New This Week
July 19, 2010
Column: At the Library
From: Cranbrook Public Library
By Mike Selby
Surgeon turned novelist Tess Gerritsen returns with her 8th medical thriller, ICE COLD. While on a Wyoming ski trip, a medical examiner and her friends become stranded in the middle of nowhere. Taking refuge in an abandon village, the lost group discovers their worst enemy isn’t the cold.
Teen readers should enjoy THE GHOSTS OF WAR, Ryan Smithson’s true account of his experiences fighting in Iraq. Remaining neutral in his opinions of the war, Smithson describes what he felt as a 19-year-old soldier, and how he needed to spend time with children"there and back home"in order to keep his sanity. Smithson challenges younger readers to create their own meanings of duty and sacrifice.
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 Anna 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:
Choppers and Custom Motorcycles "Doug Mitchel (629.28775)
The Bird Detective " Bridget Stutchbury (598.15)
The Secret Life of the Grown Up Brain " Barbara Strauch (616.89)
How to Retire Overseas " Kathleen Peddicord (646.79)
How Leaders Speak " Jim Gray (658.452)
Different Learners " Jane M. Healy (371.9)
Birdology " Sy Montogmer (598)
The Armageddon Factor " Marci McDonald (322.70971)
Spirit of the Nikkei Fleet " Masako Fukawa (971.100)
Wrong " David H. Freedman (001)
The Strong Women’s Guide to Total Health " Miriam E. Nelson (613.04244)
A Hunter’s Confession " David Carpenter (799.29)
Kasztner’s Train " Anna Porter (940.531835)
The RRSP Secret " Greg Habstritt (332.02401)
The Leader Who Had No Title " Robin Sharma (658.4)
Victoria: A History in Photos " Peter Grant (917.1128)
A Woman in the Polar Night " Christine Ritter (919.81)
The New Atkins for a New You " Eric C. Westman (613.25)
The Canadian Century: Moving Out Of America’s Shadow (971.07)
Essential Bathrooms " Terence Conran (747.78)
Essential Kitchens " Terence Conran (747.797)
Whoopie Pies " Sarah Billingsley (641.8654)
Confident Computing for the Over 50s " Bob Reeves (0004.16)
Security and Defense in the Terrorist Era " Elinor C. Sloan (355.033071)
A Boy Should Know How to Tie a Tie " Antwone Fisher (646.70444)
Publish Your Family History " Susan Yates (070.593)
Trigger Point Therapy for Low Back Pain " Sharon Saucer (617.564)
How to Use, Adapt, and Design Sewing Patterns " Lee Hollahan (646.4072)
The Boreal Gourmet: Adventures in Northern Cooking " Michele Genest (641.597191)
I Learned Kung Fu from A Bear Cub " Matt Jackson (796.50971)
One More Time: The Dal Richards Story (bio)
The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama " David Remnick (bio)
Spoken from the Heart " Laura Bush (bio)
Frankenstein: Lost Souls " Dean Koontz (fic)
Showdown " Tilly Bagshawe (fic)
Twelve Rooms with a View " Theresa Rebeck (fic)
Corduroy Mansions " Alexander McCall Smith (fic)
Angel Time " Anne Rice (fic)
Edge of the Apocalypse " Tim Lahaye (fic)
Cradle of Thorns " Josephine Cox (fic)
Sweet Dates in Basra " Jessica JiJi (fic)
Blackberry Wine " Joanne Harris (fic)
Mergers & Acquisitions " Dana Vachon. (fic)
The Lies We Told " Diane Chamberlain (fic)
Betrayed " Robert Tanenbaum (mys)
In the Name of Honor " Richard North Patterson (mys)
Ice Cold " Tess Gerritsen (mys)
Silent Scream " Lynda La Plante (mys)
Foreign Influence " Brad Thor (mys)
Private " James Patterson (mys)
The Search " Nora Roberts (mys)
Inside Out " Barry Eisler (mys)
Kennedy’s Brain " Henning Mankell (mys)
A Twist of Orchids " Michelle Wan (mys)
The Legend of Baggar Vance (DVD)
Ocean’s Twelve (DVD)
