Comparing Travelogues

In the interest of full disclosure I have to admit to being a serial reader. Not the trilogies or Harry Potter juggernaut, although I have dabbled in the consecutive genre. No, it's more like a lack of focus and I start one book before I have finished the last. At any one time I may be reading as many as six.

So it was that I recently found myself reading two travelogues simultaneously quite by accident. I had been meaning to read Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier for some time and checked it out and dove in. But alas, I had to go to the mall and there's a book store there! And didn't I leave with several under my arm, one of which was The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by new author Rachel Joyce. It hooked me over lunch in the food court and I was off. (At about the same time Marie purchased Harold Fry for the library.)

Cold Mountain is set in the American Civil War and follows the path of W.P. Inman, a wounded Confederate soldier, who walks away from the war back to his home in the Blue Mountains and to Ada Monroe, the woman he loved. Since he is a defector, Inman must use his wits to outsmart the marauding Home Guard, aiding and being aided by slaves and farmers along the way. Interwoven is Ada's tale of trying to revive her deceased father's derelict farm with the able assistance of a local girl, Ruby. Although Ada and Inman attempt to correspond with each other the only one who benefits from their letters is the reader as they never connect.

So Inman's journey is a lonely, uncertain one--uncertain of success and, even, if Ada is still on the farm and waiting for him. And such is the climate that, should he succeed in reaching Cold Mountain, his deserter status will prevent him from settlng in.

Harold Fry's journey begins innocently enough in his village in the south of England (Kingsbridge) when he steps out to mail a note of encouragement to a dying colleague who is in hospice 600 miles away at the northern tip of the country. A chance encounter along the way convinces him that his friend, Queenie, will live as long as it takes him to deliver the note in person. So he keeps walking.

Harold is woefully ill-prepared for the excursion--recently retired, dressed only in tennis shoes and a light jacket, unfamiliar with the rigours of long-distance walking and sleeping in the elements. It turns out his journey is as much an escape as a destination. His long marriage to Maureen has stalled in an unhappy quagmire and neither seems to know how to get out. But neither has found the reason to end it and move on.

Along the way Harold encounters the good and bad elements of society but on the whole, most are decent and helpful. His travels force him to revisit the highs and lows in his life, and as he and Maureen begin to talk again, the immaterial falls away.

I won't give away either ending except to say that both men complete their journeys. And both books, in their own way, are an excellent read.  

Home Front by Kristin Hannah - Blog by Sandy

This is a hard book to put down.  It is a story about honour, love, tragedy and family life. A troubled marriage is made worse when the wife who flies helicopters is sent to fight in Iraq. The husband, a workaholic lawyer, quickly learns what it takes to run a household and raise children. There is also the friendship between two female pilots that plays a big part in sustaining the characters and showing us two different type of military life styles.  The reader learns a lot about PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and life in military families.

The Odd Egg: Give this a try with your kids!

This past week at our TD Summer Reading Club, we did a group read aloud of The Odd Egg by Emily Gravett. This book features fun illustrations, split pages, and a suspenseful and joking story line perfect for kids. This book allowed a lot of feedback as we asked, "What kind of bird is that?" and "What do you think will hatch out of this egg?" Each of the children at the program shared their guesses and were quite surprised when it was revealed what was really inside the 'Odd Egg'.

To make this read aloud even more exciting, we provided each of the children with plasticine and encouraged them to build a creature (imaginary or realistic) that would be found inside of their egg. Their creations included bunnies, elegators (a mix between an elephant and an alligator), and robots.

After the plasticine creations were finished, we set them aside and got each of the kids to create an egg using a balloon and paper mache. This activity was super messy, but we had a tarp to protect the carpet and asked each of the parents to send their children in play clothes so that prevented some of the mess. The older kids grasped the concept more than the 5-year-olds who seemed to just enjoy getting their hands covered in the gooey mixture.

Before the next program, Emma and I are going to do another layer of paper mache on each of the eggs, give them a quick paint job, and cut a hole inside the eggs just big enough to squeeze in the paper mache creations. When the children arrive, they'll have their 'Odd Eggs' with their surprise creatures to either play their own guessing games with or share with their families!

This book was an awesome choice for our story time and the activity supplemented it perfectly!

