New This Week
March 3, 2010
Column: At the Library for March 01/10
From: Cranbrook Public Library
By Mike Selby
As difficult as it is to picture Canada as an island, Victor Suthren makes a pretty good case for it in THE ISLAND OF CANADA. Not only do we have the longest coastline of any country in the world, we also have the planet’s largest lake and river system; this system crosses the entirety of Canada, which "by the way"is surrounded by three oceans. With a rich maritime history plagued with piracy, Suthren feels it is the aspect of being an island nation which is responsible for our unique Canadian character.
Any teen feeling overwhelmed by life should enjoy the humorous DUPLIKATE, the latest novel from Cherry Cheva. Overworked sleep-deprived Kate is doing everything she can to get into a good college. When her exact double magically appears, Kate feels her prayers have been answered; until the deception proves to be far more work than she bargained for.
New to the Library’s Reference Section is the 2010 BRADLEY RESOURCE & INFORMATION BINDER. This is a comprehensive and up-to-date collection of resource and contact information all the child services in Cranbrook and surrounding area.
Preschool Story Time this Wednesday at 11:00 am, 1:15 pm, & 6:30 pm, and Toddler Story this Friday at 10:30 am will be all about Dress Up!
The seventh annual Friends of the Cranbrook Public Library Maga-Sale Madness is happening again the first weekend in March. The dates are Friday and Saturday March 5th and 6th from 10 am to 6 pm and Sunday, March 7 from noon to 6 pm. The place is the Cranbrook Public Library Manual Training School Meeting & Small Conferences Centre.
This is the perfect time to pick up some great magazines for gardening, decorating or even scrap booking picture and ideas. There will be lots of magazines to choose from at very reasonable prices. In addition to magazines, there will also be adult and children videos for sale. Want to get something for free at this sale? Present your current Friends of Cranbrook Public Library membership or you Friends of the Library canvas bag and receive a free magazine of your choice. There will also be 3 lovely draw baskets full of surprises.
Magazine donations dated January 2005 and up can be dropped off at the Cranbrook Public Library during operating hours. Need some help with those donations? Call the library at 426-4063 and leave a message for Michele.
Don’t forget to come and see woodwork of Barry Holmberg, currently on display.
ADULT NEWLY AQUIRED SHELF:
The Enemy Within: A Short History of Witch-Hunting " John Demos (133.4308)
Wild Game Chilies, Soups, & Stews " Rick Black (641.691)
Teach Yourself Visually Windows 7 " Paul McFedries (005.446)
Ultimate Dog Grooming " Eileen Geeson (636.7)
Warren Buffett’s Management Secrets " Mary Buffett (650.1)
The Fifth Agreement " Don Miguel Ruiz (299.792)
All New Square Foot Gardening Cookbook " Mel Bartholomew (641.65)
In Good Times & Bad " M. Gary Neumann (646.78)
Western Garden Book of Edibles (635)
More Not So Big Solutions for Your Home " Sarah Susanka (728.37)
Two is Enough: A Couple’s Guide to Living Childless by Choice " Laura S. Scott (306.87)
In the Face of Fear: Buddhist Wisdom for Challenging Times (294.34442)
The Island of Canada " Victor Suthren (971)
Is That a Fact " Mark Battersby (0001.422)
Building Bone Vitality " Amy Joy Lanou (616.716)
The Tibetan Book of Meditation " Christie McNally (294.34435)
A Life In The News " Tony Parsons (bio)
Literary Life " Larry McMurtry (bio)
The Unnamed " Joshua Ferris (fic)
The Swan Thieves " Elizabeth Kostova (fic)
Noah’s Compass " Anne Tyler (fic)
Texas Chase " Sandra Brown (fic)
The Farmer’s Daughter " Jim Harrison (fic)
Spin " Catherine McKenzie (fic)
Able One " Ben Bova (sci fic)
Death of a Valentine " M.C. Beaton (mys)
The Godfather of Kathmandu (mys)
Unclean Spirits " M. L.N. Hanover (pb)
Bitter Angels " C.L. Anderson (pb)
The Divine Talisman " Eldon Thompson (pb)
Critical Mass " Whitley Strieber (pb)
Bone Magic " Yasmine Galenorn (pb)
Ken Burns’ The War: Complete Series (DVD)
