A Summer of Reading and So Much More

"Summer Reading" has officially begun at Bernardsville Library with featured attractions for youngsters, teens, and adults. The summer months ahead will be filled with giveaways, reading challenges, exciting day and evening programming, story times around town and at the community pool, and even a pop-up Air and Space Museum coming in mid-July!

Register your children (they don't have to be members of the library) for the Build a Better World summer reading program that entitles them to loads of fun activities throughout the summer while challenging them to meet reading goals. Of course, there will be incentives and prizes awarded on a regular basis for those children who meet their goals.

Teens have their own online summer reading club where they can write short book reviews of books they've read. By doing so, they will be entered into a drawing for prizes, some of which will be gift cards from local stores. And we never forget our adult readers! They're invited to enter our adult summer reading contest. All they have to do is borrow at least three books or book CDs to enter their names for prizes, including the grand prize - a gift basket containing a Kindle Fire HD with Alexa. Time to get reading!

Bernardsville Reviews: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Welcome to Bernardsville Reviews! Read what the staff and patrons of Bernardsville Public Library have written about the books, movies, and music they've enjoyed. 

Anne Post, Assistant Youth Services Manager, writes:

Recently I read Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, listed as book 8 of the Harry Potter series. Beginning where the Rowling book 7 ends, it is actually a play written by Jack Thorne and is currently being produced on the London stage.

I chose this book in the first place because I was tasked with reading a play for a book review group I belong to. I decided to choose something for kids, as I can always add to my book excitement here in Youth Services!

I was very pleasantly surprised by how easily it could be followed in both story line and play action. The sideline comments were not intrusive, and the characters' dialogue followed along in a manner similar to reading a story alone. At times I had to recap to focus on who was speaking, but that's a small imposition. I would recommend this book to kids and parents who want to continue on in the Harry Potter story. It's also a great discussion starter. Enjoy!

Hoopla, A Lending Service Worthy Of Its Name

This month we're making a big hoopla about offering Bernardsville Library members free access to an exciting digital lending service called hoopla. Hoopla enables you to instantly borrow digital media which you can stream or download to a computer, tablet, or smartphone using the hoopla app. This product is also compatible with Chromecast and viewable on Apple TV.

One of the most exciting features of hoopla is that it allows you to borrow music, movies, audiobooks, ebooks, comics, and TV episodes without a waiting period. There are no holds lists with long waiting times. YOU are always first in line! Listen to more than 270,000 albums, watch thousands of TV episodes and movies, and take your pick from over 100,000 audiobooks, comics, and ebooks. And it's so convenient for you because your items will be automatically returned at the end of your loan period.

To begin your new adventure with hoopla, simply visit our website http://bernardsvillelibrary.org, click on the hoopla link, and sign up using your library card number. While you're on our website, please take advantage of our many other resources that will add value to your life. Among them are the Cloud Library for ebooks and audiobooks, Rosetta Stone for language learning, digital magazine lending through Zinio and Flipster, and our many research and collection resources.

Summer Reading Fitness, It's A Thing

This year's summer reading campaign - "On Your Mark, Get Set, Read!" -  challenges us to exercise our minds and bodies for improved overall fitness. And it's not just for kids anymore!

Adults and youngsters are encouraged to step up their literary habits, pump up their healthy living practices, and exercise their right to claim fun prizes and rewards. Parents may sign up their children at the library beginning the week of June 20th. The kids will receive reading logs and flyers about the summer programs ahead and be eligible to participate in exciting activities such as the upcoming Bouncy House event.  And there will be great prizes! Refer to this website page for ongoing information about upcoming events for children.

In addition, we're doing the heavy lifting for adults who are encouraged to beef up their reading habits during the summer months. Adults will be offered a chance to enter a drawing for prizes each time they check out three or more books or book CDs. This year, three fabulous prizes will be awarded to adult participants at the end of the summer, with the top prize being a Fitbit. Need reading ideas? Look for our book displays throughout the library promoting the theme of reading fitness and get inspired. Now, on your mark!

