Author: berryvillelibrary

"Our library, our future"

Dawson City: Frozen Time (2016)

Dawson City

Dawson City is a remote outpost, deep in the rugged Yukon and not far from the Arctic Circle. Nevertheless, it was a veritable boomtown in the late 1800s and early 1900s after gold was found there. At its peak, tens of thousands moved to Dawson City in the hopes of striking it rich. As with most boomtowns, though, the town’s fortunes waned, and it now has a population of only about 1,000. Dawson City might have just been a footnote in Gold Rush history if it were not for the treasure trove of silent films found there in the 1970s, long forgotten.

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Old Favorites–Mark Twain

We’re focusing on newer books, movies, and television shows for 2018, 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)?

Earlier this month marked the 159th anniversary of a man named Samuel Clemens receiving his steamboat pilot’s license. Ordinarily, that would not seem a monumental moment in literary history, but it was. Because of his time on the steamboat on the Mississippi River, he became familiar with the navigational term “mark twain.” When he began working as a reporter, he adopted the term as a pen name and the rest, as they say, is history.

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Larry Campbell’s Rollin’ Down The River (2017)

Rollin Down the River

For two months in 2016, Larry Campbell conducted an epic solo road trip, following the Missouri River from Montana down through the Dakotas, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri. And in this gorgeous coffee table book, you can follow along, as he recounts the places and faces he met along the way.

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Book Buzz: Lost Items, Successful Suffragettes, and Proper Gothic Murders

Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For April, we’re looking at a touching tale of things lost and things found, a history of how women won the right to vote in the United States, and a Gothic series about a 19th century woman with an unusually comprehensive knowledge of anatomy. . . .

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Movie Review: Loving Vincent (2017)

Loving Vincent

Armand Roulin is the neer-do-well son of the postmaster in 19th century Arles, France. His father tasks him with delivering the final letter of a late friend to surviving relatives, a task Armand resents because he never much cared for that friend, Vincent van Gogh. In Roulin’s eyes, Vincent was little more than a shiftless painter, who caused his father and the town much grief before he committed suicide after moving away.

Even more irritatingly for Armand is that he is having trouble finding anyone to give the letter. Vincent’s beloved brother Theo is nowhere to be found. However, as Armand spends more and more energy trying to track down a surviving relation, he finds himself more and more intrigued by the mysteries surrounding the life and death of Vincent van Gogh.

My friend Craig recommended this film to me, and I’m so glad he did! It was a lovely, visually-stunning movie. (Thanks for the great recommendation, Craig!)

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Old Favorites: Ancient Rome

We’re focusing on newer books, movies, and television shows for 2018, 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)?

Last week was the Ides of March, and what better way to mark the occasion than reading and watching some old favorites about ancient Rome?

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Caitlin Doughty’s Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

Caitlin Doughty is a lot more famous than your average mortician. She’s the author of two books, hosts a YouTube series where she answers viewer questions, and is an advocate for reform in the funeral industry. Late last year, she released her second book, From Here to Eternity, which looks at funeral practices around the world, and that’s gaining a fair amount of buzz. But at the library, we’ve also been buzzing about her first book, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes. Jen suggested it to me a few weeks ago, and it’s an excellent, thought-provoking read! (Thanks for the great suggestion, Jen!)

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Book Buzz: Alice in Wonderland Fan Fiction, Small-Town Olympic Glory, and Intergalactic Adventures

Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For March, we’re looking at a fantasy anthology that celebrates a classic work, a profile of a small Vermont town that generates an unusually high number of Olympians, and a coming-of-age science fiction trilogy.

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The Crown, Season 1

The Crown

If you have a Netflix account, it is probably old news that the streaming service’s original series The Crown, about the early reign of the United Kingdom’s Elizabeth II, is superb. But if you don’t have a Netflix account, you had no way to watch it until quite recently, when it was released on DVD.

English royalty has always been a popular subject for entertainment and has been the focus of several recently acclaimed shows, including Wolf Hall and Victoria. Though I have enjoyed the other shows mentioned, I’m not sure any other television show I have watched has delved into the complexities of imperial protocol and how one’s royal persona must overshadow any personal one quite like The Crown does.

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Old Favorites: Sylvia Plath

We’re focusing on newer books, movies, and television shows for 2018, 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)?

I’ve been a Sylvia Plath fan since I was a teenager. The first poem of hers that I ever read was “Daddy,” and it was so powerful, so unsettling, so very different from anything else that I had ever read, that it always stayed with me. Later, I read her novel The Bell Jar and her other poems, and they all had a similar effect on me.

Sadly, this month marks the 55th anniversary of Plath’s suicide, but there are numerous ways to remember Plath, including revisiting her work.

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