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New This Week

February 8, 2010

Column: At the Library
From: Cranbrook Public Library
By Mike Selby




Zimbabwean-born Scottish Author Alexander McCall Smith (who is also a Medical-Law Professor, Publisher, Polyglot, the Commissioner of Human Genetics for Unesco, and an accomplished Bassoonist) returns to 44 Scotland Street with THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF SCONES. The latest book is the continuing adventure of Bertie�"a 6-year-old boy whose attempt to join the Boy Scouts sends his mother into morbid shock. Bertie’s whole family is humorously dysfunctional, with the dog getting all the best lines.

Younger readers should enjoy Michelle Markel’s TYRANNOSAURUS MATH; a brightly colored story about a number-crunching dinosaur that uses his skills to rescue his little sister.

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 Valentines!
The Friends of the Cranbrook Public Library Travelogue series will be presenting PLANNING & EXPLORING THE HISTORIC YUKON RIVER BY CANOE on Monday, February 15th at 7 pm in Room 250 Lecture Theatre at the College of the Rockies. Russell and Sylvia Reid will be discussing the fine art of paddling your canoe down river for 2000 km, all the while trying to avoid the painfully real cliché of being up the creek without a paddle.
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. 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.

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 incredibly rich paintings of Jim Poch, currently on display.






ADULT NEWLY AQUIRED SHELF:

How to be a Cowboy �"Jim Arndt (978)
Tibetans in Exile �" Alan Twigg (362.87)
RockSalt: An Anthology of Contemporary BC Poetry (819.16)
The Best Canadian Poetry in English (819.16)
Mad Dogs and Englishmen �" Ranulph Fiennes (910.92)
Power from the Sun �" Dan Chiras (621.47)
Sins of the Flesh �" Rod Preece (179.3)
201 Knockout Answers to Tough Interview Questions �" Linda Matias (650.144)
Stand by Her: A Breast Cancer Guide for Men �" John W. Anderson (616.99449)
Parenting a Child Who Has Intense Emotions �" Pat Harvey (649.154)
Victory of ADHD �" Deborah Merlin (618.928)
Sport Climbing �" Andrew Bisharat (796.5224)
Corrupt to the Core �" Shiv Chopra (353.99)
The War that Killed Achilles �" Caroline Alexander (883.01)
The Source of Miracles �" Kathleen McGowan (226.9606)
The Ice Passage �" Brian Payton (910.916327)
The Kosher Sutra �" Shmuley Boteach (613.96)
A God Who Hates �" Wafa Sultan (297.082)
One on One �" Peter Mansbridge (920.071)
All Cakes Considered �" Melissa Gray (641.86)
Stonehenge: A New History of the World’s Greatest Circle �" Aubrey Burl (936.2319)
The Imperial Cruise �" James Bradley (359.4)
The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names �" Andrew Scott (917.1110014)
The Harley Davidson Reader (629.2275)
Drawing from the Mountain �" Lorne Perry (741.971)
Why is My Dog Doing That �" Gwen Bailey (636.7)
Why is My Cat Doing That �" Sarah Heath (636.8)
The Oral History Workshop �" Cynthia Hart (907.2)
A Pirate of Exquisite Mind �" Diana Preston (bio)
Follow the Model �" J. Alexander (bio)
Arctic Scientist / Gulag Survivor �" A.M. Ermolaev (bio)
Don’t Forget to Write �" Pam Hobbs (bio)
My Maasai Life �" Robin Wiszowaty (bio)
A Widow in Paradise �" Donna Birdsell (fic)
The Unbearable Lightness of Scones �" Alexander McCall Smith (fic)
The Monster in the Box �" Ruth Rendell (mys)
Iron River �" T. Jefferson Parker (mys)
The First Rule �" Robert Crais (mys)
Blood Ties �" Kay Hooper (mys)
Chaosbound �" David Farland (mys)
Exit Wound �" Andy McNab (mys)
Too Many Murders �" Colleen McCullough (mys)
Harmony �" C.F. Bentley (pb)
Savagery of the Mountain Man �" William W. Johnstone (pb)
Sidewinder �" Jory Sherman (pb)
The Windwracked Stars �" Elizabeth Bear (pb)
Daemon �" Daniel Suarez (pb)



