at 10:30 a.m.  Army Air Force pilot Louis Zamperini is the subject of Unbroken which recounts his years of torment after his plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean during wartime. The author's webpage notes that "Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater.  Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve,and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will."  Copies of Unbroken are available at the circulation desk, and this group discussion will be open to the public.

Black History Month Displays at Bernardsville Library

 Black History Month at Bernardsville Library is being observed with book displays in both the Biography and Youth Services sections.  A variety of picture books for young readers are showcased in the children's area along with a posterboard featuring one new fact a day about Black History Month.  Come by and learn a thing or two while enjoying these great kids books.

Bernardsville Library's Biography section now offers a month-long display showcasing many interesting books on the lives of notable African Americans. Sojourner Truth, Paul Robeson, Langston Hughes, and Thurgood Marshall are all famous names in history, but how about the resilient Mr. Jimmy Winkfield, the last African American jockey to win the Kentucky Derby?  He was the 17th child of sharecroppers, but fled to Europe to escape threats from the KKK after his derby win. Winkfield raced horses in Russia, riding the Tsar's horse, and later acquired  property and status in France, only to be hounded out of that country by the Nazis.  Black Maestro: the epic life of an American legend by Joe Drape recounts this man's amazing life.

e-Books to iPad

Learn how to download books and music to iPad at Bernardsville Library's program on January 31st at 7 p.m.  The procedure and apps you need will be demonstrated by Cranbury Public Library's Doug Baldwin, librarian and IT expert.  Feel free to bring your iPad with you.

If you don't own an iPad, why not try out Bernardsville Public Library's iPad which may be borrowed with a Bernardsville Library card?  For more information or to sign up for this program, call 908-766-0118 or go online @ http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DX8SSJ6.

Library Book Group To Discuss The Memory Palace

Mira Bartok's memoir of family dysfunction and mental illness, The Memory Palace, will be discussed at the next meeting of Memoirs and Coffee on Tuesday, January 24th, at 10:30 a.m.  The Memory Palace  recounts the damaging effects her mother's schizophrenia had on both the author and her sister.  At one point both sisters severed all contact with their mother because of her destructive behavior.  Nonetheless, Mira Bartok found a need to reconnect with her mother when she herself was recovering from a debilitating accident.  The book discussion will be led by Pat Kennedy-Grant who invites new members to join Memoirs and Coffee. Copies of The Memory Palace are available now at the circulation desk.

Ready, Set, Knit/Crochet!

Before the first snowflakes fall, be sure to visit Bernardsville Library's "Knit Up A Storm This Winter" display featuring our knit and crochet books. You'll find lots of great ideas and patterns in these attractive books geared to creating the latest in handmade fashion, home decor and toys. Wander over to this display in our nonfiction section, borrow a book, and get started with your projects right now.

Not To Be Overlooked

Here are two noteworthy pieces of fiction that you may have missed.  Both books present wonderful reading experiences and deserve your notice. 

Kevin Holohan's caustic and witty book, The Brothers' Lot, delivers a swift kick to the crumbling moral decay of Irish Catholic brotherhoods and church schools in this debut novel.  Holohan's story will leave you angered, but also bemused that there could be anything laughable about the corrupted world of the "Brothers of Godly Coercion for Boys of Meager Means."  Wielding his plot line like a terrible swift sword, Holohan insures that there will be retribution served against the Brothers for their many examples of child abuse.  In fact, the walls of their miserable school  do indeed come crashing down around their heads in a great scene of authorial wish fulfillment by this very promising Irish writer. 

American author and poet Denis Johnson's beautiful novella, Train Dreams, is an exceptional work capturing the sweep and depth of change in early 1900's America.  Writer Anthony Doerr's review notes that "Johnson is as skilled as ever at balancing menace against ecstasy, civilization against wilderness. His prose tiptoes a tightrope between peace and calamity, and beneath all of the novella’s best moments, Johnson runs twin strains of tenderness and the threat of violence." Denis Johnson's masterful writing condenses what could have been an epic story into a poetic, magical piece of short fiction.  This is literary fiction of a high caliber.

~Evelyn Fischel~

Teddy Bears

The Teddy Bears are here at Bernardsville Library and ready to be dressed for holiday distribution by the Salvation Army. This year we are giving you a unique way to double your donation; purchase an outfit readymade by library volunteers, and the handknit or handcrocheted outfit can then be put on a bear of your choice for the children's holiday charity drive. The outfit's cost of $10 will benefit Bernardsville Library, and you won't need to go to a craft store. Simply pick out a beautiful handmade outfit - bathrobes, bikinis, sweaters, nightshirts - and dress a bear!

Rafa's Rock

Here's a very enjoyable new sports memoir entitled Rafa about the tennis champion Rafael Nadal. Co-authored with John Carlin who works for El Pais, the Spanish language newspaper, this is a well written book which clearly distinguishes Nadal's voice from Carlin's as chapters alternate between the two.  Nadal's opening chapter introduces us to the tennis player's state of mind, always a battleground against his own thoughts, as Nadal prepares to face off against Roger Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final.  Nadal writes, "The feeling suits me; the cathedral hush of the Centre Court is good for my game.  Because what I battle hardest to do in a tennis match is to quiet the voices in my head, to shut everything out of my mind but the contest itself and concentrate every atom of my being on the point I am playing.  If I made a mistake on a previous point, forget it; should a thought of victory suggest itself, crush it."  