Where We Belong by Emily Giffin

Last summer, I went through an Emily Giffin phase. I read Something Borrowed, then Something Blue, then Love the One You're With, and Baby Proof. I'd seen numerous tweets from @emilygiffin on Twitter about her latest title Where We Belong so I just had to read it. I also tweeted about my desire to read it. I was kind of hoping for a retweet - that didn't happen. #sadface

Where We Belong was great! In this book, Marian is forced to confront a secret she's kept with only her mother for eighteen years... because her eighteen-year-old secret shows up on her doorstep. This little secret could not have come to light at a worse time for Marian. She is in a steady relationship, slightly putting pressure on her boyfriend to propose, has a career and hardly time for anything else.

Marian's secret, an eighteen-year-old drummer chick named Kirby, gives this novel a kind of  Young Adult twist. Kirby's character appealed to me as I could sense her hesitance and uncertainty in getting involved with a life-changing situation with Marian. 

If you liked Emily Giffin's other novels, give this one a shot!

Fifty Shades of Grey

This isn't a book review, trust me, I'm not going to touch this one. Or as it has become to be known as in our library, It. Not a day goes by without someone asking, "Have you read It?" "What did you think of It?" These are just a couple reactions I've gathered from patrons (anonymous patrons of course) about It.

Staff: So, what did you think of it?
Patron: Well, you or I could have written it.
Staff: Uh.....
Patron: I mean the writing! It wasn't well written!

Patron: I wanted to know if you have Fifty Shades of Grey.
Staff: There's a reserve list on it. I can add your name to it.
Patron: Yes, please. I was in earlier but I was too embarrassed to ask Chris to put my name on it. *

*Chris is our only male staff member. It's okay, everyone, we've all signed a confidentially agreement that we won't divulge your book choices.

Patron: OH MY GOODNESS! I flipped through it and I couldn't believe my eyes! Then I flipped a few more pages and I still couldn't believe it!
Staff: Oh yeah, I flipped through it while I was cataloguing it and I was thinking the same.
Patron: Yes, it's outrageous. Could you put my name on the second one, please?

Staff: So what did you think of this one?
Patron: I'm trying to get through it. But it does make you think about that type of lifestyle. I don't know... If I was 35, it might be better.

Well, there you have it folks. It's almost worth reading 'Fifty Shades' just to see what the hype is all about. For the record, we have two copies of the entire series circulating here in the library. Lots of demand for this book!... :)

Introducing... Lego Club!

Our CEO, Marie, had an idea at the beginning of the summer to begin a Lego Club here at the library. We're having our third meeting tomorrow and so far Lego Club has been a huge hit... because everyone loves Lego of course!
Each session has a theme. So far we've done zoos, outer space, and tomorrow we're planning on having a theme of architecture. Shhh, don't tell the kids! Each session opens up with five minute madness. We suggest that the children build a certain object in only five minutes. After this session, we share a little bit about our creations.
Our next activity lasts around 45 minutes. This is the main building activity related to the theme. During our outer space week, we gave the children 45 minutes to build a planet. The features that they built on these planets were unbelievable. The planets were able to sustain their aliens (built during the five minute madness) with food and water, offered defence methods with laser beams, and some even features methods of transportation. 
For the rest of the session, the children can continue to work on their 45 minute project, or if they would rather, they can free build. 
We wrap up each session with a round of sharing, a giant round of applause and take pictures of each creation. The creations go on display until the following week on the shelves in the children's sections of the library.
Our Lego Club is a drop in program. If you're looking for a fun way to channel your child's creativity, this may be it! During the summer, Lego Club will take place every Friday from 1:00-2:30pm. Feel free to drop in and see what it's all about!

Nicholas and Brooklyn display their zoo.

Come Home by Lisa Scottoline - Jordan

I like books about relationships, specifically books about family connections. I also enjoy books with legal ties and theories and a slight element of suspense. I found all of these present in Come Home by Lisa Scottoline.
Come Home features Jill Farrow, a widowed, divorced, and now-engaged pediatrician who has lived an imperfect life, and admits to making flawed decisions. Jill's life seems to be finally coming together after a rocky past with her upcoming wedding and now-steady home life when she is shockingly reunited with her former step-daughter, Abby, who brings news of her father's (Jill's ex-husband's) death... and possible murder. 
Jill, who evidently cannot forget her obligation and motherly love toward her former step-daughter, makes a number of rash decisions in order to assure Abby that her father's death was not a murder. But then Jill begins to uncover some suspicious facts and becomes fixated on her ex's death.
Predictably, this puts a strain on the relationship between Jill and her fiancé Sam, and the sudden reappearance of her step-daughter Abby leads to friction between Jill and her daughter Megan.
This book kept me up late at night trying to unravel the mystery. I would recommend this book to any fans of Jodi Picoult. It was definitely a great summer read.