Now through June 30, the Library of Virginia is accepting ballots for the best work of fiction and non-fiction by a Virginia author.  Winners will be announced at the Library of Virginia  Awards Celebration on October 17, 2009.  Here are the chosen books for this year. 

FICTION

Divine Justice by David Baldacci

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

The Legal Limit by Martin Clark

The Fire by Katherine Neville

Tomato Girl by Jayne Pupek

NONFICTION

This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War by Drew Gilpin Faust.

The Hemingses of Monticello, an American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed.

A Voyage Long and Strange; Rediscovering the New World by Tony Horwitz.

The Place to Be; Washington, CBS and the Glory Days of Television News by Roger Mudd

Because the Cat Purrs: How We Relate to Other Species and Why it Matters by Janet Lembke (This title is still on order and we await it’s arrival)

Stop by and check these titles out and vote for your favorite!

I have been wanting to read the book “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows for quite some time. The title was very intriguing, but the thought of letters written to each other to form a novel, well, it threw me off for a while from reading it. A couple of the patrons here (thank you ladies) encouraged me to read it, saying it was very good. I broke down, checked out the book and haven’t put it down since.
The book starts off as letters between an author, Juliet, and her publisher, Sidney. She is thinking of a topic to write for her next novel after writing a best selling series during World War II. She receives a letter about a literary group on the British Isle of Guernsey, sparking her interest in the occupation by the German soldiers during the war. The letters between the literary society and Juliet are sincere, heartwarming, and encouraging. It made you feel like you were listening to a conversation between two of your oldest friends.

Administrative housekeeping first… we are OPEN on Saturday, May 23, but CLOSED on Memorial Day (May 25) Have a great weekend, enjoy a picnic, and stop by to get a goood book from us!

Everybody has probably already heard about the beef recall, but here are several links to the stories published in the paper and on the news. Specifically, the first link will take you to a list of the recalled products. I know I said to have a picnic, but don’t invite the e. coli!

The List
NBC’s Report
United Press Internation Report (includes company’s phone number! 

As for “Memorial Day,” the holiday has its roots in the American Reconstruction period. Immediately after the end of the Civil War, people began decorating the graves of fallen soldiers —Confederate and Union alike. The first official celebration was in Illinois in 1866, although many other cities, including Richmond, claim earlier unofficial celebrations. “Decoration Day” was first named as a day of remembrance in 1868. After World War I, the day was expanded to remember all Americans who have fallen in battle. And finally, in 1971 is named a national holiday to be renamed “Memorial Day” and celebrated as the last Monday in May.

So, spend a few moments in reflection of those who have secured our country and our freedom, then enjoy your day off, and bid summer welcome!

I recently finished Mount Vernon Love Story, a Novel of George and Martha Washington by Mary Higgins Clark. What prompted me to read this novel was a recent trip to Mount Vernon, VA and the incredible sense of awe I was left with for our first President of the United States and his wife.
The tale bounced around from George’s young life and young loves to his final months in the presidency and times between. The love between George and his beloved Patsy, his nickname for Martha, was always shown. George and Patsy raised Patsy’s two small children from her previous marriage and ultimately raised their grandchildren.
Mary Higgins Clark loving shows her admiration for the Washingtons and their beloved Mt. Vernon plantation throughout this book, having done research from documents and interviews with Washington’s ancestors. To me, the love story is her tribute to a man we all admire, George Washington.

There are so many things that May conjures up for me… weddings, graduations, holidays, and of course, May Day itself. May 1 is one of *those* holidays… it started as a Celtic religious festival (Beltane). Then sometime early in the first millennium, it was appropriated by the early Christian missionaries as a holy day honoring Mary. During the English Renaissance, which began with the Tudors and flourished under Elizabeth I, many of the old Catholic holidays metamorphised into folk holidays.

May Day was no exception. For the next couple of centuries, it devolved into a day celebrating folk dances and legends in England.

