New This Week
January 11, 2010
Column: At the Library
From: Cranbrook Public Library
By Mike Selby
Column: At the Library for Jan 11/10
From: Cranbrook Public Library
By Mike Selby
Theo Fleury charts his own destruction and redemption in his autobiography PLAYING WITH FIRE. While his talent for hockey rescued him from destitute and abusive parents, it forced him into the care of a vicious sexual predator. That Fleury spiraled into a life of drugs, alcohol, gambling, uncontrolled rage, and suicide attempts is understandable. That he won the Stanley Cup and an Olympic Gold Medal is nothing short of a miracle. This is a raw yet inspiring biography of one of hockey’s all time greats.
Younger readers should enjoy reading about some of history’s best known scientific frauds in HOAXED : FAKES & MISTAKES IN THE WORLD OF SCIENCE. This brightly illustrated book shows how bogus ancient bones, crop circles, a made-up lost tribe, and even Bigfoot initially fooled some of history’s best scientists.
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 Trucks!
Now is a good time to donate your unwanted books, videos and DVDs to the Friends of the Library. These items will be used in future book sales and proceeds will be used to purchase new library books. Please bring all donations to the circulation desk at the Library.
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.
Come and see the fantastic folk art display of Yoki Prints, courtesy of Jurgen Flemming.
ADULT NEWLY AQUIRED SHELF:
Conquering Fear â€" Harold S. Kushner (152.46)
Hungry â€" Crystal Renn (746.920)
Uranium Wars â€" Amir D. Aczel (621.48)
Kluge â€" Gary Marcus (153)
Horse and Pony Body Language Phrase Book â€" Susan McBane (636.1)
The Country Cooking of Ireland â€" Colman Andrews (641.59415)
Reader’s Digest Long Life Prescription (613)
The Ultimate Happy Prescription â€" Deepak Chopra (158)
Lighting Their Fires â€" Rafe Esquith (649.1)
The Cure Within â€" Anne Harrington (616.00199)
Racing Toward Armageddon â€" Michael Baigent (236.9)
Rowed Trip â€" Colin Angus (914.04561)
Return to Antarctica â€" Adrian Raeside (949.8904)
Sunday Money â€" Jeff Macgregor (796.72)
The 2012 Story â€" John Major Jenkins (001.9)
The Live Cleansing Diet â€" Sandra Cabot (616.362)
French Kiss â€" Chantal Hebert (971.073)
Homer’s Odyssey â€" Gwen Cooper (636.8)
All That We Say is Ours â€" Ian Gill (971.112)
Glenn Gould â€" Mark Kingwell (bio)
Rene Levesque â€" Daniel Poliquin (bio)
The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion â€" Christopher K. Germer (152.4)
A Bitter Pill : How the Medical System is Failing the Elderly â€" John Sloan (362.198)
Painting for the Absolute and Utter Beginner â€" Claire Watson Garcia (751.426)
Layered, Tattered, & Stitched : A Fabric Art Workshop â€" Ruth Rae (746)
The 175 Best Camp Games â€" Kathleen Fraser (790.15)
Organize Your Digital Life (025.84)
Fix-It Magic â€" Joey Green (643.7)
2010 Motormouth â€" Zack Spencer (629.222029)
Canadian Family Law â€" Malcolm C. Kronby (346.710)
UFE Tax : A Guide to Understanding the Basics of Canadian Income Taxation (343.71052)
167 Tax Tips for Canadian Small Business â€" Stephen Thompson (343.710)
Latin / English Dictionary â€" Judith Lynn Sebastian (473.21)
The Curse of the Good Girl â€" Rachel Simmons (305.23)
Cheating Death â€" Sanjay Gupta (616.025)
Going Rogue : An American Life â€" Sarah Palin (bio)
Playing with Fire â€" Theo Fleury (bio)
Here’s the Deal : Don’t Touch Me â€" Howie Mandell (bio)
Kanata â€" Don Gillmor (fic)
The Honor of Spies â€" W.E.B. Griffin (fic)
Days of Gold â€" Jude Deveraux (fic)
Deadly Deals â€" Fern Michaels (fic)
Fired Up â€" Jayne Ann Krentz (mys)
The Geneva Deception â€" James Twining (mys)
Deeper than the Dead â€" Tami Hoag (mys)
The Mystery of Charles Dickens (DVD)
Confessions of a Shopaholic (DVD)
Little Doritt (DVD)
The History of the Devil (DVD)
Julie & Julia (DVD)
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (DVD)
The Bible Unearthed (DVD)
The Story of Islam (DVD)
The Motorcycle Diaries (DVD)
YOUNG ADULT & CHILDREN’S NEWLY ACQUIRED ITEMS:
Hell’s Heroes â€" Darren Shan (ya fic)
FreeFall â€" Roderick Gordon (ya fic)
Today I Will â€" Ellen Spinelli (j 082)
Your Body Battles a Cold â€" Vicki Cobb (j 616.205)
Hoaxed : Fakes & Mistakes in the World of Science (j 500)
Day Light Night Light â€" Franklyn M. Branley (j 535)
Face to Face with Leopards â€" Beverly Joubert (j 599.7554)
Usborne First Picture Word Book in Polish (j 491.85)
What’s the Big Idea â€" Helaine Becker (j 609)
The Kids’ Karate Workbook â€" Didi Goodman (j 796.815)
Night of Ninjas â€" Mary Pope Osborne (j pb)
Chaos in China â€" Cora Taylor (j pb)
Why Do I Have to Eat off the Floor â€" Chris Hornsey (j pic)
How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You â€" Jane Yolen (j pic)
Veggie Tales Holiday Double Feature (DVD)
MIKE’S BOOKNOTES:
It wasn’t a bloodcurdling screamâ€"more of a rodeo oneâ€"but it was a scream, and it sent the staff at Harvard Library’s Manuscript Room running. The scream came from Madeline Stern, whoâ€"along with her research partner Leona Rostenbergâ€"had just found a few personal letters and financial records of Louisa May Alcott. Stern was writing a biography of Alcott, but was troubled with a few ‘lost years’ of Alcott’s early life. While all accounts indicated Alcott was employed as a governess in the late 1840s, there were simply no records of where she worked, or who she worked for. Yet somehow she was able to provide financially for her poverty stricken family. What exactly had the future author of LITTLE WOMENâ€"one of the most popular and endearing children’s books of all timeâ€"been doing?
What the letters and financial records revealed was that Alcott had been secretly writing during those lost years. This was not surprising. Numerous 19th century authors wrote hack work for magazines and newspapers either anonymously or pseudonymously, attempting to keep their literary personas separate from this lesser form of art. What was surprising, and not a little astonishing, was the content of what Alcott wrote. Using the penname A. M. Barnard, Alcott churned out dozens of ‘Blood and Thunder’ stories. These books overflowed with sexual violence, adultery, incest, cross-dressing, drug addiction, and grisly murders. These tales were as far from Jo March skating with her sisters as one could get.
Madeline Stern’s scream at the library took place in 1942. Since then she has exhaustively hunted down as many of these existing stories as she could find, with each one being republished as a work by Louisa May Alcott. While this naturally led to a re-evaluation of Alcott’s work, the results have been extremely positive. Alcott is now seen as a writer of extraordinary imagination, and one of the 19th century’s most articulate and powerful voices.
 
