Library Moments: Newsletters

Sherrill Sherwood, Collections Development Coordinator: Hello, I’m Sherrill Sherwood from the Haliburton County Public Library and this is Library Moments. Once a week some of us from the library will come and talk about books, upcoming events, or the services we offer at the library. 

As part of our Readers’ Advisory program, Haliburton County Public Library offers a free subscriptions service called NextReads, which sends reading suggestions, library news, and events straight to your email inbox. These newsletters are created through our library administration staff and list titles of interest to the chosen genre with a short summary.  The eight monthly choices are Canadian, Mystery, Fiction A-Z, Nonfiction A to Z, Romance, Teen Scene, and Thrillers/Suspense. The two bimonthly choices are Audiobooks and DVDs.

Today Bessie Sullivan and I will each talk about a title from one of the newsletters we create.

 

Bessie Sullivan, County Librarian: One of the newsletters I do is the Canadian one.  I love working on this newsletter as it means that I can include recently reviewed Canadian fiction, non-fiction, short stories and sometimes I add some recent translations from French to English.  I’m a huge fan of Canadian writing and this list guides much of my personal reading. A recent translation caught my eye this month.

In The Longest Year by Daniel Grenier there is something extraordinary about Thomas Langlois. Thomas is a young boy growing up in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with a French-Canadian father, Albert, and an American mother, Laura. But beyond the fact that he lives between two cultures and languages, there’s something else about Thomas that sets him apart: he was born on February 29. Albert explains to Thomas that he will only age one year out of every four and he will outlive all of his loved ones. Because of this Thomas’s loneliness grows and the years pass until a terrible accident involving a young girl sets in motion a series of events that link the young girl and Thomas to a Civil War era soldier and perhaps their contemporary. Spanning three centuries and set against the backdrop of the Appalachians, from Quebec to Tennessee, The Longest Year is a magical and poignant story about family history, fateful dates, fragile destinies, and lives brutally ended and mysteriously extended.

 

Sherrill Sherwood, Collections Development Coordinator: Creating the Nonfiction A to Z newsletter each month is a labour of love for me. It is usually emailed out on the 10th of each month and showcases recent releases, and also has a themed section on the bottom part. For instance, the theme below recent releases in the August edition read “Garden Bounty!” and a variety of titles were listed to help with harvesting, seed saving, preserving, cooking and drying foods brought into the kitchen this time of year. The first title listed in September’s recently released section is Let Dogs Be Dogs: Understanding Canine Nature and Mastering the Art of Living with Your Dog by the Monks of New Skete and Marc Goldberg. No matter what training methods or techniques you use with your dog, the training is unlikely to be highly successful unless it is based on an understanding of the dog’s true nature. Dogs need food, water, exercise and play, rest, veterinary care–the basics. But since dogs naturally want to be led, they also need focused and compassionate guidance. Through abundant stories and case studies, the authors reveal how canine nature manifests itself in various behaviors, some potentially disruptive to domestic harmony, and show how in addressing these behaviors you can strengthen the bond with your dog as well as keep the peace. The promise of this book is that, especially in an ever-accelerating world filled with digital distractions, you can learn from your dog’s example how to live in the moment, thereby enriching your life immeasurably. As a community, the Monks of New Skete have been breeding, raising, and training dogs for more than 40 years. They are the authors of the bestselling classic The Art of Raising a Puppy. New Skete Monastery is located in Cambridge, New York. Marc Goldberg is a nationally recognized dog trainer based in Chicago.

The registration form for new patrons has a section for choosing to receive one or all electronic newsletters. Existing patrons can choose to opt in through the library website. On the home page look for NextReads Newsletters and go through that to the sign-up page. Archived issues are also posted through that link so you can see which genre would be to your liking. There is, of course, an unsubscribe mechanism available should you choose to withdraw your consent. If you need help subscribing you can, as always, ask for help from your branch staff.

That’s it for this week’s edition of Library Moments, thanks for listening here on 100.9 Canoe FM.