Books for Kids Holiday Drive

Would you like to give a gift this holiday season that lasts the test of time? Consider giving a child who has little or no access to books the gift of a life-long love of reading! You can do this simply by donating new books to the Books for Kids annual holiday drive sponsored by the New Jersey Library Association’s Children’s Services Section. As a library partner in this drive, we are currently collecting new books that are appropriate for children from infancy through the teen years.

It’s fun to pick out board books for babies, picture books for boys and girls, and young adult stories for teenagers; you might even recover some childhood memories of your own favorite books while browsing for these selections. Of course, our children’s librarians will be happy to make a few suggestions if you need advice. There’s no need to wrap your donations. Simply put these new books in the decorated collection box in front of our holiday book display and know that you will be making a difference in a child’s life. All donations will be distributed to New Jersey children. Kindly donate by December 15th. Thank you!

One Book Bernardsville

This month Bernardsville Library and its community will be enjoying a shared reading experience called One Book Bernardsville. We will be reading "The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken" by Laura Schenone, discussing the book at three different book group meetings, and participating in an interesting and varied assortment of programs related to Italian culture, cuisine, and ethnic history.

Our first program offers insights into the Italian community in Bernardsville which provided skilled artisans for the Mountain Colony estates they helped build at the turn of the 20th century. While the stately homes are known to many, the history of this Italian community, Little Italy, is less well appreciated. Learn about Bernardsville's Little Italy at 3 p.m. on Saturday, October 10, and hear how you can connect to your own family's history through Ancestry.com, as well.

If you love Frank Sinatra standards, come back again the next day for a jazz singer's rendition of the tops hits when Maggie Worsdale sings Sinatra at 3 p.m. on Sunday, October 11. This concert is funded by the Friends of the Bernardsville Public Library. On Sunday, October 25, at 2 p.m., we offer a completely different musical program featuring world class tenor Salvatore Chiarelli. You'll find yourself entranced as Mr. Chiarelli sings a lovely selection of classical, popular, and traditional Neapolitan/Italian songs.

For a taste of Italy, attend our two free programs on cuisine and wines! Diane dePalma will teach us how to make ravioli and provide a tasting, too, on Saturday, October 24 at 2 p.m. Follow that up on Wednesday, October 28, 7 p.m. with a free Italian Wine and Cheese Pairings program presented by Gary's Wine and Marketplace.

And to tie this all together, we will host the author of our One Book Bernardsville selection when Laura Schenone comes to the library to talk about her book and her quest for that lost family recipe. She'll be here on Wednesday, October 14, at 7 p.m., so feel fee to ask her a few questions. Copies of her book will be available for purchase and signing. We hope you'll attend at least a few of these wonderful free programs and that you'll enjoy discussing this book with your neighbors, the library staff,  and your own book groups. Please refer to the website for dates when we offer library book group discussions.

Go Set A Watchman: Tell Us What You Think

The newly released novel "Go Set A Watchman" pre-dates Harper Lee's masterpiece, "To Kill a Mockingbird," yet reactions to its storyline have been swift and furious even though some people haven't read it.  Have you finished "Go Set A Watchman," and do you hold an opinion you'd like to share with us about this early Harper Lee book? We'd love to hear from you!  

If you're local, feel free to write up a short review or even a few lines that we can post on our Book Review bulletin board.  So far we have three reviews, but no consensus about the book. That means we need to hear from you!  If you prefer, feel free to comment on our Facebook page at the special post pinned to the top. Connect with us here: www.facebook.com/BernardsvillePublicLibrary. Either way, your reviews would be greatly appreciated.

Soon in June! What's Coming Up

How concerned should you be that the precious resource, water, is endangered? In jeopardy not only from the physical effects of climate change, water reserves around the globe are now being depleted, polluted, privatized, and commoditized. Who has a handle on this? Find out at our free screening of the award-winning documentary, "Blue Gold: World Water Wars," on Sunday, June 7, at 2 p.m. in the Community Room. This viewing is sponsored by the Bernardsville Green Team. Please tell your friends about it.