The epic battle, marked by rain delay, gathering darkness and five hours of play, resulted in Nadal's Wimbledon victory at the age of 22, fulfilling this young player's earliest ambition. Of course, Nadal has since attained many more championships and Grand Slams, and he discusses some of these matches as well.  The book is not merely a technical analysis of his play, but rather an interesting portrait of the determination and endurance required of any champion.  As we follow Rafa's story, we learn some of the physical and personal challenges he has had to face even as he has maintained a sterling reputation in the sports' world.  John Carlin's chapters fill us in on Nadal's family life and upbringing on Mallorca.  His strong family bond and the Mallorcan culture have clearly formed the bedrock that has kept Nadal so stable and focused, never allowing him to be self-centered. This champion always returns home to his family and to the island of Mallorca, where his victories are never celebrated because that is not their way.

~Evelyn Fischel~

Memoirs and Coffee Meets Tomorrow

Bernardsville Library book group, Memoirs and Coffee, will discuss The Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil at its next meeting on Tuesday, October 25th, at 10:30 a.m.  Memoirs and Coffee is the library's open-invitation book discussion group dedicated to reading memoirs.  Staff member Pat Kennedy-Grant is the coordinator for this group, which meets monthly in the Community Room.  New members are always welcomed.

Author Deborah Rodriguez went to Afghanistan in 2001 as a humanitarian aid volunteer, but soon doubted her ability to offer substantive skills.  Her training had been in hairdressing, yet Westerners and Afghan women swiftly sought her out once they learned this.  Before Taliban rule, Afghan women had experienced success running beauty salons, and now they hungered to reestablish themselves in the beauty business.  Rodriguez gathered sponsors who enabled her to found the Kabul Beauty School in 2003.

Friendships and stories shared among these women and the author reveal what some Afghan women must contend with in their culture.  Random House published this book in 2007 and offers these notes, "...within the small haven of the beauty school, the line between teacher and student quickly blurred as these vibrant women shared with Rodriguez their stories and their hearts: the newlywed who faked her virginity on her wedding night, the twelve-year old bride sold into marriage to pay her family's debts, the Taliban member's wife who pursued her training despite her husband's constant beatings."

Breast Cancer Awareness Display

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Bernardsville Library has marked the occasion with an extensive and interesting display of books on the topic. You'll find first-hand accounts from survivors, information on newer therapies, plus accounts from families and friends who have supported women through their diagnoses and treatment.  Novels as well as teen and children's books are also included in the display.  Please stop by the library rotunda to see what it's all about.

The Kind of Pop-Ups You Welcome

Robert Sabuda is a very talented man with a pair of scissors and an X-Acto knife!  Just ask your children; no doubt they have enjoyed looking at some of his beautiful, 3-D pop-up books. Bernardsville Library currently has 15 Sabuda books which are popular with parents as well as children.

In the October 1st edition of The Wall Street Journal there is an interesting article about how this paper artist ("illusionist" as he calls himself) transforms stories into 3-dimensional formats that will work consistently.  As Sabuda notes, the hardest part of his job is designing the pop-up to collapse back down properly.  If that doesn't happen, the paper construction will be further damaged with each closing of the book cover.

Perhaps the most surprising thing to learn from this article is that the pop-ups in every book have been individually handcut by 1,000 workers in Thailand!  The next time you're in the library, ask one of the children's librarians to show you our terrific collection of Sabuda pop-up books.

Hmm...The Help

Kathryn Stockett's first novel, The Help, has bloomed into a mega-hit regardless of criticism for its historical inaccuracies and racial insensitivity.  One blog in particular, "A Critical Review of the novel The Help," is just loaded with interesting critical commentary. Nonetheless, many readers seem to adore it for the dialogue and punchy characters inhabiting a story the author thought would never be published.  In fact, according to Stockett, the manuscript was rejected by 60 literary agents before hitting pay dirt in 2009.  Since that time, The Help has enjoyed a great run on the book club circuit, has been released as a major motion picture, and will now be discussed this Saturday by our book group, Saturday Samplers.  This Bernardsville Library book discussion group will meet on October 1st at 3:30 p.m. in the library.

Stockett states in a Daily Mail UK interview that the story came about from her memories of her own family's black maid, Demetrie.  Demetrie worked for the author's Mississippi family for 32 years, raising Kathryn and her siblings, and accompanying the family on vacations.  Still, Demetrie was never allowed to use the family's toilet, tub or dinnerware, and it never occurred to a young Stockett that this was unusual.  

In an NPR interview with Michele Norris, Kathryn Stockett states about her book, "It's fiction, but some of the facts and the settings and the backdrops - sure, that was Southern life.  Having a separate bathroom for the black domestic was just the way things were done.  Certainly, in my grandmother's time and when I was growing up, yeah, Demetrie's bathroom was on the side of the house.  It was a separate door.  Still, to this day, I've never been in that room."  Regardless, Stockett expresses her love for Demetrie and says, "Demetrie was treated like a queen, in my mind growing up, I should say."  Hmm...it all depends on your perspective.    

Banned Books Week

Celebrate the right to read; stop by our display of historically banned and challenged books to highlight the annual observation of Banned Books Week.  You might be surprised at what you see there.  Would you expect to see James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl among these books?  How about The Lorax by Dr. Seuss?  Banned or challenged books by Truman Capote, Isabel Allende, Ray Bradbury, John Irving and other authors are on display and available for check out.  You'll find these items, including examples from the Harry Potter series, showcased in the library rotunda.

Staff Picks to Pick Up

Stumped for a book to read and no time to browse?  Stop by the lobby display of Bernardsville Library Staff Picks loaded with items for all kinds of readers, including children.  There are many biographies, cookbooks, movies, music cds, audiobooks, fiction, nonfiction, and picture books from which to chose.  See what the staff recommends and share your suggestions, too.  It's one-stop shopping, library style!