*Originally aired on 100.9 CANOE FM

Book Talk: Author Tristan Gooley

When writer and navigator Tristan Gooley journeys outside, he sees a natural world filled with clues. The roots of a tree indicate the sun’s direction; the Big Dipper tells the time; a passing butterfly hints at the weather. To help you understand nature as he does, Gooley shares tips in his books for forecasting, tracking, and more, gathered from decades spent walking the landscape around his home and around the world. Gooley is the leading expert on natural navigation and his passion for the subject stems from his hands-on experience. He has led expeditions in five continents; climbed mountains in Europe, Africa, and Asia; sailed small boats across oceans; and piloted small aircraft to Africa and the Arctic. Two of Gooley’s titles have recently been added to Haliburton County’s Public Library’s Land Trust Collection. How to Read Water and The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs allow us to interpret clues like private investigators of the wild and to never look at water in the same way again. Riveting, fascinating information is divulged in an easy to understand manner. How To Read Water as well as The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs can be requested through any of the eight library branches in Haliburton County.

*Originally aired August 2017 on 100.9 CANOE FM.

Library Moments: August Online Book Club

Sherrill Sherwood, Collection Development Coordinator: Hello, I’m Sherrill Sherwood from the Haliburton County Public Library and this is Library Moments. Once a week some of us from the library will come and talk about books, upcoming events, or the services we offer at the library.

The theme for August’s online book club is American issues.  A google search using the words “American issues” quickly brought up 989,000,000 results – no lack of subjects there! Erin Kernohan-Berning and I will each talk about one of the four titles chosen for this month’s book club.

Erin Kernohan-Berning, Branch Services Librarian: Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance was written before Donald Trump became president of the United States, but has since become a touchstone for many grappling with understanding the populist anger among his supporters. In Hillbilly Elegy, Vance describes his upbringing in impoverished Appalachia – among people who were called rednecks, hillbillies, and white trash – where poverty, addiction, and domestic abuse was a regular part of life, including within his own household. Vance draws on sociological studies and his own experience examining the cultural and economic erosion of life for a large swath of Americans, and reflects on his own upward mobility – having served in the marines and then attended Yale Law School, he provides an insider outsider perspective on white poverty in America. While Hillbilly Elegy has been lauded across the political spectrum, it isn’t without its controversy, with some feeling Vance is blaming the poor for being poor – with New Republic’s Sarah Jones asking us in her review of the book to “Remember that bootstraps are for people with boots. And elegies are no use to the living.” For those of us looking to the United States asking how did it happen and how did it start, Hillbilly Elegy provides insight into a poorly understood socioeconomic segment of society, but also creates more questions than answers about what we should do next.

 

Sherrill Sherwood, Collection Development Coordinator: Secret Service agent Clint Hill brings history intimately and vividly to life in Five Presidents: my extraordinary journey with Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford as he reflects on his seventeen years protecting the most powerful office in America. After an extraordinary career as a Special Agent on the White House Detail, Hill retired in 1975. A witness to some of the most pivotal moments in the twentieth century, Hill lets you walk in his shoes alongside the most powerful men in the world during tumultuous times in America’s history—the Cold War; the Cuban Missile Crisis; the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy; the Vietnam War; Watergate; and the resignations of Vice President Spiro Agnew and President Nixon. It was indeed a turbulent time—and through it all, Clint Hill had a unique insider perspective. His fascinating stories will shed new light on the character and personality of each of these five presidents, as Hill witnesses their human sides in the face of grave decisions.

Anyone can participate in Haliburton County Public Library’s Online Book Club by choosing to read one or more of four books selected each month. You don’t even have to read from a particular month’s selection you can go online and make comments about books and reading in general. Just go to haliburtonlibrary.ca  and click on the “g” for Goodreads.

That’s it for this week’s Library Moments, thanks for listening here on 100.9 Canoe FM.

