New This Week
October 26, 2009
Column: At the Library
From: Cranbrook Public Library
By Mike Selby
ONCE ON A MOONLESS NIGHT is the much-praised about novel from French novelist Dai Sijie. It is the tale of an unnamed heroin who discovers a lost textâ€"and possibly a lost languageâ€"while studying ancient China. This book is a magnificent tour of the beauty and terror of China’s hidden past.
Frank Camus retells the legend of King Arthur in his new graphic novel KNIGHTS OF THE LUNCHROOM TABLE. Artie King and his friends Percy and Wayne join forces to try and stop the school bullies. Look for appearances of Principal Dagger, the science teacher Mr. Merlyn, and Artie’s irritating sister Morgan.
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 Halloween!
The Friends of the Cranbrook Public Library and the College of the Rockies will be showing their latest Travelogue on Monday, November 16, 2009 in the Lecture Theatre (Room 250) at the College. Sylvia Reed will be presenting “Trekking across South America â€" from Quito to Brazil\". Presentation begins at 7:00 p.m. Doors open 6:30 p.m. Admission is by donation, and please remember seating is limited. For more information, please call April at 489-2038.
The Emerald Mine (Canex) near Salmo was unique. Under the ownership of Placer Development Inc. it not only generated 8,000,000 tons of lead/zinc ore, but was also Canada’s largest tungsten producer, the second largest in North America. It was the first mine in Canada to use diesel-powered heavy equipment underground. Larry Jacobsen provides an entertaining and touching look at the life and work of the miners in his book JEWEL OF THE KOOTENAYS : THE EMERALD MINE. Larry will also be presenting slides and talk about life at the mine at the Manual Training School beside the Cranbrook Public Library located at 1212 2nd Street North on Friday October 30th, at 3 pm.
Any and all kids ages 9 to 11 (grades 4 to 7) are invited to attend BOOK BITES, a new book club meeting every third Thursday from September to May, beginning at 4 pm. Come out and talk about books, do fun activities, and enjoy some snacks.
And any and all teens are invited to CHATTERZ, their own book club which meets every second Thursday from September to May, beginning at 4 pm. For more information on either of these book clubs, please contact Deanne at 426-4063.
For the month of October we will be displaying Antarctica inspired artwork by Lucy Sanderson, including lapidary, paintings, and photographs.
ADULT NEWLY AQUIRED SHELF:
Terror on the Seas â€" Daniel Sekulich (910.45)
The No-Cry Sleep Solution â€" Elizabeth Pantley (618.928498)
Seeds of Terror â€" Gretchen Peters (958.1047)
When Everything Changes : Change Everything â€" Neale Donald Walsh (204.2)
Aunt Mary in the Granary â€" Eileen Comstock (971.2402)
Haunted Alberta : 62 True Ghost Stories â€" Barbara Smith (398.25)
How to Raise the Perfect Dog â€" Cesar Millan (636.7088)
Soap & Water & Common Sense â€" Bonnie Henry (616.909)
Dad to the Bone â€" Rick Kirkman (741.5973)
Perfect Preserves â€" Hilaire Walden (641.852)
Skinny Bastard â€" Rory Freedman (613.25)
Cezanne â€"Nicola Nonhoff (759.4)
Peacemaking Circles from Crime to Community â€" Kay Pranis (364.68)
Wildflower â€" Mark Seal (bio)
The Shortest Distance Between Two Women â€" Kris Radish (fic)
Once on a Moonless Night â€" Dai Sijie (fic)
Sleepless Nights â€" Sarah Bilston (fic)
The Atlantis Revelation â€" Thomas Greanias (fic)
Fear the Worst â€" Linwood Barclay (mys)
The Last Ember â€" Daniel Levin (mys)
The Amateurs â€" Marcus Sakey (mys)
Sheer Folly â€" Carola Dunn (mys)
The Memoirs of Wild Bill Hickock â€" Richard Matheson (pb)
Sew Deadly â€" Elizabeth Lynn Casey (pb)
The Turning Tide â€" Diana Pharaoh Francis (pb)
The Prefect â€" Alastair Reynolds (pb)
A Darkness Forged in Fire â€" Chris Evans (pb)
Community Brain Injury Program for Children and Youth (DVD)
Miss Congeniality (DVD)
YOUNG ADULT & CHILDREN’S NEWLY ACQUIRED ITEMS:
Knights of the Lunch Table â€" Frank Cammus (ya pb)
Something to Hang On To â€" Beverley Brenna (ya pb)
Breathing Soccer â€" Debbie Spring (ya pb)
A Fabumouse School Adventure â€" Geronimo Stilton (j pb)
The Trouble with Violet â€" Anne Mazer (j pb)
Mable Makes the Grade â€" Anne Mazer (j pb)
Violet Makes a Splash â€" Anne Mazer (j pb)
Star Wars The Clone Wars Crash Course â€" Henry Gilroy (j pb)
Chloe the Topaz Fairy â€" Daisy Meadows (j pb)
Molly the Goldfish Fairy â€" Daisy Meadows (j pb)
Penny the Pony Fairy â€" Daisy Meadows (j pb)
Funny All over â€" Kimberley Shapiro (j easy)
The Bull and the Fire Truck â€" Tony Johnston (j easy)
Time For Bed â€" Mem Fox (j pic)
If You’re Happy and You Know It â€" Jan Omerod (j pic)
Baby Mozart (DVD)
MIKE’S BOOKNOTES:
Since it was first published in 1818, FRANKENSTEIN (originally titled The Modern Prometheus) has been haunting us ever since. It was written by 19â€"year-old Mary Shelley while vacationing with her husband at Lord Byron’s summer home in Geneva. While we remember Mary as the author of FRANKENSTEIN, her own time remembered her for something else entirely.
Mary Shelley lived a very tough life. Born in 1797, her fatherâ€"William Godwinâ€"a radical philosopher and novelist, was frequently penniless. Her motherâ€"Mary Wollstonecraftâ€"a celebrated writer, philosopher, and feminist, died giving birth to Mary. When she was 16, Mary met and married the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. This was seen as scandalous, as Shelley was already married to someone, and that someone was pregnant with his child. Frowned upon by society and shunned by their own families, they lived in poverty; which may or may not have caused 3 of their 4 children to die. On the eve of Mary’s 25th birthday, Shelley drowned in the Gulf of Spezia.
A single mother with no income or family support, Mary became desperate. She appealed to Timothy Shelley, her late husband’s father and grandfather to their only living child. Although Timothy was extremely wealthy, he could not get past the disgrace Mary had brought to his family name. He would give her a small food allowance for his grandson, on the condition that Mary kept the Shelley name out of public notice. This not only prevented Mary from publishing anything under her own name, but also stopped her from revealing any biographical details of her late husband, something she would have been paid handsomely for.
As her son grew, Mary was afflicted with frequent migraines and paralysis. A massive brain tumor took her life when she was 53. Her century took little note of her novel, remembering her only as Shelley’s wife.
