September Library Book Groups To Meet

Bernardsville Library's two book groups will meet in September.  Saturday Samplers will discuss Elizabeth Cunningham's novel, The Passion of Mary Magdalen, this Saturday, September 10, at 3:30 p.m. in the library.

Memoirs and Coffee will discuss Townie: a memoir by Andre Dubus III on Tuesday, September 27 at 10:30 a.m.  Members of this book group are invited to read an additional novel or short story collection by the same author.  Copies of these September books are available at the circulation desk.

Queen of The British Collection

Bernardsville Public Library's renowned collection of British films and television series continues to attract a borrowing public looking for shows with that special British humor, flair, historical interest and literary depth.  Staff member Susan Popper, a fan of  British film, recognized the public's growing demand for these items five years ago and created a section among our videotapes and dvds devoted entirely to the British material.  She named it The British Collection, and the rest was history.

Our customers can't get enough of these great series and films, and we can rely on them to return week after week for more viewing material.  They especially appreciate the broad selection of PBS and BBC productions as well as independent movies and television shows.  And there is so much variety to chose from, even within a particular theme!  For instance, ecclesiatical humor and charm bless those who watch the Ballykissangel, Father Ted, and The Vicar of Dibley series.  Medicine is served up with wildly different bedside manners in Doc Martin, Doctor Finlay, and All Creatures Great and Small.

Contrast the older family saga, Poldark, with the newer Monarch of the Glen.  Criminal inspector series such as George Gently, Midsomer Murders, Prime Suspect, and Inspector Lynley, offer a modern counterpoint to the many classic Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple and Poirot films in the collection.  Hyacinth Bucket carries on her silly class humor in Keeping Up Appearances while the main character in the BBC series Lovejoy hones his eye for antiques, lovely ladies and intrigue, all at the same time.

Espionage and military themes appear in the series, Reilly, the Ace of Spies, and Foyle's War, but we also offer a number of BBC military histories and documentaries.  For the literary crowd, movies based on the works of Dickens, Austen, Thackeray, Bronte, and other noted authors are popular choices.  And don't forget those old PBS chestnuts, such as Upstairs Downstairs and Brideshead Revisited, which still contend with the newer productions.

For more information on what's available in The British Collection, click on this link to our catalog.

New "50 Book Challenge" Suggestions

Bernardsville Library "50 Book Challenge" for 2011 has reached the half-way mark, and participants recently shared some of their reading suggestions. 

Ape House by Sara Gruen is a standout among the 50 Book members.  One reader proclaimed Ape House to be the best book she's read this year and found it "astonishing, gripping, upsetting and triumphant."  She notes that the author "explores the colorful eccentricities of humans and animals through their interactions with each other, leaving us questioning which is the more humane."  Another book, Ransom, by Australian author David Malouf, was praised for its lyricism.  Ransom retells/reimagines the encounter between King Priam and Achilles in Homer's epic poem, "The Iliad."

Readers of suspense might find some of the following books enjoyable.  For instance, Olen Steinhauer's plot in The Tourist forces a retired  CIA agent back undercover despite his new career circumstances and family demands.  Daniel Silva's art-themed book, The Rembrandt Affair, was deemed "a page-turner with lots of great characters, imaginative plot and great prose."

Two Scandinavian mysteries were also noted: The Draining Lake by Arnaldur Indridason, and The Snowman by Jo Nesbo.  One reader states that in The Draining Lake, "a human skeleton surfaces in the bed of a lake near Reykjavik that's been mysteriously draining away, which set the stage for the present-day-to-cold-war back and forth mystery."  Another reader notes that while The Snowman "is a thriller with a deeply creepy serial killer," reading all those snowy winter scenes helped keep her cool during these sultry summer days.

For nonfiction readers, My Stroke of Insight by Jill Taylor was proposed as an interesting and dramatic book recounting the sudden onset of a massive stroke experienced by the author.  She describes in gripping detail what her symptoms felt like, noting just how quickly she became incapacitated, barely able to call for help.  Taylor, a neuroscientist, takes the reader through her convalescence, offering insights as to what helped her make such a good recovery.

Try some of these books for your summer reading.  There's still a month left!

Scientific and Literary Versions of Immortality

Memoirs and Coffee, one of Bernardsville Public Library's book groups, will discuss Rebecca Skloot's narrative nonfiction bestseller, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, at its next meeting, Tuesday, July 26, at 10:30 a.m. Pat Kennedy-Grant will lead the discussion which is open to the public. Please meet in the library Community Room.

Shown above in one of only a few extant photographs, Henrietta Lacks was a poor tobacco farmer who died in 1951 of a virulent form of cervical cancer after being treated at Johns Hopkins.  She left behind young children, a husband and many friends, but what her family did not know is that a biological legacy of hers was also left behind or, perhaps we should say, unwittingly taken from her.  That legacy is the untold number of HeLa cells (named after her) which were originally removed in a small biopsy by a Johns Hopkins doctor.