*Originally aired on 100.9 CANOE FM

Library Moments: Total Eclipse of the Sun

Erin Kernohan-Berning, Branch Services Librarian: Hello, I’m Erin Kernohan-Berning from the Haliburton County Public Library and this is Library Moments. Once a week some of us from the library will come and talk about books, upcoming events, or the services we offer at the library.

The August 21, 2017 solar eclipse brings with it excitement and anticipation. While a total eclipse of the sun happens fairly frequently – a little less than once per year – it’s comparatively rare that the path of totality, where you can see the moon completely cover all but the sun’s corona, falls across such a densely populated area like North America. Throughout history, eclipses, and solar eclipses in particular, have been the subject of superstition, often considered bad omens. It’s no wonder, as the moon moves across the sun the air becomes chilled and the surroundings are plunged into an eerie twilight, eliciting descriptions anywhere from awe inspiring beauty to what the end of the world might look like. It’s no wonder that in novels a solar eclipse is often the backdrop for great drama.

Today on Library Moments, Sherrill Sherwood and I will each talk about a book that features a solar eclipse in the plot.

 

Sherrill Sherwood, Collection Development Coordinator: In the novel He Said/She Said by Erin Kelly, married couple Kit and Laura have been together for 15 years and have spent most of them in near seclusion, hiding from a stalker. When the pair were first dating, they attended the 1999 Lizard Festival in Cornwall, a three-day music fair centered on the solar eclipse, where they stumbled across a rape in progress. The victim, Beth, insinuates herself into the couple’s lives but quickly proves to be unstable. Jamie, the accused, protests his innocence as they all become consumed by the trial. When Laura and Kit try to distance themselves from Beth, bad things happen, leaving the couple constantly looking over their shoulders. Eventually, Kit, an obsessed eclipse chaser, decides enough time has passed, and he can brave a cruise to Denmark to view an upcoming eclipse, leaving pregnant Laura alone back in London. Once again, bad things happen. The author tells the story through flashback chapters, alternating between Kit’s and Laura’s points of view, which meticulously leads to an astonishing conclusion. All four main characters are unreliable, each desperate to hang on to their own secrets and lies. This is a sure bet for readers who like their psychological suspense heavy on character and full of twists.

 

Erin: The novel I chose was Stephen King’s Delores Claiborne. When Vera Donovan is found dead at the bottom of the stairs with Dolores Claiborne standing over her with a heavy rolling pin, the residents of Little Tall Island – a tiny community off the coast of Maine – draw their own conclusions. And while Dolores insists that she didn’t kill her demanding and wealthy employer, she feels like she needs to come clean about another death in her life. The climax of the novel, in which we witness a turning point in Dolores’ tragic past, takes place during the solar eclipse of July 20, 1963 while the rest of the island’s residents and visitors are enjoying an eclipse party. The juxtaposition of the solar eclipse as something happy, but also ominous is perfect literary fodder, and something King uses to good effect. Dolores Claiborne was originally conceived as part of a larger work titled In the Path of the Eclipse, paired with his novel Gerald’s Game which also features the 1963 eclipse. While little is mentioned about Stephen King and this particular eclipse – he would have been 16 years old and living in Maine at the time – it seems to have lodged in his consciousness and become part of the sprawling world that his books inhabit. Dolores Claiborne, it’s movie adaptation, and Gerald’s Game are available at Haliburton County Public Library.

Haliburton County is well out of the path of totality, so sadly misses out on the spectacle that the residents of 48 contiguous states of the USA are within a day’s drive of. From our view, only 65% of the sun will be covered by the moon – which won’t have much of an effect. However, if you are interested in catching a glimpse, make sure you do so with proper eclipse viewing filters, shade 14 welder’s glass, or using an indirect method like a pinhole projector – because staring at the sun can lead to permanent eye damage. The next North American eclipse will be on April 8th, 2024, with the path of totality crossing upper New York State, and parts of Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada.

That’s it for this week’s Library Moments. Thanks for listening here on 100.9 CANOE FM.