I remember as a child dancing around the maypole. I and all of my grade wove cloth ribbons as we danced over and under each others’ arms. I also remember reading Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s slightly (okay, more than slightly) saccharine poem, The May Queen. Warning if you look it up… the original had only two verses, May Queen and New Year’s Eve. Tennyson added to it several years later, as poets are wont to do. The concluding verse has more than slightly Christian religious overtone. It’s a favorite poem of mine, though, so I recommend it to anyone who likes sappy Victorian poetry.

I just finished “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I didnt have to read it in high school or college, but was always told it was a twentieth century masterpiece. I finally gave in to the “masterpiece” belief to see what I was missing.
The story takes place in New York State and Chicago, Illinois told by a young man named Nick in the 1920s. Nick is a bondsman who lives beside a man who has lavish parties every weekend. All he knows of the man at first is that he is called Gatsby. After some time, Nick is invited to one of these parties with his second cousin Daisy.
After the party, we are thrown into a world of extremities, from drinking and partying  to tales of brutality and hostility. We find that what is good for one character is not good for his wife as they both cheat on each other, marrying for money or power, not love.
I really am not sure why Jay Gatsby is known as the “Great Gatsby”, as the title suggests. Is it because of his lavish spending? Is it because he made himself great when he came from nothing? Is it because that is how he wants others to perceive him because of his own insecurities? Whatever the answer, I shall leave it up to the reader to decide.

The Library now has both a group and a page on Facebook! We are using this as a way to reach out to people about our programs and services. If you have a Facebook account, please consider joining the group. We have begun online book discussions, advertise events and post program photos. Join us there!

Our Tuesday morning story time will have a special guest! Ray York will read to the children and help them learn about ways they can protect the earth. Recycling and stories make a great combination. The story time begins at 10:30 am next Tuesday. We hope to see you there.

     “The Associate” by John Grisham is ripped from recent headlines…four frat boys from a southern university are charged with rape. They are all acquitted of any charges because the female is considered promiscuous and not enough evidence can be found to support her charges. Years later, a bright young law student, Kyle McAvoy is blackmailed because of these allegations and new incriminating evidence…a video recording of the incident from a hidden cell phone.
     McAvoy must decide if he is going to let intimidation and fear of disbarment lead him to stealing secrets from a top law firm in New York. Grisham intertwines stories about three of the four friends into hard decisions they all must make…including admission of guilt or freedom for their young lives.
     Grisham interweaves tales of the fine line between guilt and innocence, repentance and forgiveness… giving the Christian perspective of what should be done.
     This was definitely a page turner for me as I like most of John Grisham’s books. Although it was full of philosophy and espionage, it held my attention pretty well. Would I recommend it? If you are a Grisham fan, yes. If you like legal drama, yes…everyone else…yes…everyone should try to read at least one Grisham novel.

Just as a reminder to all of our patrons… if you have questions, please call us. Want to know the estimated population of Amelia in 2008? Ask us. How about the lyrics to your favorite song or that book you read ten years ago that had a girl who found a book about magic when she was running away from bullies? We can find both of those for you, too. We can find whole poems if you only remember a line, even when you get a couple of the words out of order.

No, we aren’t omniscient, but we answer LOTS of questions like this. We’re used to them. We are only a phone call away. Nowadays, though, you don’t even need to call! Look to your left on the screen. The little “Meebo” box tells you whether someone is “manning” (or womanning!) the IM reference desk. You don’t even have to get offline to ask questions.

We are getting more and more portals online as we build a “virtual branch.” We are developing a Delicious bookmarking account to save quality informational websites. Our electronic databases allows you to use more traditional sources like encyclopedias and magazines in an electronic formats. The Meebo connection provides you with the ability to ask questions Monday-Friday. Our Facebook group page helps you connect with other Library patrons. You can even download whole books now from our links.

Finally, if you are looking for a new job right now, please check out our resource page (found on the right hand side of the screen or at the bottom of this page) “Job Searching On the Internet.” We have gathered links to local major newspapers who publish their classified sections on the web, as well as skill building sites for resume and cover letter writing, as well as interviewing skills. Check them out!