New This Week
June 15, 2009
Column: At the Library
From: Cranbrook Public Library
By Mike Selby
Wilbur Smith leaves Egypt and returns to Africa in his latest work ASSEGAI. When a big-game hunter stumbles upon a German plot to wipe out the British forces, he becomes embroiled in the political, social and romantic melodramas which Smith is famous for. ASSEGAI is a sequel to Smith’s TRIUMPH OF THE SUN.
Charise Mericle Harper’s JUST GRACE should entertain younger readers. Grace loves cats, hates boys, and loves to make lists. When her neighbour’s cat goes missing, Grace volunteers to help. When he plan backfires, the only one who can help her is"you guessed it"a boy! Hilarious illustrations help round out Grace’s adventures.
Interested in joining a book club? A brand new reading group is starting up at the Library. The group will be having an organizational meeting on Tuesday, June 16th, 7 pm at the Library. Anyone interested is welcome to attend. Please contact us at 426-4063 for more information.
Jim Ellemers will be giving basic computer and internet training sessions every Wednesday between 2 and 5 pm. Anyone interested can register at the circulation desk.
For the month of June we will be displaying beautiful watercolor paintings by Teresa Knight.
The summer reading club is just around the corner! FOLLOW THE READER is this year’s theme. Registration begins on June 27. This summer should be our best yet, with coloring contests, movie nights, story-writing contests, cybercamps, games, prizes, and of course books! There will also be a toddler storytime this summer. Please keep checking this column for further details, or phone Kristen at 426-4063.
Need a gift for Father\'s Day? Or summer reading books? Then come to the Friends MINI BOOK SALE on Saturday, June 20th from 11:00 am to 5:00 PM. We will be set up in the Rotary Park downtown. There will be beach reads, popular fiction and non-fiction for all ages, and the every popular newer releases. This is your chance to haul away your summer reading at reasonable prices. Call Marilyn for further info at 489-6254.
ADULT NEWLY AQUIRED SHELF:
Complete Origami " David Mitchell (736.982)
Everyday Indian " Bal Arneson (641.5954)
The Secret of Play " Ann Pleshette Murphy (649.1)
Aquariums " Thierry Maitre-Allain (639.34)
Silhouettes " Sharyn Sowell (736.984)
First-Time Parents " Miriam Stoppard (649.122)
Canada in Sudan " Peter Pigott (962.4)
Emeril at the Grill "Emeril Lagasse (641.76)
Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide 2009 (741.509)
A Saint on Death Row " Thomas Cahill (364.660)
Detox 4 Women " Natalie Rose (613)
Easy Orchids " Liz Johnson (635.9344)
The Men Who Killed Me (967.571)
The Weight of a Mustard Seed " Wendell Steavenson (958.7044)
The 5 Lessons A Millionaire Taught Me for Women " Richard Paul Evans (332.024)
Tide, Feather, Snow : A Life in Alaska " Miranda Weiss (979.83)
Grass, Sky, Song " Trevor Herriot (598.174)
No Angel " Jay Dobyns (364.106)
Throw Out Fifty Things " Gail Blanke (648.5)
The Gospel and the Zodiac " Bill Darlison (133.582)
The Last Lion : The Rise and Fall of Ted Kennedy (bio)
The Devlin Diary " Christi Phillips (fic)
Matters of the Heart " Danielle Steel (fic)
Censoring An Iranian Love Story " Shahriar Mandanipour (fic)
Assegai " Wilbur Smith (fic)
The Best of Men " Claire Letemendia (fic)
Gold of Kings " Davis Bunn (fic)
The Scarecrow " Michael Connelly (mys)
Road Dogs " Elmore Leonard (Mys)
Nightwalkers " P.T. Deutermann (mys)
The Secret Speech " Tom Rob Smith (mys)
Gone Tomorrow " Lee Child (mys)
Wicked Prey " John Sandford (mys)
Cemetery Dance " Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child (mys)
Ken Burn’s The Civil War : Complete Series (DVD)
The Simpsons Season One (DVD)
The Last Chapter : Complete Series (DVD)
Walk at Home : The Big Burn (DVD)
YOUNG ADULT & CHILDREN’S NEWLY ACQUIRED ITEMS:
My Crazy Life : How I Survived My Family (ya 306.87)
200 Projects To Get You Into Fashion Design " Tracy Fitzgerald (j 746.92)
A World Full of Ghosts " Charis Cotter (j 133.1)
Wildlife Gardening " Martyn Cox (j 636.9)
Canadian Girls Who Rocked the World " Tanya Lloyd Kyi (j 305.2352)
Farmer Boy " Laura Ingalls Wilder (j fic)
Just Grace " Charise Mericle Harper (j pb)
About the Rain Forest " Heather Johanasen (j easy)
Too Many Cats " Sindy McKay (j easy)
Big or Little " Kathy Stinson (j pic)
In the Garden " Peggy Collins (j pic)
MIKE’S BOOKNOTES:
Danielle Fernande Dominique Schuelein-Steel married at age 18, pregnant with her first child; had a brief second marriage to a convicted rapist; gave birth to her second child right before her third marriage to another ex-con and heroin addict; this was soon followed by her fourth marriage; which was followed by giving birth to four more daughters and another son. These years were peppered with several miscarriages, and the suicide of her oldest son. Yet somehow"either despite or because of all this"Danielle Steel found time to write.
And write she did. While her early efforts were rejected, her 5th book"PASSION’S PROMISE-was bought by Dell and published in 1977. 2009 saw her 100th book published. She is one the best-selling authors of all time, earning 825 million per year. In 2002, she was knighted in France for her contribution to world literature.
This rankled more than a few critics, who dismiss Steel as a writer of “fluff”; a glorified hack of overworked plots, not to be taken seriously as an author of literature. Yet she is one of the few authors who is not afraid to tackle tough topics such as mental illness, incest, suicide, divorce, war, and even the Holocaust. HIS BRIGHT LIGHT"Steel’s non-fiction book about her inability to help her son Nick (who committed suicide)"is required reading for med students considering psychiatric careers.
South African journalist Kingsley Kobo characterized Danielle Steel as genius, constantly ‘trying to write her own happy ending’.