*Originally aired on 100.9 CANOE FM

County Life: Special Guest – Jennifer Robson

Bessie’s Books and Other Things

Every year in the fall, the Friends of the Library put on their biggest fundraiser of the year by hosting an intimate afternoon with a popular Canadian writer.  This year marks the twelfth event and takes place on October 29^th, 2017.

The guest this year is Jennifer Robson who grew up in Peterborough the daughter of the acclaimed historian Stuart Robson.  Stuart Robson had a 35 year career at Trent University where he is now a Professor Emeritus.  Jennifer is no slouch in the history department herself as she holds a Doctorate in British Economic and Social History from the University of Oxford.

She has written four wildly popular historical love stories starting with Somewhere in France, After the War is Over, Moonlight over Paris, and the recently released Goodnight from London.

Set in England in the 1940’s, Goodnight from London is about an ambitious young American journalist Ruby Sutton. Ruby gets her big break with the chance to report on the European war as a staff writer for Picture Weekly news magazine in London. She jumps at the chance, for it’s an opportunity not only to prove herself, but also to start fresh in a city and country that know nothing of her humble origins. But life in besieged Britain tests Ruby in ways she never imagined. Although most of Ruby’s new colleagues welcome her, a few resent her presence, not only as an American but also as a woman. She is just beginning to find her feet, to feel at home in a country that is so familiar yet so foreign, when the bombs begin to fall. As the nightly horror of the Blitz stretches unbroken into weeks and months, Ruby must set aside her determination to remain an objective observer. When she loses everything but her life, and must depend upon the kindness of strangers, she learns for the first time the depth and measure of true friendship—and what it is to love a man who is burdened by secrets that aren’t his to share. Goodnight from London is inspired in part by the wartime experiences of Jennifer’s own grandmother.

Mark Medley of the Globe and Mail describes Jennifer Robson as “The most successful Canadian author you’ve never heard of.”  Yet, every one of her books has made the top selling Canadian Fiction list of the Globe and Mail. Not only that, 100,000 copies of Somewhere in France are in print in North America, a tremendous number for an unheralded debut.

Being a self-proclaimed history geek, these novels are meticulously researched. “If reading one of my books then propels someone to want to learn more about the Great War, for example, then I feel I’ve accomplished something,” say Robson.  I learned a great deal about World War II from reading these novels and I’m always up for a compelling love story. 

I am very excited about this year’s Gala guest and can’t wait for her to come to the highlands.

*Originally published in County Life, August 2017.

Book Promo: Tomboy Survival Guide by Ivan Coyote

Tomboy Survival Guide, by Canadian writer, performer, and musician Ivan Coyote, is a collection of well-told tales about the author’s experiences growing up as a transgender person in the Yukon. Adapted from Coyote’s successful stage show of the same name, these stories are entertaining but also impart serious messages and offer the reader a window into the experiences of a transgender person who became a successful writer and performer. Tomboy Survival Guide is one of ten titles nominated for the Evergreen™ Award. Ballot boxes will be placed in all eight library branches during the month of September for you to cast your vote, whether you read one or all ten titles. Your votes will be submitted to the Ontario Library Association and the winner will be announced in October during Ontario Public Library Week. The Evergreen Award is best described as the “readers’ choice” of Canadian literary awards and has been very popular with Haliburton County Public Library patrons since 2010.

*Originally aired in August 2017 on 100.9 CANOE FM.

Book Talk: The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner

The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner is a young adult novel about three friends from different walks of life who have one thing in common: none of them seem to fit the mold in rural Tennessee’s Forrestville High. Dill has always been branded as an outsider due to his family heritage as snake handlers and poison drinkers, an essential part of their Pentecostal faith. But after his father is sent to prison for the possession of child pornography, Dill and his mother become real pariahs. Only his two friends, Travis, a gentle giant who works at his family’s lumberyard and is obsessed with a Game of Thrones-like fantasy series, and Lydia, a girl who runs a popular fashion blog and is actively plotting her escape from “Redneckville”, Tennessee, seem to understand.

