Mary Anning was a fossil hunter who discovered the first complete pterodactyl (now called a pterosaur) in Great Britain, as well as specimens of ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs.  She was a common working class girl who got to meet some of the top scientists of the time.  Remarkable creatures is a remarkable book about Mary Anning and her friendship with an upper class lady named Elizabeth Philpot, who collected fossils of fish.  But it is so much more than just a story about friendship.  It is a story about two women who are trapped within the confines and expectations of the time they live in, a time where women don't have the freedoms that we experience today; a time when women had to fight to be recognized outside of certain prescribed parameters.  It is the story of passion played out in life and the delicate balance between loyalty, appreciation, and envy. 

Funny library montage

Says it all

Joy of Books

A friend of mine called my attention to this and it was just too good not to share.

Nice quote

This quote came from an e-mail newsletter from a bookstore:

"People hold books in a special way--like they hold nothing else.   They hold them not like inanimate things but like ones that have gone to sleep. Children often carry toys in the same manner.  I don't hold my e-reader that special way; it's just a tool, maybe even a toy. My home is engulfed in traditional books, which I do handle with care. There's room for both. All part of the adaptation process."

More book art

The erosion of cultures and of "culture" as a whole is the theme that runs through Guy Laramee's art. We are currently told that the paper book is bound to die and that the library as a place is finished.  Will new technology really change anything concerning our human condition?  Explore one artist's fascinating contemplation concerning this topic.

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

This book was written in 1982, and twenty-five years later found its way to the London stage.  It was an astonishing piece of theater, featuring some unique life size stage horses.

After Kathleen Kennedy saw the London play, she told Steven Spielberg, who bought the rights to the book, and directed the film that was released on Christmas day.

Spielberg's film adaptation was beautifully done.  The cinematography is incredible and the film is full of shots that look like they came right out of a fine painting.  Spielberg's visuals and the musical score by John Williams was the perfect pairing.  Not surprisingly, it is an emotional, sentimental, and heart warming movie.  The acting is superb (especially by the young man who plays Albert, Jeremy Irvine).  The brutality and universal suffering of war is clearly shown, and the film is a tribute to honest emotionally direct storytelling.

Michael Morpurgo is an award winning children's author, poet, and playwright, who has written over 100 books.  Through the eyes of the war horse, Joey, Morpurgo tells a moving and powerful story.  Joey tells his story from the beginning of his life on the farm with Albert through his involvement in the First World War.  Surrounded by violence and loss, he just tries to survive.  A red bay horse actually existed back in 1914 and was painted by a Captain James Nicholls in autumn of that same year.  That's where the inspiration for this book came from.  In World War I, over six million horses died.  The human death toll was estimated at fifteen million.

Read the book, then see the film, and if you get a chance--experience the stage play. 

Then Again by Diane Keaton

Then Again is Diane Keaton's memoir about her Mother and herself.  If you know Diane Keaton only as the actress who starred in many memorable movies over the years (Annie Hall, the Godfather trilogy, Reds, etc.), this book will give you a glimpse into her family life and personal life.  Her mother was perhaps the most formidable influence in her life and Diane writes about their bond with great candor.  Her mother kept 85 journals (literally thousands of pages) in which she wrote about her marriage, her children, and herself and Diane has used these to paint a portrait of her mother that is unflinching in its honesty.  Diane's mother was an intellectual with restless and creative energy who struggled to find an outlet for her talents.  Diane wonders openly in the book what would have happened to her own dreams of being in the spotlight, if her mother's had been realized. 



Warm, funny, and self-deprecating, it's a marvelous little book about family--those people you love and who love you.

The Book Surgeon

Using knives, tweezers and surgical tools, Brian Dettmer carves one page at a time. Nothing inside the out-of-date encyclopedias, medical journals, illustration books, or dictionaries is relocated or implanted, only removed.

Happy New Year

Book Art by A_Ferrari

An Elephant in the Garden by Michael Morpurgo



An Elephant in the Garden is inspired by historical fact (click here) and by the author's admiration for an animal he calls "the noblest and wisest, and most sensitive of all creatures."  It is a story that brings together an unlikely group of survivors whose faith in kindness and love proves the best weapon of all.

The bombing of Dresden looms and Lizzie's mother, a zookeeper, persuades the zoo director to allow Marlene, a young elephant that has bonded with Lizzie and her younger brother, Karl, to be kept safe in their garden.  Their home is destroyed when bombs are dropped, so the family and Marlene have no choice but to flee with thousands of others in the dead of winter.  This is the story of how they walked and kept themselves safe from approaching Russian soldiers.

It is a heartwarming narrative, with a calm and steady tone that engages the reader and builds in intensity as the story unfolds.  You will be drawn into this tale of survival and its thought provoking and poignant exploration of the terrible impact of war on both sides of the fighting.  Michael Morpurgo also wrote War Horse, which was made into a film Directed by Steven Spielberg being released on Christmas day.

And another inspiration for this lovely book was of course the elephants themselves.  If you love elephants (like I do), you may be interested in this link to another story about elephants during World War II--a very sad story indeed--and this link to one of my all time favorite books about elephants, that I discovered in a used bookstore in Chicago many years ago. 

The Future of Printed Books

Thanks to Wired, the next time someone asks me about ebooks killing off the print book, I've got my response all formulated.

The Hunger Games

Okay, if you still haven't read this trilogy, you've got time.  Here's the movie trailer to whet your appetite.

