New This Week
July 12, 2010
Column: At the Library
From: Cranbrook Public Library
By Mike Selby
Column: At the Library for July 12/10
From: Cranbrook Public Library
By Mike Selby
In CARS FROM A MARRIAGE, Debra Gallant charts her character’s 20 year marriage by recalling all the vehicles they have owned over the years. A married couple recollect the car from their first date to one they used for a family funeral, all with great humour and thoughtfulness.
Younger readers should enjoy Carolyn Beccia’s THE RACOUS ROYALS, a brightly illustrated book full of puzzles and codes which help demonstrate which royal rumors in history were just that, and which ones where true.
Exciting news! The Library’s 5th annual Idlewild Music Fest this summer features the legendary Valdy. Also scheduled to play are Aspen Switzer, Heather Gemmell, redGirl, and Old Spice. This all takes place on Saturday, August 21st. Gates open at 2:30 pm, with music starting at 3:30 pm. Tickets ($20 each, donation for children under 13) can be purchased at the Cranbrook and Kimberley Libraries, Lotus Books, and Pages Book Emporium. For more information, please contact Jenna at 426-4063.
It is still not too late to join one of our 3 fantastic summer reading clubs.
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:
Look Better Naked " Michele Promaulayko (613.04244)
The Language God Talks " Herman Wouk (201.65)
The New Good Life " John Robbins (332.024)
Life’s Too Short To Fold Fitted Sheets " Lisa Quinn (640)
Germania " Simon Winder (943)
Woman Food and God " Geneen Roth (616.8526)
Cradle of Gold " Christopher Heaney (985.37)
Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood (641.5975)
Easy as Pi " Jamie Buchan (510)
Climbing Gardens " Joan Clifton (635.974)
With Glowing Hearts: XXI Olympic Winter Games (796.98)
Mindless Eating " Brian Wansink (616.85)
New Perennials for Canada " Don Williamson (635.963)
Trees and Shrubs of Alberta " Kathleen Wilkinson (582.1609)
Great Walks of Vancouver " Charles Clapham (917.1133)
Slim & Scrumptious " Joy Bauer (641.5635)
If At First You Don’t Conceive " William Schoolcraft (616.692)
The Way of a Gardener " Des Kennedy (635.092)
Adam’s Tongue " Derek Bickerton (401)
The Autism Book " Robert W. Sears (618.9285)
The Real Life Body Book " Hope Ricciotti (613.04244)
Things Might Go Terribly, Horribly Wrong " Kelley G. Wilson (152.46)
Ten Technologies to Save the Planet " Chris Goodall (363.738746)
Dead Aid " Dambisa Moyo (338.91)
Agatha Christie: An Autobiography (bio)
True Compass: A Memoir " Edward M. Kennedy (bio)
703: How I Lost More Than A Quarter Ton and Gained a Life " Nancy Makin (bio)
Family Ties " Danielle Steel (fic)
The Master of Happy Endings " Jack Hodgins (fic)
Cars From A Marriage " Debra Galant (fic)
Mr. Peanut " Adam Ross (fic)
The Rehearsal " Kate Atkinson (fic)
Beachcombers " Nancy Thayer (fic)
The Lonely Polygamist " Brady Udall (fic)
The Solitude of Prime Numbers " Paolo Giordana (fic)
Skin " Mo Hayder (mys)
Broken " Karen Slaughter (mys)
Sizzling Sixteen " Janet Evanovich (mys)
Children in the Morning " Anne Emery (mys)
Ilustrado " Miguel Syjuco (mys)
State Fair " Earlene Fowler (mys)
YOUNG ADULT & CHILDREN’S NEWLY ACQUIRED ITEMS:
Practical Course in Drawing and Painting (ya 741.2)
Learn Chess Quick " Brian Byfield (ya 794.1)
Fishtailing " Wendy Phillips (ya fic)
As Easy as Falling off the Face of the Earth " Lynne Rae Perkins (ya fic)
Flash Burnout " L.K. Madigan (ya fic)
Will Grayson " John Green (ya fic)
The Sky is Everywhere " Andy Nelson (ya fic)
For the Win " Cory Doctorow (ya fic)
Little Brother " Cory Doctorow (ya fic)
The Dragon Princess " E.D. Baker (ya fic)
Divine By Mistake " P.C. Cast (ya fic)
Divine By Blood " P.C. Cast (ya fic)