As the three friends begin their senior year, however, it becomes clear that they won’t all be getting to start a promising new life after graduation.   A shattering act of random violence forces them to wrestle with their own dark legacies, adult situations, and to try and find a way into the light of a future worth living.

Reading and writing play an important roll in this story, not only to each of the main characters but also to a minor one who says, notably: “I’ve made books my life because they let me escape this world of cruelty and savagery.”  This story,  and others like it, is available at the Haliburton County Public Library.

*Originally aired in August 2017 on 100.9 CANOE FM.

Library Moments: 2017 Favourite Summer Reads

Bessie, County Librarian: Hello, I’m Bessie Sullivan from the Haliburton County Public Library and this is Library Moments. Once a week some of us from the library will come and talk about books, upcoming events, or the services we offer at the library.

Do people have more time to read in the summer?  Could it be that because there are longer days and we can read outside that we pack more reading time in? We refer to something called a “summer read,” but what makes a read different in the summer than in any other season? Reading is viewed by some as a leisure activity and people’s reading does increase when they are on vacation.   Does being on holidays cause you to choose what you are reading differently?  

I’ve asked a whole lot more questions than I have answered, but today on Library Moments Sherrill Sherwood and I will each tell you about our favourite read this summer and how we choose it.

Sherrill Sherwood, Collection Development Coordinator: My favourite read so far this summer was recommended to me by Bessie. I have to tell you – Bessie really does have a knack for picking the right book for the right person! Set in England in the 1940s, Goodnight From London by Jennifer Robson is about an ambitious young American journalist Ruby Sutton. Ruby gets her big break with the chance to report on the European war as a staff writer for Picture Weekly newsmagazine in London. She jumps at the chance, for it’s an opportunity not only to prove herself, but also to start fresh in a city and country that know nothing of her humble origins. But life in besieged Britain tests Ruby in ways she never imagined. Although most of Ruby’s new colleagues welcome her, a few resent her presence, not only as an American but also as a woman. She is just beginning to find her feet, to feel at home in a country that is so familiar yet so foreign, when the bombs begin to fall. As the nightly horror of the Blitz stretches unbroken into weeks and months, Ruby must set aside her determination to remain an objective observer. When she loses everything but her life, and must depend upon the kindness of strangers, she learns for the first time the depth and measure of true friendship—and what it is to love a man who is burdened by secrets that aren’t his to share. Goodnight from London is inspired in part by the wartime experiences of the author’s own grandmother.

 
Bessie, County Librarian: Erin Kernohan-Berning recently did a book promotion on CanoeFM about what has become my favourite read of the summer.  She did such a good job describing this book that she made me want to read it. The Last Neanderthal by Claire Cameron takes place 40,000 years in the past when the last family of Neanderthals roams the earth. After a crushingly hard winter, their numbers are low, but Girl, the oldest daughter, is just coming of age and her family is determined to travel to the annual meeting place and find Girl a mate. However, through hunting accidents, animal attacks, old age, and disease, their numbers dwindle until Girl is left alone to care for Runt, a foundling of unknown origin. In the modern day, archaeologist Rosamund Gale works against the clock after she finds evidence of a neanderthal and human buried together in France. The Last Neanderthal asks us to reconsider all we’ve ever thought about what it means to be human.

Both Sherrill and I read a recent Canadian book as our favourite summer read.  Sherrill’s choice, Jennifer Robson is also the Friends of the Library 2017 Gala Guest.  The gala will take place this year on October 29th.

All of Jennifer Robson’s and Claire Cameron’s books can be found at the Haliburton County Public Library.

That’s it for this week’s edition of Library Moments, thanks for listening here on 100.9 Canoe FM.

*Originally aired on 100.9 CANOE FM

Library Moments: What’s on the High Holds List this Month?