Dewey Decimal Rap

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Fifty-year-old Alice Howland, a Harvard professor of cognitive psychology, is at the top of her game.  Her kids are grown, her marriage secure, her career on fire, when--after mere months of forgetfulness--she finds herself in the rapidly downward spiral of early onset Alzheimer's disease.  With no cure or treatment, Alice struggles to find meaning and purpose in her everyday life as her concept of self slips away.  Without memory or hope, she is forced to live in the moment, which is in turns beautiful, terrifying, and maddening.

The author, Lisa Genova, is a first-time author who holds a PhD in neuroscience from Harvard University.  She is a member of the Dementia Advocacy, Support Network International and DementiaUSA and is an online columnist for the National Alzheimer's association. She lives with her husband and two children in Cape Cod.

This book was an uncomfortable read for me because my great grandmother had memory issues, my grandmother had them, and my mother (who just turned 80) is starting to experience some difficulty.  Apparently, this runs in the women in my family, so of course is of great concern to me.  Just because there is a strong genetic linkage, it doesn't mean that I will inherit the disorder, but obviously it is of concern to me.

This book is important for several reasons.  First and foremost, the glimpse we get into what it is like for the patient going through this long dark season (we see what it is like to literally lose your mind); and the differing points of view concerning what it is like to deal with a loved one who is deteriorating right in front of your eyes.  It is haunting, heartbreaking, and frightening.  Perhaps the scariest thing for me was losing your language capability.  That would be the hardest thing for me to bear in the whole horrible process.

There is a touching passage in the book where she talks about how she used to be..."I used to know how the mind handled language, and I could communicate what I knew.  I used to be someone who knew a lot.  No one asks for my opinion or advice anymore.  I miss that.  I used to be curious and independent and confident.  I miss being sure of things.  There's no peace in being unsure of everything all the time.  I miss doing everything easily.  I miss being a part of what's happening.  I miss feeling wanted.  I miss my life and my family.  I loved my life and family."

I highly recommend this book.  Even if you are lucky enough to have never been touched by this dread disease, you will gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for the toll it exacts.

Happy Halloween

Artist Mike Stilkey

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

I absolutely loved this book, and highly recommend it.  It is an unflinchingly dark, funny and deeply moving story of a boy, his seriously ill mother, and an unexpected monstrous visitor.

At seven minutes past midnight, 13 year old Conor wakes up to find a monster outside his bedroom window.  But it isn't the monster he's been expecting--the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments.  The monster in his backyard is different.  It's ancient, and wild.  And it wants something from Conor--something terrible and dangerous.  It wants the truth.

This book stems from the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd (whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself).  It is a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined.

Profoundly moving and expertly crafted, the tale is enhanced by atmospheric and ominous illustrations that surround the text--softly caressing it in quiet moments, and in others rushing toward the viewer with a nightmarish intensity.  It draws on elements of classic horror stories to delve into the terrifying terrain of loss.  It tackles the toughest of subjects by refusing to flinch, meeting the ugly truth of life head-on with compassion, bravery, and insight. 

Bookshop at the End of the World

Arizona Public Media profiled Winifred Bundy's Singing Wind Bookshop, a 37-year-old, windswept "book lover's haven [that] sits on a ranch with no paved road or parking lot, no website, no advertisements--and no shortage of customers," largely because of its "expansive and eclectic collection, much of which is about the Southwest." 

"It's mostly subjective--whatever I like," Bundy said. "Over the door is finance, and I truly believe all of that is fiction... and here's women's experiences in the West, which aren't fiction, I promise. Here's Hillerman hardcover, Hillerman softcover. Indians in the Southwest, Indians outside the Southwest... the Jewish Western experience--that's extremely important... short Californians--that's the size of the books, not the people--and tall Californians... bad men and bad ladies, shoot-'em-ups... and the Mormons are up over the window."

Bundy, now 81, observed that the "people I meet are more important than anything else. They could be your neighbor, or a Japanese tourist. Honestly, I think I get more out of this than anyone else."

Oprah of the Piney Woods

The Houston Press, in an interview and profile, has called her the Oprah of the Piney Woods.  Kathy Patrick owns Beauty and the Book, is founder of the Pulpwood Queens Book Club, author of The Pulpwood Queen's Tiara-Wearing, Book-Sharing Guide to Life, organizer of the Girlfriend Weekend, and is a popular speaker at dozens of book festivals.  Okay, I admit it, she is pretty darn cool.

Make Take Murder by Joanna Campbell Slan

Scrapbooking is really big in my area.  Our library is going to have an upcoming holiday scrapbooking program that I'm sure people will really love, and scrapbooking retreats are planned once a year at our local state park.  With this in mind, I picked up the fourth book in Joanna Campbell Slan's Scrap n Craft mystery series the other day and I must say that I really enjoyed it. 

Joanna Campbell Slan is an international authority in the scrapbooking community. She is the author of over ten books on the subject, and her work has appeared in all of the industry's top magazines.  Joanna is one of the early Chicken Soup for the Soul authors, and in 2007, she co-founded Sisters in Crime's Forensic University of St. Louis.

This is a cozy mystery with a mix of humor and suspense.  When Kiki Lowenstein is dumpster diving for her lost paycheck she finds a severed leg.  She finds out that the leg belonged to Cindy Gambrowski, a customer with an abusive and violent husband.  As Kiki tries to discover who the killer is we meet an interesting mix of characters who are well developed and the writing keeps you interested and on the edge of your seat following the action.  The book includes holiday-themed projects and recipes too.  A darn good read with a surprise ending.  I highly recommend it.