Continue reading “Book Buzz: Aquatic Friendships, Austen in Pakistan, and a Magician’s Secrets”
Author: berryvillelibrary
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Movie Review: Move Over, Darling (1963)
Confession: Until recently, I had never watched a Doris Day movie.
Now, that’s not to say I had anything against Doris Day! I just had never had the opportunity to watch one of her movies and had never given it much thought beyond that.
A couple of our patrons, Joan and her daughter, are big Doris Day fans. Not too long ago, I was helping them find some Doris Day movies when it came out that I had never watched one. They encouraged me to give one a try, and I thought in light of Day’s recent passing at the age of 97, it would make for a good opportunity for a movie review.
So, a big thank you to Joan and her daughter–I did enjoy the Doris Day movie I watched. 🙂
Old Favorites: Arthur Conan Doyle
We’re focusing on newer books, movies, and television shows for 2019, but that doesn’t mean we’re entirely ignoring old favorites! After all, what’s that saying–what’s old may just become new again (or something like that)?
Tomorrow marks the 160th anniversary of Arthur Conan Doyle’s birthday. A doctor and writer of numerous genres, he will always be best known as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, though his relationship with his most famous creation was a tempestuous one. Doyle himself was an interesting fellow, and what better time to learn more about him?
Nita Gould’s Remembering Ella (2018)
One of the more infamous crimes in our local area is the gruesome 1912 murder of Ella Barham in rural Boone County, which is just next door to us here in Berryville. I must confess, I had never actually heard of the crime until I read this book. Author Nita Gould has family ties to the case–Ella is a cousin, though one who died long before Gould was born. As Gould quickly learned when she started researching the case, local oral tradition of the case is unreliable and contradictory, so she instead turned to the extensive news coverage of the crime and court files to detail the murder of the vivacious eighteen-year-old and the subsequent arrest and trial of one of her neighbors. Thank you to Julie for ordering this book for me!
Book Buzz: Books in Bloom 2019
The 14th annual Books in Bloom literary festival is going to be May 19, 12-5 pm, at the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs. You’ll have the chance to mingle with authors, listen to them give talks, and even get your books signed by them. This year’s authors include Brooks Blevins (whom I really enjoyed meeting back in 2016 when he was last at Books in Blooms), Jeffrey Deaver, and Chris Bohjalian.
Here are a few newer books you might want to check out in the weeks leading up to Books in Bloom, so you can already start researching which talks to attend and which authors to meet.
TV Review: To Walk Invisible (2017)
I usually am up-to-date on my Masterpiece Theater viewing, but I missed this biopic about the Brontë sisters when it first aired a couple of years ago. Fortunately, Mary-Esther suggested it to me, and I’m glad she did! It’s a well-acted, well-made dramatization of one of the most famous literary families in history.
Old Favorites: Shakespearean Reduxes
We’re focusing on newer books, movies, and television shows for 2019, but that doesn’t mean we’re entirely ignoring old favorites! After all, what’s that saying–what’s old may just become new again (or something like that)?
Nobody really knows when William Shakespeare was born, but April 23 is commonly accepted as his birthday due to his baptism date. That makes today his 455th birthday (maybe, probably).
Now I like Shakespeare as much as the next former English major, even though I kind of hold him responsible for breaking my left ankle five years ago–that’s a long story, but he’s as guilty as, well, any number of his murderous characters.
My personal favorite Shakespeare plays include Othello, King Lear, Hamlet, Richard III, The Tempest, and Twelfth Night.
As much as I enjoy the Bard of Avon, I also enjoy a good Shakespeare retelling. I’m not usually a fan of reworkings of pre-existing content. Anyone who has ever had to listen to me complain about the amount of sequels and remakes that flood the movie market every year knows this. But Shakespeare himself was reworking well-known stories, so there seems something so fitting in borrowing his plots and characters and reworking them for different times and places.
If you want to celebrate Shakespeare with any number of his classic plays or filmed versions of them, go for it! We have plenty of that in our system. But we also have some more unusual ways to celebrate his work. . . .
Mary Doria Russell’s Doc (2011)
Doc Holliday probably needs no introduction. He’s one of the more mythic figures of the American West–the well-educated, consumptive, Georgia-born dandy, dentist, and gambler/gunfighter who tag-teamed with the Earp Brothers for the Gunfight at the OK Corral in the Arizona boomtown of Tombstone.
Most pop culture depictions of Holliday offer the legend called Doc. Though Mary Doria Russell chose that nickname as the title for her book, her focus is much more on the John Henry Holliday lurking underneath the legend.
This book was suggested to me by Leslie, one of my undergraduate English professors. Last year, she recommended The Hunting Accident to me, and recently, she asked me if I was familiar with Russell’s work. I quickly remedied that oversight, and I am so glad I did. Thanks for the wonderful recommendation, Leslie!
Book Buzz: Canadian Ennui, Heartwarming Memoirs, and Canadian Murders, Eh
Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For April, we’re looking at a modern literary tale of family life in rural Newfoundland, a charming memoir about familial culture clashes, and a new book in a long-running Canadian murder mystery series.
Continue reading “Book Buzz: Canadian Ennui, Heartwarming Memoirs, and Canadian Murders, Eh”
What’s Happening . . . at the Berryville Library
Collaborative sticker paintings of Van Gogh’s Starry Night?
Spring break camp devoted to nanotechnology for the tweens and teens?
Presentations on historic events?
Free tax-related printing?
Where’s all this happening in Berryville?
At the Berryville Public Library–and that’s not an April Fool’s Joke. 🙂
Continue reading “What’s Happening . . . at the Berryville Library”
Berryville Book Buzz 