Sherrill Sherwood, Collection Development Coordinator: Hello, I’m Sherrill Sherwood from the Haliburton County Public Library and this is Library Moments. Once a week some of us from the library will come and talk about books, upcoming events, or the services we offer at the library.

All of us at the library aim to put books in the hands of our patrons in a timely fashion. Sometimes there are waiting lists for popular items. When there are over four people at a time waiting for an item, we can see this through a report that we run called the High Holds list. From that report we determine if more copies of those items need to be purchased. The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware was on the list two months in a row this spring. As often happens when I see that a title is very popular, I wait for the holds to be filled and then check it out myself. I’m looking forward to reading it since, based on previous high holds, I know that our library patrons  have excellent taste. Today on Library Moments Bessie Sullivan and I will each discuss a title that was on July’s high holds list.

Bessie, County Librarian: In The Alice Network by Kate Quinn it’s 1947 and American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She’s also nursing a fervent belief that her beloved French cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive somewhere. So when Charlie’s family banishes her to Europe to have her “little problem” taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.

In 1915, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance to serve when she’s recruited to work as a spy for the English. Sent into enemy-occupied France during The Great War, she’s trained by the mesmerizing Lili, the “Queen of Spies”, who manages a vast network of secret agents, right under the enemy’s nose. Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn’t heard in decades, and launching them both on a mission to find the truth … no matter where it leads.  

Sherrill Sherwood, Collection Development Coordinator: The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand tells the story of identical twin sisters who couldn’t look more alike…or live more differently. Harper Frost is laid-back and easygoing. She doesn’t care what anyone thinks of her. She likes a beer and a shot and wouldn’t be caught dead wearing anything fashionable. She’s inherited her father’s rundown house on Martha’s Vineyard, but she can’t hold down a job, and her latest romantic disaster has the entire island talking. Tabitha Frost is dignified and refined. She prefers a fine wine and has inherited the impeccable taste of her mother, an iconic fashion designer. She’s also inherited her mother’s questionable parenting skills–Tabitha’s teenage daughter is in full rebellion mode–and a failing fashion boutique on Nantucket in desperate need of a cash infusion. After more than a decade apart, Harper and Tabitha switch islands–and lives–to save what’s left of their splintered family. But the twins quickly discover that the secrets, lies, and gossip they thought they’d outrun can travel between islands just as easily as they can. Will Harper and Tabitha be able to bury the hatchet and end their sibling rivalry once and for all? Before the last beach picnic of the season, there will be enough old resentments, new loves, and cases of mistaken identity to make this the most talked-about summer that Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket have experienced in ages. The Identicals is Hilderbrand’s nineteenth novel.

In case you were wondering, the other titles on July’s high holds list were; Into the Water by Paula Hawkins, The Ultimatum by Karen Robards, Camino Island by John Grisham and Goodnight from London by Jennifer Robson. Jennifer Robson also happens to be the Friends of the Library 2017 Gala Guest.  The gala will take place this year on October 29th.

That’s it for this week’s edition of Library Moments, thanks for listening here on 100.9 Canoe FM.

*Originally aired on 100.9 CANOE FM

Book Talk: The Name Therapist by Duana Taha

A child of Irish and Egyptian immigrants to Canada, Duana Taha became fascinated by names, maybe because hers felt awkward at best and impossible at worst. She believed that names explained not only who you were, but where you came from and who you could be. She became a name nerd, and later a name snob, before settling into the role she was born to play—a Name Therapist, giving straight talk baby-and-grown-up-name advice to just about everyone. In her nonfiction book The Name Therapist, Duana’s explorations will help you understand your feelings about your own name, whether it’s one you share with millions or one you grew up waiting in vain for the Romper Room host to say. Would you, by any other name, still be you? The Name Therapist is one of ten titles nominated for the Evergreen™ Award. Read one or all ten titles and cast your vote for your favorite at your branch of the Haliburton County Public Library in September.

*Originally aired in August 2017 on 100.9 CANOE FM.