Books

IN DISGUISE! Undercover with Real Women Spies
Saturday March 30, 2013

12:00 PM until 2:00 PM

March is Women’s History Month and you don’t want to miss a lively, engaging presentation of In Disguise! Undercover with Real Women Spies at the Brooks Memorial Library Meeting Room, on Saturday, March 30, at 12 Noon.

Women have spied for a long time, and they’ve been good at it. They’ve dashed through enemy lines, sent secret messages under the nose of the enemy, and led prisoners in daring and dangerous escapes.  They went undercover, taking on new identities varying from apple sellers to crazy neighbors to stage dancers.  Often, it was enough of a disguise for women to just be themselves.  People didn’t expect them to have the strength or know-how to be spies.  Those people were wrong. 

Local author David Blistein discusses his new book, ‘David’s Inferno: My Journey through the Dark Wood of Depression’ on Thursday, April 4 at 6pm.

“It takes us deep into the mysteries of depression,
and its power to transform our relationships, our creativity, and our
very selves—a remarkable achievement.” —Ken Burns, award-winning filmmaker

“There is no hushed reverence, no self-aggrandizing, no simple
tried and true cures… just a shared battle and a stunning honest.” —Will Ackerman, Grammy Award winner and founder of Windham Hill Records

Thursday, April 4 , 1:30 PM
Thursday, April 25, 1:30 PM  
Books are available at the Main Circulation desk.

The reading/discussion series Jane Austen Endures will celebrate the 200th anniversary of Pride and Prejudice and explore Austen’s publishing staying power. 

The two-book series sponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council will also examine Austen’s universal appeal, her talent for capturing the time she lived in, and her comic, satiric tone, among other aspects of her writing.

Two Hundred Years of Pride and Prejudice: A Look at Jane Austen’s Endurance: A Two Book Reading Series

The reading/discussion series: Jane Austen Endures will celebrate the 200th anniversary of Pride and Prejudice and explore Austen’s publishing staying power. The two-book series sponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council will also examine Austen’s universal appeal, her talent for capturing the time she lived in, and her comic, satiric tone, among other aspects of her writing.

Thursday April 4, 2013 1:30 PM until 3:00 PM
Richard Wizansky will lead a discussion on April 4, 2013, beginning at 1:30 PM in the Library’s meeting room on Pride and Prejudice.

The Big booksale is coming early this year.

Reserve the dates! 

Friday, April 12, 10 to 6
Saturday April 13, 10 to 2

Stop by the Library to browse and purchase some of the thousands of fabulous hardcover books, paperbacks, DVD’s, and audio books available. 

The Pedagogy of the Poor Book Tour event in Dummerston has been cancelled due to the weather.

The event at the First Baptist Church from 12:30-2:30 is still happening.

At this event Pedagogy of the Poor co-authors Willie Baptist and Jan Rehmann will discuss their book which highlights stories of poor people organizing alongside one another, building leadership, and raising consciousness through political education. 

The Vermont Workers’ Center is hosting the Poverty Initiative on their nationwide Pedagogy of the Poor book tour. 

Based at New York City’s Union Theological Seminary, the Poverty Initiative is an organization dedicated to raising up generations of religious and community leaders committed to ending poverty. Pedagogy of the Poor, co-authored by Poverty Initiative’s Willie Baptist and Jan Rehmann, examines the root
causes of poverty and considers the role of faith leaders in building a social movement to end it. The authors highlight stories of poor people organizing alongside one another, building leadership, and raising consciousness through political education.

I grew up on a small farm not far from the western shore of the Chesapeake. Summers meant daily hard work, up before dawn and out long after dusk, until the mosquitoes mercifully carried us off the fields. There was little respite for working kids who lived on an organic subsistence long before we ever knew what the word organic meant.

Some leisure time, though, was to be had for me: down at the swimming hole, scampering after the ice cream truck, badminton nets on the grassy lawn, softball with the flirty girls and showoff boys, cookouts under the apple trees; laying on the still-warm grass gazing up at the carpet of stars that blanketed the night sky and using my imagination when my mind was not otherwise occupied with work and play.

On Exhibit at Brooks Memorial Library: Award-winning author-illustrator D. B. Johnson, Children’s Illustrator Book Cases, 2nd Floor
March/April  2013

D. B. Johnson returns to the Children’s Book Illustrators case on the second floor during March and April. Author-illustrator of award-winning picture books, Johnson introduces young readers to notable figures from the literary and art worlds through delightful stories and amazing illustrations.

His latest is “Magritte’s Marvelous Hat,” inspired by the paintings of surrealist artist René Magritte and named a Notable Children’s Book for 2013 by the American Library Association. Subjects of some of Johnson’s earlier books are M. C. Escher, George Orwell’s “Animal Farm,” and Henry David Thoreau as an adventurous bear in the popular “Henry” series.

Check out the New Magazine and Newspaper iPad at the Main Desk at the Brooks Memorial Library. Many magazines and newspapers have a digital edition available online and some titles are beginning to only be available digitally, such as Newsweek.

In an effort to keep afloat on the changing tides of periodicals, Brooks Memorial Library is offering borrowers access to digital editions of a handful of titles through a library iPad. Not only will this allow more access to popular titles in the library, such as the New York Review of Books, but it will also allow patrons to get to know iPad technology and digital media.

Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln Wednesday March 6, 2013 7:00 PM until 9:00 PM

Douglass and Lincoln—one born a slave, the other born dirt poor—became respectively one of the nation’s greatest orators and one of its greatest presidents. Harvard professor and leading Civil War scholar John Stauffer examines their friendship, the striking similarities in their lives, and their legacies.

John Stauffer is a leading authority on antislavery, social protest movements and interracial friendship. He is a Harvard University professor of English and American Literature and African American Studies, and Chair of the History of American Civilization program at Harvard.

Putney, VT – Next Stage Arts Project is pleased to present Author David Blistein, Friday, March 22, 2013, at 7:30pm at Next Stage in Putney. The author will read from and discuss his book, David’s Inferno (published by Hatherleigh Press, distributed by Random House), followed by refreshments and a book signing. Part of Next Stage’s Community Artists Performance Series, there is a suggested donation of $10, with proceeds to benefit Next Stage.

The excitement is building! If you applied to be a book giver for World Book Night  and were chosen you should be recieving your confirmation email in the next 2 or 3 days. Congratulations to everyone that was accepted – it’s a wonderful event. You’ll receive a second email next week telling you which book you’ll be giving out and asking you to choose a location to pick up your books. Please choose Brooks Memorial Library as your pick up site.