These cells were cultured and demonstrated to have a remarkable ability to self-generate in the laboratory. This virtually endless supply of cells still generated from her original culture have been applied by researchers around the world to advance the study of gene mapping, create the polio vaccine, develop chemotherapy and other medical breakthroughs.  While millions of dollars have passed hands because of the great demand for her cells, no money has ever been given to the family of Henrietta Lacks.  The troubled story of her family, particularly the children she left behind, and their struggle to grasp the magnitude of their loss is treated with sensitivity, honesty and also charm by the author.  The family's personal drama nicely balances out the scientific information which Rebecca Skloot presents in very readable fashion in this excellent book.

Cue the QR Code!

If you stare at this long enough, you might start seeing things! 

Instead, just know that this is Bernardsville Public Library's very own QR Code.  QR stands for Quick Response and signifies a way of barcoding which connects you to our Web site when you use your mobile device to read the code.  You might find our code printed on publicity newsletters, library brochures, advertisements and elsewhere.  It is a quick way for you to connect to us!

Keeping the Feast - Keeping the Marriage

Paula Butturini, author of Keeping the Feast: One Couple's Story of Love, Food, and Healing in Italy, will make an appearance at Bernardsville Public Library on Thursday, July 14, at 7 p.m. for a book signing.  Please come to this free program to meet the author and discuss her book.  Copies of Keeping the Feast will be made available at the library for purchase and signing by the author.

Keeping the Feast recounts the grave gunshot injury to her husband, New York Times bureau chief John Tagliabue, who had been covering the Romanian uprising in 1989.  Married just a short while, the couple shared a strong love of Italy, and so they settled in Rome while he recuperated.  The author describes her evolving ideas about her husband's process of recovery and how sharing daily food was a sustenance to both their bodies and their marriage.  The library has a copy of the book available for check out, as well.

Hmmm...Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

Amy Chua's controversial biography, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, will be discussed on Tuesday, June 28th, at 10:30 a.m. by Bernardsville Library's book group, Memoirs and Coffee.

How do you think children should be reared - by nurturing or strict training?  See what the author believes and whether she was able to live up to her own standards for herself as a Chinese-American mother.  Attempting to raise her children in the Chinese way while living in a Western country just might be expected to cause some friction between mom and child, so find out how she and her family survived her childrearing philosophy.  The book discussion is open to the public; please feel welcome to attend if you have read the book or are interested in hearing more about it.

One World, Many Stories

Sign-ups begin today for Bernardsville Public Library's summer reading program for children, "One World, Many Stories."  Exciting activities have been planned all summer long for ages 2 1/2 through the high school years.  Our Summer Reading Club will enjoy a great kick-off at the "Wild Animals & Wallaby Tales" event scheduled for Saturday, June 25, at 1 p.m.  Don't miss it!

All activities and reading programs are free.  We encourage you to sign up your children and help them learn about a wonderful world of reading.  Simply call the library (908-766-0118) or register online through the Kids Stuff link on our Web site.

Seniors Day

Bernardsville Public Library will host its ninth annual Seniors Day event tomorrow, Friday, June 10th, at 10 a.m.  Seniors Day participants will enjoy a free continental breakfast, games, sing-alongs, and a musical program by Charlie Z, "From Bing to the King and a whole lotta Swing."  Charlie Z will bring back great memories of vintage hits from World War II and the 1950's with recordings by Bing Crosby, the Mills Brothers, Louis Armstrong, Glenn Miller and many other vocal and Big Band stars. Seniors who live in the area are invited to call the library to attend. 

Library Group to Discuss Year of Wonders

Year of Wonders: a novel of the plague (2001) will be discussed this Saturday, June 4th, at the Saturday Samplers book group meeting to be held at 3:30 p.m.  Saturday Samplers is a Bernardsville Library open-invitation book group led by staff member Evelyn Fischel.  Please feel welcome to attend.

Geraldine Brooks, author of Year of Wonders, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist.  Brooks grew up outside of Sydney, Australia, and resides there today with her family. She is a graduate of the University of Sydney and reported for a Sydney newspaper in the early part of her career. After attending a master's program at Columbia University, she also worked for The Wall Street Journal.

Her writing demonstrates a wide-ranging interest in historical and cultural topics of an international scope. Among her books are Nine Parts of Desire: the hidden world of Islamic women, the 2006 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel March, as well as People of the Book, a fictional piece based on the history of the Sarajevo Haggadah. The latest novel, Caleb's Crossing, has just been published to excellent reviews and concerns the interplay of cultures, Native American and English, during the American colonial period.

Year of Wonders: a novel of the plague earned high praise for Brooks from many quarters.  The book recounts in fiction a true and tragic period in English history centering on a real town which faced a virulent outbreak of the plague.  Approximately four-fifths of the populace of the small English town of Eyam died during this outbreak in 1666, but the townspeople are remembered to this day for the extraordinary sacrifice they collectively made under the leadership of their local rector.  Brooks employs a somber and lyrical tone along with a memorable narrator to do justice to this spellbinding story.

Summer Reading: Literary Novels Served Up With Werewolves And Robots

Better stockpile some silver bullets and wolfsbane; this summer could get hairy!