Also coming up soon, Bernardsville resident Alan Winter will discuss his new novel, "Island Bluffs," which is set in a Jersey shore community. The book features fictional characters who are compelled by personal need and secrecy to act in extraordinary ways, but the story is based on true events that include bits of World War II history. Copies of his book will be available for purchase and signing by the author at this book talk on Wednesday, June 10, 7 p.m. in the Community Room. This is a free event; please come!

 "Building a Confident Retirement: A Seminar at Bernardsville Library" will be presented on Monday, June 15, at 7 p.m. in the Community Room by Keith A. Smith, a Financial Advisor and Certified Financial Planner™ at Smith & Associates, a financial advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. He will discuss how to bring your retirement dreams and goals more within reach; how to prioritize your retirement saving and spending plans to address what is most important to you; and how to identify risks that could throw your retirement plans off track. Sign up to attend and start now on the road to a more secure retirement! - http://www.bernardsvillelibrary.org/program/building-a-confident-retirement/.

Not One, Not Two, But Three!

Did you know that Bernardsville Public Library has three book discussion groups which meet at different times and days of the week?  Never again say that there's no time in your life for a book group.  We've scheduled our discussion groups with you in mind! 

Do you prefer an evening time slot or perhaps a group meeting on a weekend afternoon? Is morning the most convenient time for you? Please consider joining one of our three monthly discussion groups at any point in the year; membership is open to the public.  

Page Turners, our newest discussion group led by library director April L. Judge, will meet on Tuesday, November 11, at 6:30 p.m. to discuss The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin. The following meeting is set for Thursday, December, 4, at 6:30 p.m. when Page Turners will discuss Amy Tan's book, The Bonesetter's Daughter. 

For those who prefer mornings, the library offers a memoir discussion group led by Pat Kennedy-Grant. This group, Memoirs & Coffee, will meet on Tuesday, November 18, at 10:30 a.m. to discuss Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward. There will be no meeting in December, but Etched in Sand by Regina Calcaterra is to be discussed in 2015 on Tuesday, January 27, at 10:30 a.m.

Saturday Samplers is the group for those who want to wind down on a Saturday afternoon with a book group which samples various kinds of literature, including nonfiction, short stories, plays, and fiction. Facilitated by Evelyn Fischel, Saturday Samplers will next meet on Saturday, December 6, at 3:30 p.m. to discuss Gabriel Garcia Marquez's short story collection No One Writes to the Colonel.  There will be no meeting in January, but in 2015 the group will tackle The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen on Saturday, February 7, at 3:30 p.m. 

In all three cases, new members are always welcome to attend and books will be made available to borrow.  Why not try one of these book groups out for yourself?

"I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to."

In October, Bernardsville Public Library will host a month-long community reading event known as One Book Bernardsville.  The memoir A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson has been selected as our One Book.  To become better acquainted with the author, please view the enjoyable video posted below.

Bill Bryson's 1989 book, The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America, begins with the words "I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to."  That opening line also kicks off this video about the author's childhood.  Aired in the United Kingdom on Melvyn Bragg's South Bank Show in 2006 (South Bank Show – Bill Bryson itv.com/southbank,) the video features Bryson's recent return visit to his hometown to discuss what it was like growing up in Iowa. Included in it are numerous charming clips from home movies his father took.  Bryson's mother appears in it as well as high school friend, "Katz," who accompanied Bryson on part of his Appalachian Trail hike. That attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail is recounted in our One Book Bernardsville selection, A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail, to be read and discussed by the community during the month of October. Please click here for information about A Walk in the Woods and about the One Book Bernardsville events our library has planned throughout October. Now, enjoy the video!