A Place of Our Own: Early Childhood Solutions (DVD)
Alzheimer’s Disease: Facing the Facts (DVD)
Kyle XY: Complete 2nd and 3rd Seasons (DVD)
Inspector Lewis: Complete Series (DVD)
Fly Fishing For Trout (DVD)
Potty & Crate Training For Dogs (DVD)
Make Someone Happy -- Sophie Milman (Music CD)
I Dreamed a Dream -- Susan Boyle (Music CD)
YOUNG ADULT & CHILDREN’S NEWLY ACQUIRED ITEMS:
Leviathan " Scott Westerfeld (ya fic)
Duplikate " Cherry Cheva (ya fic)
Blessing’s Bead " Debby Dahl Eddwardson (ya fic)
Demon Princess: Reign or Shine " Michelle Rowen (ya fic)
Juggling Fire " Joanne Bell (ya fic)
This Lullaby " Sarah Dessen (ya fic)
Blue Bloods " Melissa De La Cruz (ya fic)
Masquerade " Melissa De La Cruz (ya fic)
Amazing Planet Earth; Series 1 to 4 (j 551.432)
UFOs and Aliens " Anne Rooney (j 0001.942)
As Ever, Booky " Bernice Thurman Hunter (j fic)
Flawed Dogs " Berkeley Breathed (j fic)
The Elephant’s Tale " Lauren St. John (j fic)
The Easter Egg " Jan Brett (j pic)
Kitten’s Spring " Eugenie Fernandes (j pic)
MIKE’S BOOKNOTES:
Ahmed Salman Rushdie was just 10-years-old when he saw The Wizard of OZ, but it changed everything for him. He came home from the theatre and announced to his parents that he was going to be a famous writer. To prove it, he wrote a ten page story titled OVER THE RAINBOW, which gave to his father’s secretary to type up. This drive to write stories just like the OZ film, combined with his mother’s (the town gossip extraordinaire) storytelling ability led him to write over a dozen highly regarded novels. And he did become a famous writer; but in a way no one"not even his mother"could have imagined.
Although his book MIDNIGHT CHILDREN won the Booker Prize, and is regarded by many as one of the great books of the last 100 years, it was Rushdie’s THE SATANIC VERSES which made him internationally known and a household name. Neither of which had anything to do with the book’s literary merits.
21 years ago, the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran issued a ‘fatwa’ against Rushdie, believing he had blasphemed Muhammad. Khomeini called for the immediate death of not only Rushdie, but also “anyone involved” in the publication of the book; offering a bounty of 5.2 million dollars. The world was about to change.
Rushdie immediately offered a public apology, stating “\"I profoundly regret the distress that publication has occasioned to sincere followers of Islam.\" This did little to appease Khomeini. Rushdie and his family went into hiding, surrounded at all times by a large team of British Special Branch forces. Unfortunately others were not so lucky.
Half-a-dozen bookshops in London were firebombed for selling THE SATANIC VERSES. Similar attacks were launched against shops in High Wycombe, the Liberty department store, and the Penguin bookshop. Businesses in Nottingham, Guildford and Peterborough were also targeted, but the bombs either failed or were diffused in time. North America has a slightly easier time, with only two California stores bombed. However, dozens of bookstores pulled the book off the shelves, fearing for their employees’ safety.
Then the killings came.
Hitoshi Igarashi, who translated THE SATANIC VERSES into Japanese, was stabbed to death at the university were he taught. The Italian translator was also knifed repeatedly at his apartment in Milan. Rushdie’s Norwegian publisher, William Nygaard, is shot three times in the back outside his home in Oslo. It is unknown how many attempts on Rushdie himself were thwarted, but the closest was when Mustafa Mahmoud Mazeh accidently blew himself up while arming a bomb in Rushdie’s hotel. An anti-Rushdie protest left 40 injured and 12 dead in Bombay. While trying to murder the Turkish translator Aziz Nesin, 37 people were killed in the hotel he was staying at.
In 1998, Rushdie was free to come out from hiding. While the fatwa was not exactly lifted, the government of Iran publically stated they would no longer support any attempts to kill him. He lives today as he once did: a free man who writes stories, just like he did at 10. There’s no place like home.