Dead Man Walking (DVD)
Cairo Time (DVD)
Casino Royale (DVD)
Fame (DVD)
Roxanne (DVD)
The Girl With the Mermaid Hair " Delia Ephron (mp3)
The Great Gatsby " F. Scott Fitzgerald (mp3)
Sleepless " Charlie Huston (mp3)
YOUNG ADULT & CHILDREN’S NEWLY ACQUIRED ITEMS:
The Ghosts of War " Ryan Smithson (ya 956.7044)
Hot Jobs in Video Games (ya 794.8)
The Complete Digital Animation Course " Andy Wyatt (791.4334)
Slavery: Real People and Their Stories of Enslavement (ya 306.362)
Prom Anonymous " Blake Nelson (ya fic)
Borderline " Allan Stratton (ya fic)
The Summer I Turned Pretty " Jenny Han (ya fic)
The Second Trial " Rosemarie Boll (ya fic)
Colors: The Rainbow of the Natural World (j 535.6)
Pakistan " Madeline Donaldson (j 954.91)
Saudi Arabia "Abby Anderson (j 953.8)
Star Wars: Uprising " Alex Wheeler (j fic)
Clementine’s Letter " Marla Frazee (j fic)
SOS Titanic " Frieday Wishinsky (j fic)
Dandelions " Robin Nelson (j easy)
Pumpkins " Robin Nelson (j easy)
Baby Know-It-All Special Edition (j DVD)
Asterix at the Olympic Games (j DVD)
MIKE’S BOOKNOTES:
In its latest series of television ads, Burger King has been asking viewers to choose between Edward or Jacob. If you don’t know what they are talking about, chances are you are not a teenage girl. Edward and Jacob are the heartthrobs in Eclipse"one of the highest grossing films of the year"and the third installment of the unstoppable Twilight series, based on the books by Stephenie Meyer. The books, which begin with TWILIGHT, then NEW MOON, ECLIPSE, and BREAKING DAWN, are viewed as unstoppable as Meyer achieved something no one thought possible: she knocked HARRY POTTER off the charts. An impressive feat, especially when one considers how Meyer came to write the series in the first place.
In June of 2003, Stephenie Meyer"a 30-year-old housewife, mother of three, and devout Mormon"had a startling dream: a vampire was telling the woman he loved how difficult it was to be near her, as he kept wanting to kill her. Meyer"frustrated from waking up before she found out what happened"began to write the story down. The tale consumed her, and she soon had written 130,000 words. Her sister read it, told her to send it to a publisher, and before long she had a 3-book deal for $750, 000. (It seems so easy…) With TWILIGHT and its sequels, Meyer has sold over 100 million books, and is currently listed as one of Time magazine’s most influential people.
While the entire series is about vampires, Meyer’s books are unlike any other vampire tales before her. Basically high school romances, the books have little blood, no gore, no demonic references, and absolutely no premarital sex. The books are not preachy on any of these points, but simply reflect Meyer’s own experiences. She has never seen an R-rated film, abstains from drinking alcohol and caffeine, and has never read any horror novels"not even DRACULA. The only book she can say influenced her is THE BOOK OF MORMON.
However each book in the series is inspired by classic literature. TWILIGHT, NEW MOON, ECLIPSE and BREAKING DAWN are based on PRIDE & PREJUDICE, ROMEO & JULIET, WUTHERING HEIGHTS, and THE MERCHANT OF VENICE respectively. And while Meyer’s characters do not engage in sex, as high school students, it is all they think about. As journalist Lev Grossman pointed out, the books expertly exploit “the erotics of abstinence.”
So while this summer continues to be a bombardment of film-grosses, magazine covers, and Burger King ads, 100 million readers eagerly await Meyer’s next story of high school vampires; the ones without fangs.