One Book Bernardsville

Bernardsville Public Library is pleased to announce that Bill Bryson's memoir, A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail, has been selected for its first "One Book Bernardsville" event to take place in October. During this month, our community of readers and area book groups are invited to participate in this shared reading experience.  The library will provide assistance for book groups wishing to participate, and copies of the book will be made available. In addition, local bookstore The Bookworm will stock extra copies of this paperback for purchase. Thematically related programs on conservation, hiking, and the Appalachian Trail itself will be offered at the library throughout October, which happens to be a great hiking month.  It's hoped that this informative, humorous memoir will appeal to young and old readers alike and that it will generate lively discussions. Scroll down through our catalog link to read reviews of  the book here.

A Dickens of a True Story

Fetid drinking water, often contaminated with human waste and life-threatening bacteria, was the only option for many Londoners in the mid-nineteenth century when cholera became a common occurrence.  Overcrowded living conditions and overflowing garbage mounds added to a recipe for health disasters, one of which struck a section of London in the 1850's in a ferocious cholera outbreak.  The Ghost Map, by Steven Johnson, recounts how this outbreak came to pass, details the microbial profile of cholera, and describes how two Londoners came to realize its source at a time when scientific understanding of disease and its spread was shockingly limited.  Saturday Samplers library book group will discuss this exciting book at their next meeting to be held on Saturday, November 2, at 3:30 p.m. in the library. Copies of the book are still available at the circulation desk, and new members are welcome to attend.

We Put NextRead Books Right In Your Hands

We do everything except read the book for you!

Now you can sign up on Bernardsville Public Library's website to receive email newsletters tailored to your reading preferences via Next Reads.  The NextReads service delivers customized reading suggestions to your email inbox on a weekly, monthly, or bi-monthly basis.  Do you like to read historical fiction?  Want to know what's the latest and greatest in mysteries or in kids' books?  You get to choose which genres or kinds of books you will be notified about when you sign up here for NextReads. 

We take the next step for you, too!  You'll find a NextReads display in our lobby with the latest NextReads books already pulled and waiting for you on these display shelves.  We've even sorted them by genre.  You do have to pick them up, however, and check them out! How easy is that?

The Circus in Winter

Saturday Samplers book group will discuss Cathy Day's novel, The Circus in Winter, on Saturday, October 5, at 3:30 p.m. in the library.  Ms. Day currently teaches in the English Department of Ball State University, but at one time was an instructor at The College of New Jersey.  

A native of Indiana, she set her first book, The Circus in Winter, in her hometown of Peru (fictionalized as Lima, Indiana) which had an interesting history as the winter home of a travelling circus.  Ms. Day's book tells the fascinating stories of circus people, townsfolk and the town itself over a timeline of many decades.  

As the Chicago Tribune notes, "Day moves back and forth in time, from the 1880s to the 1960s to the 1930s to the near present, in a story-cycle form similar to the work of Louise Erdrich and Sherwood Anderson."  For more information about Cathy Day and the book, please refer to a posting on the blog of this book group, Saturday Samplers.

The Hare with Amber Eyes

Edmund de Waal's family memoir, The Hare with Amber Eyes, will be the topic of the next book discussion by Bernardsville Library's book group, Saturday Samplers.  Saturday Samplers meets Saturday, July 13th, at 3:30 p.m. in the small meeting room, and new members are encouraged to attend.

The book's title refers to one of the 264 netsuke which the author inherited after this collection of Japanese carvings was passed down through several generations of the fabulously wealthy Ephrussi family.  By the time de Waal inherited these small carvings in ivory and wood, the Ephrussi line living in Vienna had already suffered the irreparable loss of position, wealth, and family possessions due to Austrian anti-Semitism and Hitler's purge of European Jews.  The Ephrussi dynasty rose and fell, but the little netsuke survived intact, inspiring the author in his research and demonstrating to him that some things endure even when so much changes.

My First Coup d'Etat

A memoir of his youth in Ghana from the current president of the nation, My First Coup d'Etat: and Other True Stories from the Lost Decades of Africa is the next selection for Bernardsville Library's book group, Memoirs and Coffee.  My First Coup d'Etat will be discussed on Tuesday, June 25, at 10:30 a.m. in the library.  Memoirs and Coffee is open to new members who may borrow copies of the book at the circulation desk.