Divine By Choice " P.C. Cast (ya fic)
Dragon’s Milk " Susan Fletcher (ya fic)
I Belong to the Sikh Faith " Katie Dicker (j 294.6)
I Belong to the Jewish Faith " Katie Dicker (j 296)
Fractions, Decimals, & Percents " David Adler (j 513.26)
The Raucous Royals " Carlyn Beccia (920.02)
Hey Little Ant " Phillip Hoose (j pic)
Daddy’s Scratchy Face " Edith Kunhardt (j pic)
The Napping House " Audrey Wood (j pic)
Teddy’s Birthday " Anne Faundez (j pic)
Sing a Song of Sixpence " Anne Faundez (j pic)
Jedi in Training " Heather Scott (j easy)
MIKE’S BOOKNOTES:
It hasn’t happened in a long time.
Between 1967 and 1977, Rolling Stone Magazine"“a little rock & roll magazine from San Francisco”"published some of the most influential and finest journalism of its time. The magazine was the first to break the Patty Hearst kidnapping, the suspicious death of Karen Silkwood, and the possibility that Charles Manson was not just another misunderstood hippy. From its savage portrayal of Nixon, to the fierce indictment of the Hell’s Angels, who"while providing security at a free Woodstock-type concert in Altamont"stabbed and kicked a teenager to death. In its first decade, Rolling Stone was the one the most trusted and significant magazines ever published.
But that was then.
Since 1977, Rolling Stone"for lack of a better term"sold out. It became slick, accepted ads from liquor, tobacco, and cosmetic companies; and the military. Record companies began to sponsor the magazine, which meant no more negative review about their musicians. The magazine which held the potential to actually change things, turned into a version of GQ. Instead of musicians, its covers began to feature celebrities, making it more look like People or US magazine. What Richard Gere, Brooke Shields, or the cast of Saturday Night Live had to do with music, nobody knew, and the serious journalists left in droves. Now and then a fantastic piece of reporting would show up, such as David Black’s 1985 expose on AIDS, which won him a National Magazine Award. Yet most people were unaware of the article, as Don Johnson (promoting Miami Vice) was on the issue’s cover.
However, Rolling Stone’s 2010 summer issue has easily published the most significant piece of reporting of the year, if not the decade. “The Runaway General” is the article heard around the globe; it caused the regular news media to stand on their heads, and the Obama administration to spring into action. In fact, the General of the story was already fired before the issue even hit the newsstands.
Michael Hastings, the author of this landmine, has just been offered a lucrative sum to expand this story into a book. This will be Hastings’ second book, the first being I LOST MY LOVE IN BAGHDAD, which recounts how his girlfriend was killed while reporting in Iraq.
Hastings isn’t even a regular writer for Rolling Stone, but had simply pitched the story to them. After receiving their OK, he travelled to Paris to interview General Stanley McChrystal, hoping to spend an hour or two interviewing him about the war in Afghanistan. Then the volcano in Iceland erupted, grounding all flights, and Hastings is able to interview McChrystal for an entire month, recording all kinds of criticisms McChrystal has for his own government.
Is this a new corner turned for Rolling Stone? Probably not. Although it still shows the potential the magazine still has, with its ability to scoop Newsweek, Time, the National Review, etc., it will no doubt continue to be a celebrity magazine.
And if you can’t wait to read Hastings’ new book, the Library has the Rolling Stone issue with his explosive article. It’s the one with Lady GaGa on the cover, using 2 machine guns as a bra (?).
