New This Week
July 5, 2010
Column: At the Library
From: Cranbrook Public Library
By Mike Selby
Two new books this week both dealing with literary heavyweight John Steinbeck. The first is IN THE SHADOW OF THE CYPRESS, a novel which explores the possibilities that the Chinese settled in California long before Columbus did. This historical mystery is written by Thomas Steinbeck"John’s eldest son. According to Thomas, it was his famous father who suggested the intriguing possibility of a pre-Columbus settlement by the Chinese.
Younger readers should enjoy Lewis Buszbee’s STEINBECK’S GHOST; the story of a young boy’s quest to save his local library which is currently being haunted by characters from John Steinbeck novels.
The Library has 3 fantastic summer reading clubs this summer:
READING ROCKS SUMMER READIN CLUB.
This program includes storytimes, coloring contests, movie nights, cybercamps, story writing contests and even a rock concert.
Registrations starts June 26th, or sign up any day afterwards
Free for everyone aged 3 to 12.
Toddlers also have a program.
GET INTO CHARACTER TEEN READING CLUB.
Open and free to all teens. Get started at website www.teenrc.ca
This program provides teens the opportunity to read books, post their own reviews and personal writing, participate in online chats with peers and authors, and the chance to win weekly prizes.
PASSPORT TO READING ADULT BOOK CLUB
Open and free to all adults. Simply pick up your passport at the Library, and enjoy a summer full of great reading. Prizes included. Registration begins June 26th.
For more information please contact Kristen at 426-4063, or drop her an email at kmacdonald@cranbrookpubliclibrary.ca
The Friends of the Cranbrook Library present their 2nd annual Aboriginal Stories in the Park, Featuring Herman Alpine, Ktunaxa for Tots, and others. This takes place every Tuesday in July from 11:30 to 1 pm, at Spirit Square (Rotary Park). Brings the kids and a picnic lunch, or wander over on your lunch hour. For more information contact Nancy at 250 426 4063, or nreid@cranbrookpubliclibrary.ca
ADULT NEWLY AQUIRED SHELF:
The Shadow Effect " Deepak Chopra (154.2)
Everyday Family Dinners " Sara Moulton (641.54)
The Politician " Andrew Young (973.931)
Not Without Hope " Nick Schuyler (796.332092)
North by Northwestern " Sig Hansen (639.2092)
More Good News " David Suzuki (363.7)
Crafty Ideas for the Bride on a Budget " Linda Kopp (745.5941)
Container Gardening: 250 Design Ideas & Step-By-Step Techniques (635.986)
Real Life Décor " Jean Nayar (747.1)
The Beginner’s Guide to Edible Herbs " Charles W. G. Smith (635.7)
Exploring Nova Scotia " Dale Dunlop (917.16)
Energy-Wise Landscape Design " Sue Reed (712.2)
The Gardener’s Color Palette " Tom Fisher (635.968)
Historic Hikes Around Mt. Assiniboine & In Kananaskis Country (796.51)
Live Spanish: A Grammar-Based Course " R. P. Littlewood (468.3421)
Passages In Caregiving " Gail Sheehy (362.0425)
Live to Ride " Wayne Johnson (796.75)
Tough Times for Tough People (Chicken Soup for the Soul) (330.9)
Nomad " Ayaan Hirsi Ali (bio)
The Bedwetter " Sarah Silverman (bio)
Creation: The True Story of Charles Darwin " Randal Keynes (bio)
Dry Season " Dan Smith (fic)
Shantaram " Gregory David Roberts (fic)
Anthill " E. O. Wilson (fic)
Island Beneath the Sea " Isabel Allende (fic)
Dangerous " Diana Palmer (fic)
The Help " Kathryn Stockett (fic)
That Perfect Someone " Johanna Lindsey (fic)
Romancing Miss Bronte " Juliet Gael (fic)
How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly " Connie May Fowler (fic)
In the Shadow of the Cypress " Thomas Steinbeck (fic)
The Astronomer " Lawrence Goldstone (mys)
Whiplash " Catherine Coulter (mys)
The Sleeping Dragon " Miyuki Miyabe (mys)
Julian Comstock " Robert Charles Wilson (sci fic)
Ark " Stephen Baxter (sci fic)
The Book of Murdoch " Loren D. Estleman (west)
Killer at Large: Why Obesity is America’s Greatest Threat (DVD)
The Germanic Tribes (DVD)
The Jane Austen Book Club (DVD)
Bizarre Dinosaurs (DVD)
An Education (DVD)
YOUNG ADULT & CHILDREN’S NEWLY ACQUIRED ITEMS:
Spirit Bound " Richelle Mead (ya fic)
Burned " P.C. Cast (ya fic)
Elephant Run " Roland Smith (ya fic)
The Sign of the Dove " Susan Fletcher (ya fic)
Only in the Movies " William Bell (ya fic)
Hazmat’s Journey: A Refugee Diary " Antony Robinson (j 305.906914)
Grim Hill: The Family Secret " Linda DeMeulemeester (j fic)
Steinbeck’s Ghost " Lewis Buzbee (j fic)
Danger in the Dark " Tom Lalicki (j fic)
Mighty Mount Kilimanjaro " Geronimo Stilton (j fic)
Go Diego Go: The Great Dinosaur Rescue (j DVD)
When Bob Became a Builder (j DVD)
Curious George: Robot Monkey (j DVD)
Dora the Explorer: World Adventure (j DVD)
Pistachio: The Little Boy Who Woodn’t (J DVD)
MIKE’S BOOKNOTES:
Simply titled LIFE, it is the book that sent shockwaves throughout the publishing industry, causing the largest bidding war over a single book in the 21st century. Little, Brown and Company won out in the end, advancing LIFE’s author a massive 7.1 million dollars. Not available until this October, presale estimates are promising to make LIFE one of the biggest books of the upcoming year. Yet no one is more surprised at all this commotion than the book’s author: Rolling Stones’ guitarist Keith Richards.
Born in December of 1943, Richards was an only child, being raised in a shabby tenement house in East London. On his first day of kindergarten, Richards rode his tricycle to Wentworth County Primary School, where he met and befriended another 5-year-old tricycle-rider: Michael Jagger. Did either of them know they would remain best friends for the next 60-plus years, or that they would write some of the greatest and most influential rock music of all time?
Richards and Jagger were split up 2 years later, where the British class system dictated what type of education one receives. While Richards was sent to a technical school (very low class), Jagger"whose family was slightly better off"was sent to grammar school (ordinary low class). It was in these formative years that Richards discovered a way around the bigoted class system: the Library. “The public library is the great equalizer,” Richards told interviewers years later. “The public library…belongs to you.” And it was at his library that Richards"who not only found a way to keep up with Jagger’s education"but he also found it as a great refuge. One that obvious stood him well when it came to time co-write the hundreds of (often brilliant) lyrics he is famous for.
As an incredible lover of books, Richards has often thought of becoming a librarian, a choice he will elaborate on in the forthcoming LIFE. He has even spent the last decade trying to catalogue the thousands of books he owns by the Dewey Decimal System, and has even looked into professional training in librarianship. With a collection rivaling some public libraries, Richards loans out many volumes to friends and family; when guests visit him, he leaves a small selection of books in their rooms, once he feels like would personally like.
And yes, this is ‘Keith Richards’ we are talking about here. The legendary musician whose monumental consumption of booze and drugs has left him half the time unable to stand, and the other half unable to speak. When the Stones appeared on a 1978 episode of Saturday Night Live, Richards was so fried he was incapable of performing. Cast member Laraine Newman observed “it’s interesting standing there working with someone who’s dead.” The drug arrests, the blood transfusions, and (accidently?) snorting his father’s ashes are all part of Richard’s public legend.
Of course these debauched exploits are the tales of a previous age; ones which no doubt explain the high interest in his book. Today, Richards"and Mick Jagger"are pushing 70; both mullet-wearing grandfathers and national treasures; in 2012 the Rolling Stones will have been together for 50 years. It seems appropriate that his overwhelming love of books would eventually lead Richards to write his own. Thankfully, and testifying to his continued superhuman resilience, he has remembered something to write about.
