I’ve had a couple of exciting updates on the library that I’ve wanted to post, and I figured that now is the time to post both of them!
If you’re a regular reader and/or a resident of Berryville, you probably know that we launched our fundraising campaign for a new library building 5 months ago today and that we also had a reading challenge to raise additional money this summer.
Read ahead for updates on both projects!
Continue reading “Updates!”
Our theme for the library this year is What a Wonderful World, and to that end, we’re focusing on seeing the wonder in our world. Usually, every month at the desk, we have an article available for patrons to read and discuss with Julie, our library director, but this year, we’re handing out poems instead. Our trusty library goose is also helping us pen a monthly column that focuses on some of the gems in our poetry collection.
For August, our poem is Rainier Maria Rilke’s “Sunset.” Rilke is a noted late 19th century/early 20th century Austrian poet who is often considered a bridge between more traditional poetry and the modernist school. Rilke’s also one of the best-known German-language poets in the English-speaking world. His elegant, lyrical work is often billed as “mystical.”
Continue reading “Penelope’s Poetry Parlor: August”Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For August, we’re looking at science fiction about robots who are out of the loop, a history of the efforts to save endangered species, a tale that is equal parts family mystery and historical fiction, and an audiobook featuring a coming-of-age high fantasy.
Continue reading “Book Buzz: Robots, Conservationists, Inheritances, and Stand-Alone Fantasies”
Deputy US Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant, Deadwood) is unceremoniously banished back to his native Kentucky after his most recent assignment in Miami goes sideways. Let’s just say that Raylan’s quick-draw tendencies probably are a better fit for the 19th century than they are the 21st century. They also say you can’t go home again, but after his dysfunctional, hardscrabble childhood in rural Harlan County, Raylan really doesn’t want to be in Kentucky. Nonetheless, his new boss (Nick Searcy) thinks Raylan may be useful in the task force investigating his one-time coal mining coworker Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins), and quite frankly, no other Marshal office wants Raylan. Complications ensue. . . .
Continue reading “TV Review: Justified (2010)”This year, our theme at the library is What A Wonderful World. We’re focusing on a different color for each month, and August’s is sunset orange. To that end, we’re highlighting books at the library with that color (or something close to it) on the cover!
Continue reading “What a Wonderful World: August”
Our theme for the library this year is What a Wonderful World, and to that end, we’re focusing on seeing the wonder in our world. Usually, every month at the desk, we have an article available for patrons to read and discuss with Julie, our library director, but this year, we’re handing out poems instead. Our trusty library goose is also helping us pen a monthly column that focuses on some of the gems in our poetry collection.
For July, our poem is William Carlos Williams’s “The Red Wheelbarrow.” Williams is a noted American Modernist poet, and this poem is considered a quintessential example of Imagist poetry. Imagists were more interested in writing about concrete things rather than abstractions, and they favored precise language while doing so. Though Williams was a noted poet during his time, it was not his day job. He made his living as a pediatric doctor while writing during his leisure time.
Continue reading “Penelope’s Poetry Parlor: July”Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For July, we’re celebrating beach reads of all varieties. Even if you can’t make it to a beach to read them. We’re looking at a haunting true crime story, a suspenseful thriller, a clever romance, an intergenerational family mystery, a new cozy mystery, and some literary fiction set in Hawaii.
Continue reading “Book Buzz: Beach Reads, the Gritty, the Breezy, and the Literary”
Tarisai wants nothing more than a normal childhood, wherein she is allowed to do normal childish things. However, she spends her early years sequestered away from, well, everything. She occasionally gets visits from her mother, The Lady, but mostly she is raised by the servants. It seems like everything will change when her mother sends her to the empire’s capital city to compete with other children for the chance to serve on the crown prince’s council, but her mother only allows Tarisai to go because of her own nefarious plans. Namely, that once Tarisai is accepted as a trusted council member, she will assassinate the crown prince. Complications ensue.
Melinda recommended this book to me earlier this year, and I am so glad she did. It’s a really unique, interesting reading. Thanks so much for the great recommendation, Melinda!
Continue reading “Jordan Ifueko’s Raybearer”This year, our theme at the library is What A Wonderful World. We’re focusing on a different color for each month, and July’s is cardinal red. To that end, we’re highlighting books at the library with that color (or something close to it) on the cover!
Continue reading “What a Wonderful World: July”
Our theme for the library this year is What a Wonderful World, and to that end, we’re focusing on seeing the wonder in our world. Usually, every month at the desk, we have an article available for patrons to read and discuss with Julie, our library director, but this year, we’re handing out poems instead. Our trusty library goose is also helping us pen a monthly column that focuses on some of the gems in our poetry collection.
Continue reading “Penelope’s Poetry Parlor: June”
Berryville Book Buzz 