Written by John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana since 2012, My First Coup d'Etat describes growing up in Ghana during the tumult of post-independence. The Wall Street Journal noted that “Mr. Mahama is at his best in describing this vanished world. He does so with the eye of a historian and the flair of a novelist...At times the lost world he describes seems almost magical, as if it were populated by fairies and demons rather than real people... His stories overflow with humanity.”

Library CAT at Work

Bernardsville Public Library's Collection Advisory Team (CAT) has just produced a new roster of recommended reading for our patrons.  These books are featured on shelving within the New Fiction area and may be borrowed immediately.  A blend of fiction, including thrillers, mysteries, and romance, is currently on display there.

The Collection Advisory Team consists of members of the community who are active library members willing to make suggestions for the library's collection development.  Their collaboration with our librarians enables Bernardsville Public Library to broaden the appeal of its collections and to ensure that community input is considered.  It's great to have a CAT in our library!

The Snake Stone: Investigator Yashim Returns

British novelist and historian Jason Goodwin has confected a truly memorable detective series featuring Yashim the eunuch, who lives in the unforgettable setting of 1830's Istanbul.  Yashim moves freely between the world of the palace - the Sultan, government functionaries, the royal harem - and the colorful and dangerous city streets crammed with spice markets, vendors, and a cross-pollination of world travellers.  Intrigue and mystery are everywhere, and Goodwin uses all the tricks in the book to keep the reader engaged.  There are red herrings, historical tidbits, murders and betrayals, and peril is always just around the corner!  

Saturday Samplers, a library book group, will discuss the second in Goodwin's Yashim series, The Snake Stone, at its next meeting Saturday, June 1st at 3:30 p.m.  Led by library staff member Evelyn Fischel, Saturday Samplers book group reads a variety of literature, non-fiction, short fiction, memoirs, teen fiction, etc., so as to broadly sample the written word. New members are welcome and more information about the book group may be found here http://saturdaysamplers.blogspot.com/.    

Driving With Dead People

Monica Holloway's memoir Driving With Dead People will be discussed on May 4th at 3:30 p.m. by Bernardsville Public Library's book group, Saturday Samplers. The observation that some people ought never to become parents certainly applies here as the author reveals a childhood of parental abuse and neglect that proved shocking to the people who knew her family and later read her memoir. Some of the abuse from her parents was verbal, some psychological, some physical, some violent, yet those in her hometown claimed they were surprised to learn of this sad family history when her book was published.  Perhaps it was a result of the times, the 1970's, when neighbors didn't interfere with the sanctity of other people's families, but it is hard to believe that such obvious abuse and neglect were overlooked.  The more shattering, hidden abuse the author and some of her siblings endured is only revealed at the end of this book.  As she notes, "I almost feel like I have climbed Mount Everest. My sister and I don’t have the shame anymore. We gave the shame back in a way, not to the public, but to the people who can accept responsibility —
and that is why I wrote the book.”

The Life of a Newspaperman

Bernardsville Public Library book group, Saturday Samplers, will attend author Mark Di Ionno's talk on Saturday, April 6th, in the Community Room of the library. The book group has just finished reading his new book, The Last Newspaperman, an acclaimed piece of historical fiction set entirely in New Jersey.  Mr. Di Ionno is an award-winning reporter for The Star-Ledger and has a lot to say about the newspaper business.  

The Last Newspaperman recounts the life and journalistic exploits of fictional reporter Fred Haines, now elderly, who reminisces about the years he spent working in tabloid journalism of the 1930's.  Four sensational episodes in New Jersey history serve as the framework upon which Fred comes to judge the nature of journalism and his own lack of scruples therein. Among those episodes were the Morro Castle fire and the Lindbergh baby kidnapping. 

In covering these events, Fred must face a number of moral dilemmas which tear away at his reporter's distance and dispassion.  The reader is left to compare this era of celebrity and disaster-driven journalism with that of today's reporting, be it by newspaper or other medium.  Mr. Di Ionna will sign copies of his book following his talk at 2 p.m.