YOUNG ADULT & CHILDREN’S NEWLY ACQUIRED ITEMS:
Self Defense for Women �" Lavinia Soo-Warr (ya 613.66)
The Teen Vogue Handbook: An Insider’s Guide to a Career in Fashion (ya 746.92023)
Eat Fresh Food: Awesome Recipes for Teen Chefs �" Rozanne Gold (ya 641.5)
War of the Witches �" Maite Carranza (ya fic)
Once Was Lost �" Sara Zarr (ya fic)
House of Night Series (Marked, Betrayed, Chosen) �" P.C. Cast (ya fic)
The Way of the Sword �" Chris Bradford (ya fic)
Bleach Series 1 to 7 �" Tite Kubo (ya fic)
The Islands of the Blessed �" Nancy Farmer (ya fic)
Solace of the Road �" Siobhan Dowd (ya fic)
Hush, Hush �" Becca Fitzpatrick (ya fic)
Shadowland �" Alyson Noel (ya fic)
The Enemy �" Charlie Higson (ya fic)
Micro Mania �" Jordan Brown (j 579)
Guitar for Beginners �" Minna Lacey (j 787.87)
Hippey-Hop Hippety Hay: Growing with Rhymes from Birth to Age Three (j 398.8)
Amazing Biome Projects You Can Build Yourself �" Donna Latham (j 577.078)
Draw 50 Magical Creatures �" Lee J. Ames (j 743.87)
I Wonder Why Lizards Lose Their Tails (j 597.94)
Ancient & Medieval People: Complete Series �" Louise Park (j 940)
Tyrannosaurus Math �" Michelle Markel (j 513)
How to Break a Dragon’s Heart �" Cressida Cowell (j fic)
Shakespeare’s Secret �" Elise Broach (j fic)
Odd and the Frost Giants �" Neil Gaiman (j fic)
The Wizard of Rondo �" Emily Rodda (j fic)
Watch Out Little Wombat �" Charles Fuge (j pic)
Wooly Mammoth �" Mick Manning (j pic)
Harry and Horsie �" Katie Van Camp (j pic)











MIKE’S BOOKNOTES:


At first, no one had heard of it. The twelfth novel of an obscure Russian author, a publisher in France had printed only a small number of copies. With little fanfare and no reviews, it appeared the book would simply fizzle out and die. But then�"in the 1955 Christmas edition of the Sunday Times�"Graham Greene called it one of the best books of the year. This created a growing enthusiasm about the book, which culminated one week later in the following reviews: “Without a doubt it is the filthiest book I have ever read”, “Sheer unrestrained pornography”, and “I recommend that it be buried under a stone for a thousand years.” It was these reviews which made everyone hunt down this book, creating an uproar in Europe, and moral offense in North America.

The book was LOLITA, written by Vladimir Nabokov.

Although it quickly outsold GONE WITH THE WIND, a large number of confused readers ended up returning the book. As a work of fiction, it is a wordy and dense exercise of dismal internal dialogue. As a work of pornography, none is to be found. LOLITA’s main character is a pedophilic rapist; the depictions of sex are violently cruel, miserably oppressive, and perpetually sickening. As Elizabeth Janeway noted, no book “is more likely to quench the flames of lust.”

Although it continues to be controversial, LOLITA is currently regarded as one of the finest novels of the 20th century. The Modern Library lists it as the fourth greatest English language novel of all time. It remains a difficult read�"certainly not an uplifting one�"and is one of those best known / least read type of classics. One interesting note is that English was not Nabokov’s first language. It was his third.