Supernatural fiction has elbowed its way to the forefront, but this year you'll find an even greater intermixing of genres such as science fiction or occult with literary fiction according to The Wall Street Journal article of today entitled "The Season of the Supernatural."  Novelists are taking a stab at writing crossover books which bridge literary fiction with the popular genres of fantasy and the supernatural.

Successful publications such as Justin Cronin's The Passage have encouraged writers to utilize vampires, werewolves and robots as devices in their new literary novels.  Well-known author Michael Chabon comments in this article on the similarity between writing a literary novel and writing science fiction, "Your job is exactly the same - to persuade the reader that it is all true. That's the same if you are writing about suburban New Jersey, as well as suburban Jupiter."

A number of new crossover fiction books are suggested for your summer reading in this interesting article. Perhaps Glen Duncan's upcoming book, The Last Werewolf, will grip you by the throat with heartfelt feeling  for the melancholy werewolf protagonist. And now that the recent interest in Doomsday predictions has surfaced, Tom Perrotta's book The Leftovers ought to take readers away, just as a Doomsday event described in the book has taken away a mass of people. Perrotta states, "I thought I could write a comic novel about the apocalypse, but I quickly realized it would be a book about grief."  Click on the link to read more.

Anorexia Starves the Family, Too

Brave Girl Eating: a family's struggle with anorexia by Harriet Brown will be discussed at the next meeting of Memoirs and Coffee, one of Bernardsville Public Library's monthly book groups.  The meeting will take place in the Community Room on Tuesday, May 24th, at 10:30 a.m..  This book group is open to the public; please feel free to attend.  The discussion will be led by staff member Pat Kennedy-Grant.

Harriet Brown is an assistant professor of magazine journalism at the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and has contributed articles to Health, Redbook, The New York Times Magazine and to the Science section of The New York Times. She is the author of other books as well as a blog entitled "Feed Me!" which discusses eating disorders.  Brave Girl Eating chronicles her own family's efforts to help her teenage daughter combat anorexia nervosa.  

Elephants and Crocs, as Seen by the Doc

Tales of an African Vet by Dr. Roy Aronson brings the reader up close and quite personal with the kinds of wild animals that tourists dream about but may never see on safari.  Each of the 19 stories chronicles an interesting medical case handled by this highly-skilled South African veterinarian.  Some of the cases
seemed hopeless at the time; others appeared almost impossible to treat.  How do you track and treat in the wild a lionness with entropion of the eyelid, a condition which could eventually blind her?   How safe is it to anesthetize a 2-ton rhinoceros? Can an elephant survive a plundered meal of 220 pounds of canned pickles and jars of jam, glass and all?  Who wouldn't want to know the answer to that one!

The intriguing medical crises of large and small wild animals are explained in this book with humility, good humor, and a loving dedication to the author's patients.  Yes, even a deadly Cape cobra which has killed a small pet dog (the dog went into the bushes after the snake and broke the snake's spine) is treated by the doctor with the same earnest hope of saving its life.  Although this story ended sadly for both animals, Dr. Aronson made the effort to find the wild snake, restrain it, perform an examination on it, mercifully euthanize it, and then safely desposit the snake's body out in the countryside.  He did this out of respect for life and nature's ways.

Each of these medical cases has broadened the author's knowledge of the animal kingdom and its precarious standing in a world ever encroached upon by man.  In turn, this African veterinarian has educated many game wardens, animal handlers, and the public about the unique and serious conditions that can affect these animals.  The issues of Apartheid, poaching, and the introduction of human disease into wildlife species are discussed in an  informative way that puts mankind on alert without harsh scolding. I thoroughly enjoyed these true and amazing stories demonstrating one very beneficial and vital way man can connect with the wildest of lifeforms.
~Evelyn Fischel~

Authors from the Indian Subcontintent Featured

Bernardsville Public Library is currently featuring a colorful display of books by authors from the Indian Subcontinent.  Please stop by this new display in the lobby to browse from these wonderful works of fiction. Authors included in the display hail from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.  The display offers an interesting variety of fiction including thrillers (Six Suspects), relational stories (Sister of My Heart and Secret Daughter), epic novels (The Moor's Last Sigh and A Suitable Boy), short stories (In the Convent of Little Flowers: stories), as well as contemporary, thought-provoking works (The Reluctant Fundamentalist.)  Let your eye be drawn to the gold and blue sari draping this book display and find yourself drawn into other worlds, other lives.

Rework Your Business Thinking

Thomas Alva Edison said, "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration."  Rework, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson's new book, supplies 271 pages of sheer inspiration to get you motivated about work and your career dreams. And the good news is that this is a very quick and easy book to read.  Rework is filled with bold illustrations and short, punchy topics of one or two pages each, such as "Long Lists Don't Get Done" and "Start at the Epicenter." After reading it, you might just feel the "can do" spirit to lift yourself out of your work or business rut. The last page does admonish you, however, that "Inspiration is Perishable."  As the authors note, "Inspiration is a magical thing, a productivity multiplier, a motivator, But it won't wait for you. Inspiration is a now thing. If it grabs you, grab it right back and put it to work."